Privacy Policy

Official Canada Immigration Services Inc., operating as Settlewell ("we," "us," or "our"), is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use settlewell.ca and our related services.

We are a Canadian company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. We are subject to both the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and Quebec's Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector (commonly known as Law 25 or Loi 25). We take our obligations under both pieces of legislation seriously.

As required by Law 25, we have designated a person responsible for the protection of personal information within our organization. We also conduct Privacy Impact Assessments before introducing new features or systems that involve the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information.

Consent

We obtain your explicit consent for the collection and use of your personal information at the time of account creation. By creating an account, you agree to the collection and processing of your data as described in this policy.

Separate, opt-in consent is required for non-essential communications, such as marketing emails or product announcements. You will never receive marketing emails unless you have specifically opted in.

You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at hello@settlewell.ca or by updating your communication preferences in your account settings. Withdrawing consent for essential data processing may affect your ability to use the service.

Information We Collect

We collect information that you provide directly to us, as well as information generated through your use of the service.

Information you provide:

• Name and email address when you create an account
• Immigration profile data — including nationality, age, education, work experience, language test scores, and family information — that you enter to receive personalized pathway recommendations
• Documents you upload for tracking purposes (e.g., language test results, educational credentials)
• Messages you send through the AI chat feature
• Payment information when you subscribe to a paid plan (processed by our payment provider — we do not store full card numbers)
• Any other information you choose to provide through forms or communications with us

Information collected automatically:

• Device type, browser type, and operating system
• Pages visited, features used, and time spent on the platform
• IP address and approximate geographic location
• Referring website or source

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal information for the following purposes:

• Provide and operate the service — generate personalized immigration pathway recommendations, CRS score calculations, document checklists, and AI-powered guidance based on your profile
• Improve the product — analyze usage patterns to identify bugs, improve features, and develop new functionality
• Communicate with you — send account-related notifications and respond to support requests. Non-essential communications (product updates, newsletters) are sent only with your explicit opt-in consent
• Process payments — manage subscriptions and billing through our payment processor
• Ensure security — detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and unauthorized access
• Comply with legal obligations — respond to lawful requests from government authorities when required

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your immigration profile data for advertising purposes.

AI-Specific Data Handling

Settlewell uses artificial intelligence to provide immigration guidance. Here is how we handle your data in relation to our AI features:

• Chat conversations — Messages you send through the AI chat are used solely to provide you with relevant responses and guidance within that session. We retain chat history to allow you to review past conversations within your account.
• No model training — We do not use your chat data, immigration profile, or any other personal information to train or fine-tune our AI models.
• How recommendations are generated — AI-powered recommendations are generated based on the profile information you provide combined with publicly available Canadian immigration data (e.g., IRCC program requirements, CRS criteria, PNP eligibility rules).
• Informational only — All AI outputs are informational in nature. They should not be relied upon as legal, immigration, or professional advice. For legal matters, always consult a licensed Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) or immigration lawyer.

Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored on servers located in Canada. We use industry-standard security measures to protect your information, including:

• Encryption in transit (TLS/SSL) and at rest (AES-256)
• Access controls limiting employee access to personal data on a need-to-know basis
• Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments
• Secure authentication mechanisms for your account

No system is perfectly secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Breach Notification

In the event of a privacy breach involving a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected users and the relevant privacy authorities without unreasonable delay, and in any case within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach. Depending on the nature of the breach, the relevant authorities include:

• The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), as required by PIPEDA
• The Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec (CAI), as required by Law 25

We maintain an incident response plan and a breach register in accordance with both PIPEDA and Law 25 requirements.

Third-Party Services

We use a limited number of third-party services to operate Settlewell:

• Payment processing — to securely handle subscription payments. Your payment details are processed directly by our payment provider and are not stored on our servers.
• Analytics — to understand how the platform is used and to improve the experience. Analytics data is aggregated and does not include your immigration profile information.
• Cloud infrastructure — to host and deliver the service. Our infrastructure providers are contractually obligated to protect your data.

We enter into Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) with all third-party service providers. These agreements contractually require providers to handle your data in accordance with this policy and applicable privacy laws, and prohibit them from using your data for their own purposes.

We do not share your immigration profile data with third parties for their own purposes.

Cookies and Local Storage

Settlewell uses minimal, essential cookies to keep you logged in and ensure the platform functions correctly. We do not use tracking cookies or third-party advertising cookies.

Our application uses in-memory session storage for preferences like theme selection. This data is not persisted to your device's local storage and is cleared when you close your browser tab.

Your Rights

Under PIPEDA and Quebec Law 25, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access — You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction — You can ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Deletion — You can request that we delete your account and associated personal data. We will comply within 30 days, except where we are required by law to retain certain records.
• Data portability — You can request an export of your personal data in a commonly used, machine-readable format (e.g., CSV or JSON).
• Withdrawal of consent — You can withdraw your consent to the collection and use of your information at any time. Note that withdrawing consent may affect your ability to use the service.
• De-indexing — Under Law 25, you may request that we cease disseminating your personal information or that any hyperlink attached to your name providing access to such information be de-indexed, where the dissemination contravenes the law or a court order.
• Complaint — If you believe we have not handled your information appropriately, you have the right to file a complaint with:
  • The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) — for matters under PIPEDA
  • The Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec (CAI) — for matters under Quebec Law 25

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@settlewell.ca.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with the service. If you delete your account, we will remove your personal data within 30 days, except:

• Aggregated, anonymized data that cannot be linked back to you (retained for product improvement)
• Records we are legally required to maintain (e.g., billing records for tax purposes)
• Information necessary to resolve disputes or enforce our agreements

Children's Privacy

Settlewell is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we learn that we have collected information from a user under 16, we will delete that information promptly.

International Users

Settlewell is operated from Canada and our servers are located in Canada. If you access the service from outside Canada, your information will be transferred to and processed in Canada. By using Settlewell, you consent to this transfer. Canadian privacy laws may differ from those in your home country.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. When we make significant changes, we will notify you by email or through a notice on the platform. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was most recently revised.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of Settlewell after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your personal information, contact us at:

Official Canada Immigration Services Inc.
Operating as Settlewell
3421 King-Edward
Montreal, QC H4B 2H2
hello@settlewell.ca

To reach our person responsible for the protection of personal information, email hello@settlewell.ca with the subject line "Privacy Officer."