Privacy policy

Who we are

CareQuay is a public directory that helps families in Canada find licensed childcare and apply for a space. The listings come from provincial, regional and municipal open-data releases. This policy explains what we do with the information you give us and the information collected automatically while you browse.

Information you give us

• Application details. Parent or guardian name, email address, phone number, the child's first name and date of birth, preferred start date, care type and any notes you add. These are the minimum fields a childcare centre needs to consider a request for a space.
• Account details. If you create an account or sign in with Google, we store your email address, display name and whether you are using the site as a parent or a provider.
• Provider claims. If you claim a centre, we store the contact details and any supporting documents you upload so an administrator can review the claim.

How we use it

• To pass an application to the childcare centre you selected, and to let you track its status.
• To run matching between families and centres based on the priorities you set.
• To verify provider claims and prevent misuse of the service.
• To produce aggregate, non-identifying statistics about demand for childcare in a region.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not use application details for advertising.

Who we share it with

Application details are shared with the childcare provider you apply to — that is the purpose of submitting them. Each provider handles the information under its own privacy practices. We also use service providers that host the site, store data and send email on our behalf; they may process information on our instructions only. We may disclose information where the law requires it.

Cookies and local storage

We use two categories:

• Strictly necessary. Keeps you signed in, remembers your search filters for the session, stores application drafts so nothing is lost when you go offline, and records your cookie choice. These are always on because the site cannot work without them.
• Analytics (optional). Google Analytics measures which pages and features are used so we can improve them. These load only after you choose “Accept analytics” in the cookie banner, and you can change your mind at any time from the banner controls in the footer.

Keeping and deleting information

Applications and account records are kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards so a provider can respond and so you can retrieve your history. You can ask us to delete your account and applications; once deleted, they cannot be recovered. Copies already sent to a provider remain with that provider.

Your rights

Under Canadian privacy law you can ask for access to the personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, withdraw consent for optional cookies, or ask us to delete your account. Contact us and we will respond within a reasonable time.

Children

CareQuay is intended for parents, guardians and childcare operators. Children do not create accounts; a child's details are only ever supplied by an adult applying on their behalf.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request about your information, can be sent to the site administrator. Please tell us the email address you used so we can find your records. If you would like a specific contact address published here, let us know and we will add it.

Changes

If this policy changes we will update the date at the top of this page.