Privacy

Investors Group Inc. and its subsidiaries1 (“IG Wealth Management”, “we”, “us” or “our”) are committed to protecting the personal information in our control. IG Wealth Management has appointed a Chief Privacy Officer who is responsible for overall privacy governance. This privacy notice (“Privacy Notice”) describes how we collect, hold, use, transfer, disclose and protect personal information when we do business with you. Please contact us through one of the means listed at the end of this Privacy Notice if you have any questions.

We are responsible for personal information in our possession or custody, including personal information that has been shared with, or received from, a third party in the course of our business activities.

Your consent is required before we collect, use, or disclose your personal information, except in special circumstances, such as during a fraud investigation, an investigation by the police, or in other situations as permitted or required by law.

  • How do you provide consent to the collection, use and sharing of your information?

    Consent for our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information can be given in a variety of ways.

    • Consent can be express, such as when you provide your written consent through one of our application forms.
    • Consent can be deemed if you are provided with information about our intended uses and disclosures of your personal information (such as through your receipt of this Privacy Notice, the “Booklet” or other privacy notice), and you do not advise IG Wealth Management, either verbally or in writing, that you do not consent.
    • If you provide personal information to IG Wealth Management for the purposes of seeking products or services from us, your consent will be deemed for our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information to provide those products and services to you.
    • If you have existing products and services with us and you request changes to them, the consent which you gave to us when buying the original products and services remains in effect.
    • We may rely on a third party to obtain your consent on our behalf.
    • Your consent can be provided by your authorized representative, such as a legal guardian or power of attorney.
  • Why does IG Wealth Management collect and use your personal information?

    We collect and use personal information about you and, if applicable, your spouse and/or beneficiaries, to:

    • identify you;
    • comply with legal, security, processing, and regulatory requirements;
    • protect against error and fraud;
    • ensure that investments you make are suitable;
    • provide ongoing service including financial planning to you;
    • offer you products and services to meet your needs; and
    • communicate with you about products and services.

    We may record your telephone calls with our representatives, and we may monitor live or recorded calls, for quality assurance and training purposes, and to confirm our discussions with you.

    Use of your Social Insurance Number (SIN)

    We are required by law to use your social insurance number when submitting tax reports to the Canada Revenue Agency and may provide it to third party service providers to prepare and deliver tax reporting to you. When applying for a loan product, IG Wealth Management may request that you provide your SIN so that we may provide it to credit reporting agencies to obtain your credit information. In addition, we may use your SIN to identify you where you have chosen to provide it to us for that purpose.  If you have any questions or concerns about the use of your SIN please contact us.

    Use of Personal Information collected when you use our website

    We use cookies, pixels and other similar technologies to collect information about your activity on our websites to enable us to improve your user experience and maintain the security and integrity of our websites. By continuing to browse our site, you are giving us consent to use cookies, pixels and other similar technologies. To find out more or to set your own preferences please read our Cookies Policy.

    When you register to use Online Access, you provide us with additional personal information and your registration for Online Access constitutes your consent to such information being collected, held, used and disclosed by IG Wealth Management in the ways and for the purposes identified in the Online Access User Agreement. To find out more, please read the Online Access User Agreement.

  • How do we collect your personal information?

    How we collect your personal information depends on how you do business with us. Most of the personal information we collect is collected directly from you when you complete an application form, complete other forms, communicate with us by telephone, email, or online, or during face-to-face interactions with your Advisor and/or their team members.

    We may also collect personal information about you from a variety of sources including from:

    • other dealers, financial institutions, licensed agents, intermediaries and third parties with whom you have a relationship;
    • government agencies;
    • insurance and mortgage partners;
    • credit reporting agencies; or
    • your spouse or another IG Wealth Management client, for example if they designate you as a beneficiary on a registered plan.

    We may also collect personal information automatically when you visit our website (please read our Cookies Policy for more details).

    Personal information collected from any of these sources may be used or shared as set out in this Privacy Notice.

  • What personal information does IG Wealth Management collect?

    The specific personal information we collect depends on how you do business with us and which products and services you request. We have categorized the personal information we collect and have provided examples of each category. We may not collect all categories or types of personal information listed for everyone, we only collect personal information needed for products and services that you request.

    Identifying and Contact Information

    • Full name
    • Email address
    • Home and mailing address
    • Telephone number(s)
    • Language preference
    • Date of birth
    • Gender
    • Citizenship and/or residency
    • Government identifiers (passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, etc.)
    • Social Insurance Number (SIN)
    • Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)

    Authentication Information

    • Online Access passwords
    • Answers to security authentication questions

    Financial Information

    • Information about your employment and source of income
    • Net worth
    • Account details and financial statements (including account numbers, account balances, deposits and transactions)
    • Investor profile and risk tolerance
    • Information about your lifestyle, expenses and liabilities
    • Information about your spouse and/or beneficiaries
    • Banking information
    • Insurance information (including applications, quotes and needs analysis)
    • Credit history

    Digital Information

    • Information collected through cookies when you visit our website
    • Browsing preferences
    • IP address
    • Device identifiers
    • Information about your device, operating system or browser

    Communications

    • Preferred contact method
    • Audio recordings of telephone calls with our contact centre
    • Records of your communications and correspondence with us
  • Who is your personal information shared with?

    IG Wealth Management may share your personal information with third parties for the purposes identified in this Privacy Notice. 

    Service Providers and Suppliers

    We may share your personal information with our service providers and suppliers. For example, we may use service providers and/or suppliers for the following services:

    • preparing and mailing account documents;
    • determining your eligibility for a mortgage or insurance product;
    • cloud, web-hosting, and data-processing services; or
    • document imaging and/or storage.

    When we share personal information with service providers or suppliers, we ensure by contractual means that the shared personal information is used only for the purposes for which the service provider or supplier is retained. We only share personal information through secure channels, and we impose obligations on our service providers and suppliers for the safeguarding of that information. We may use service providers located in any province in Canada. We may also use service providers located outside of Canada, and where we do, personal information may be disclosed in accordance with the laws of the jurisdiction in which the service provider is located, including to the government in that jurisdiction and its agencies.

    Other Financial Institutions and Credit Bureaus

    We may share your personal information for the purposes identified in this Privacy Notice with other financial institutions, such as banks and other investment dealers, with whom you have or have had dealings. We take steps to ensure that these entities have the right to receive the information from us. We may also disclose your personal information to credit reporting agencies to obtain information about your credit history to determine your eligibility for a mortgage, loan or other product or service you have requested that requires this information, and to report information to them for the purposes of maintaining the integrity of the credit reporting system.

    Courts, law enforcement, self-regulatory organization and government agencies

    IG Wealth Management may share your personal information with government agencies, courts, or law enforcement, where required by law to comply with legal, security, and regulatory requirements, including but not limited to:

    • the Canada Revenue Agency, for tax reporting purposes;
    • a Self-Regulatory Organization or other authorized body to conduct an investigation;
    • law enforcement to respond to valid warrants or court orders; or
    • other government agencies.

    Your Trusted Contact Person

    If you have provided IG Wealth Management with the name and contact information of a Trusted Contact Person, we may contact them to confirm or make inquiries about any of the following:

    • preventing and investigating financial abuse or exploitation against you or your accounts;
    • concerns about your capacity or financial decision making;
    • to help contact any personal or legal representative of yours (including a legal guardian, executor or trustee); and
    • to obtain your current contact information.

    Your Joint Account Holders and Representatives

    We may share personal information with joint account holders if the information was collected for the purpose of establishing or the ongoing operation of the joint account. All joint account holders have consented to such a disclosure of personal information.

    We may also share your personal information with an authorized representative, such as a legal guardian, power of attorney, or lawyer, that has a valid legal authority to request your personal information.

    Pricing Group Members

    IG Wealth Management offers preferred pricing for family members who have linked their accounts to form a Pricing Group. We may share personal information with each member of the Pricing Group. All members have consented that their personal information may be shared with other members of the Pricing Group, including future members added at a later date, for administration purposes. For more information, please contact your Advisor.

    Our Affiliates and Subsidiaries

    IG Wealth Management is a subsidiary of IGM Financial Inc. We may share your personal information with our affiliates and subsidiaries where they provide operational, administrative, and support services through shared business resources or on our behalf to administer your accounts with us.

  • Who can access your information at IG Wealth Management?

    Access to your personal information is limited to IG Wealth Management employees, Advisors and their team members, and authorized contractors who need access to perform their duties for a purpose identified in this Privacy Notice. Our employees, Advisors and their team members commit annually to protect the confidentiality of the personal information they access while performing their duties and must regularly complete privacy and security training.

  • How long is your personal information stored by IG Wealth Management?

    We have established record retention policies and record retention periods so that your personal information is retained for as long as it is required to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Notice, and to comply with legal and regulatory requirements. We are subject to laws and regulations such as securities, tax, anti-money laundering, and other applicable legislation, which require us to retain certain information about current and former clients for varying specified minimum periods of time. 

  • Can you withdraw your consent?

    You may withdraw your consent for IG Wealth Management to collect, use and disclose your personal information at any time upon reasonable notice, subject to contractual and legal restrictions. Deciding to withdraw your consent may affect our ability to continue to provide you with the products and services that you have or would like to receive. If you withdraw your consent your personal information will be retained in accordance with applicable retention periods. Please review the “How long is your personal information stored by IG Wealth Management?” for more details.

    You can change your preferences for how we communicate with you about products and services by updating your preference centre on Online Access, contacting our Client Services department or by letting your Advisor know.

    If you wish to withdraw your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information or discuss the implications of such a withdrawal, please contact the Chief Privacy Officer through one of the means listed at the end of this Privacy Notice. 

  • How is your personal information protected?

    We protect your personal information using security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. These safeguards are designed to protect against loss, theft, unauthorized access, use, disclosure, copying or modification of personal information, regardless of the format in which it is held.

    We take steps to safeguard your personal information using several methods, including but not limited to:

    • Physical safeguards, such securing our premises and locking cabinets.
    • Technological safeguards, such as encryption, access controls, password best practices, data loss prevention tools, and email security protocols;
    • Organizational safeguards, such as annual privacy and data security training, and vendor management processes.
  • Where is your personal information stored and processed?

    Your personal information may be stored and processed in any province in Canada and outside of Canada. 

  • What are your rights in respect to your personal information?

    Right to Access

    You have the right to request access to the personal information we maintain about you, and to receive information about how we have collected, used and disclosed your personal information. You may also have the right in certain circumstances to request that we provide you or another person with a copy of the personal information that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used technological format. These rights are subject to contractual and legal restrictions. To make any of these rights requests , please write to the Chief Privacy Officer as indicated below. The request should be as specific as possible and provide information that allows us to identify and contact you (full name, phone number, email address or home address). As a security precaution, we may need to take additional steps to validate your identity before sharing your personal information.

    By mail

    IG Wealth Management
    Attn: Chief Privacy Officer
    447 Portage Avenue,
    Winnipeg, Manitoba,
    R3C 3B6

    By email

    privacy@ig.ca

    Right to Rectify

    You also have the right to correct and update any inaccurate or incomplete personal information we on file. To correct or update your personal information, please contact your Advisor or contact us as follows:

    General Inquiries

    1-888-746-6344
    Monday to Friday
    7 a.m. – 7 p.m. (CT)

    In Québec
    1-800-661-4578
    Monday – Friday
    8 a.m. – 6 p.m. (ET) 

    Write to us

    IG Wealth Management
    447 Portage Ave
    Winnipeg, MB
    R3B 3H5 Canada

    Fax us

    1-866-202-1923

    For clients of IG Wealth Connect

    1-866-800-7984
    Monday to Friday 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. (CT)
    Email: igwealthconnect@ig.ca

    If you are unable to correct your personal information and you believe there could still be inaccurate or incomplete personal information, please submit a written request to the Chief Privacy Officer by email at privacy@ig.ca.

  • How do you contact IG Wealth Management about privacy related questions or concerns?

    If you have any questions or concerns about the treatment of your personal information, please take the following steps:

    • Step 1. Your question or concern may be resolved by contacting us as follows: 
      E-Mail: contact-e@ig.ca 
      Phone: 1-888-746-6344 (toll-free) / 1-800-661-4578 (in Quebec) 
      Fax: 1-866-202-1923

    • Step 2. If speaking with us does not resolve your question or concern, you may contact the Chief Privacy Officer as follows: 
      E-Mail: privacy@ig.ca 
      Fax: 1-204-949-9594
      Mail: Chief Privacy Officer, IG Wealth Management, 447 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3C 3B6

    • Step 3: If after contacting the Chief Privacy Officer your concern has not been resolved, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the Office of your provincial Privacy Commissioner if you are resident in Quebec, Alberta, or British Columbia as follows:
      • Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada 
        www.priv.gc.ca
      • Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec 
        www.cai.gouv.qc.ca
      • Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta 
        www.oipc.ab.ca
      • Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia 
        www.oipc.bc.ca

    If you make a complaint or report that requires an investigation, and have requested that the complaint be anonymous, we will endeavour to keep your identity confidential, to the extent permitted by law, consistent with the need to conduct an investigation. We will inform you if it is not possible to maintain your anonymity for the purpose of conducting the investigation. 

  • How will you know if there are changes to our Privacy Notice?

    We may amend our Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes to how we handle your personal information. If we do, the updated Privacy Notice and the effective date of the changes will be posted on our website. We may also notify you of any changes by posting a banner on our website advising that changes have been made to the Privacy Notice.

[1]             I.G. Investment Management, Ltd.

                 Investors Group Securities Inc.

                 Investors Group Financial Services Inc.

                 I.G. Insurance Services Inc.

                 Investors Group Trust Co. Ltd.