Employee Rights to Privacy in Canada

An example of workplace surveillance

While Canadian law grants all citizens a general right to privacy, as an employee your rights are balanced against your employer's rights to effectively manage his business or organization. Under the law your employer can monitor your communications, seek information about you and even film you if you have given your consent or if it is done for a legitimate employment-related purpose. Even with these limits on your privacy rights as an employee, all employers must comply with the following regulations.

Federal Law: Public Sector Employees

Under the Privacy Act of 1983, all federal government agencies 1) must inform an employee when it seeks information about them; 2) may not collect information on an employee unless it is related to a specific work or employment purpose; 3) may not disclose an employee's information without her consent; and 4) must develop procedures on how employee information is stored and protected.

Provincial Law: Public Sector Employees

Each province is responsible for protecting the privacy right of its government employees. While all have their own privacy protection laws, most are similar to the standards set out in the federal Privacy Act of 1983. A few include additional protections not covered by the federal law. In Ontario, for example, provincial privacy protection laws are extended to the local level through the Municipal Freedom of Information and Privacy Act.

Federal Law: Private Sector Employees

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) applies to all entities engaged in commercial activity. Employee privacy rights under PIPEDA mirror those granted under the Privacy Act. Employers are limited in how they may collect, store and disclose employee personal information. Additionally, employees have the right to access and review their personal information and make corrections to any information they find to be inaccurate.

Exceptions to PIPEDA

PIPEDA allows provincial governments to "opt out" of coverage if they have privacy laws that provide substantially similar protections. Currently, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec have opted out of PIPEDA. Each have privacy protection laws that are substantially more strict than the federal law. For example, under British Columbia's Personal Information Privacy Act, an employee must first give her consent before an employer can collect personal information.

Common Law Remedies

In cases where federal, provincial or local laws may not apply, you may still find protection through common or court-opinion-developed legal remedies. For example, if your contract specifically limits what information your employer may have access to and she fails to honor that limit, you may have a cause of action against your employer based not on your privacy rights but rather on breach of contract.

Warning

Due to the complexity of employee privacy rights and the overlapping of privacy laws, if you feel that your privacy rights have been violated, your first step should be to consult a lawyer with experience in Canadian privacy laws.

References

• Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: Privacy Legislation in Canada
• Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance