Privacy & Security Services in Ontario
End-to-end privacy and security support for organizations in Ontario.
Ontario organizations operate in a layered privacy environment that catches many businesses off guard — not because the rules are obscure, but because the two regimes that apply do not map cleanly onto each other. For commercial activity, the governing law is the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, PIPEDA, overseen by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. That law applies on the basis of ten fair information principles — covering collection, use, disclosure, safeguarding, and individual access rights — and it applies broadly to any organization engaged in commercial activity, regardless of size or sector.
The picture shifts for organizations that handle personal health information. Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, PHIPA, applies to a defined category of health information custodians — hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, and others listed in the legislation — and is overseen by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. PHIPA operates on a distinct consent framework, imposes specific breach notification requirements, and requires custodians to report certain breaches directly to the IPC. An organization that operates in the health technology space or provides services to health information custodians may find itself engaged with both regimes simultaneously, with requirements that need careful coordination.
Privacy Horizon works with Ontario organizations across sectors — healthcare, financial services, professional services, technology, and the public sector — to bring clarity to that complexity. Our work spans the full compliance lifecycle: privacy impact assessments that meet the substantive expectations of PIPEDA and, where applicable, PHIPA; gap analyses that benchmark current practices against actual legal requirements rather than generic frameworks; guided compliance programs built for your organization's specific operations; and on-call senior advisory for the questions that do not wait for a scheduled review. We also deliver staff and leadership training that is grounded in the Ontario regulatory context, not a generic overview that could have come from anywhere.
Privacy & security regulation in Ontario
Regulator: Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC)
Ontario organizations operate under federal PIPEDA for commercial activity, with health-sector custodians additionally governed by PHIPA and overseen by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.
PIPEDAPersonal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
PIPEDA is Canada's federal private-sector privacy law. It sets out ten fair information principles governing how organizations collect, use, and disclose personal information in the course of commercial activity. It applies wherever a province has not enacted substantially similar legislation — and, even in provinces that have (Alberta, British Columbia, Québec), it continues to apply to federally regulated businesses such as banks, airlines, and telecommunications, and to personal information that flows across provincial or national borders.
PHIPAPersonal Health Information Protection Act, 2004
PHIPA governs how health information custodians in Ontario — a defined, closed list of providers such as hospitals, physicians, and pharmacies — collect, use, and disclose personal health information. It establishes consent rules and individual access rights, and requires custodians to notify affected individuals at the first reasonable opportunity following a breach, and to report to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario in the circumstances the Act prescribes.
What Privacy & Security includes
From assessments to compliance programs and ongoing advisory, we provide the full range of privacy and security support organizations need under Canadian law.
Assessments
Privacy impact assessments, threat & risk assessments, and gap analysis.
Compliance Programs
Guided programs to reach and maintain compliance.
Advisory
On-call senior privacy and security guidance.
Training
Practical training for staff and leadership.
PHIPA compliance for Ontario health-sector organizations
Health information custodians in Ontario face obligations that go well beyond general commercial privacy law. PHIPA's consent requirements, individual access rights, and breach notification rules — including the obligation to report to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario in prescribed circumstances — create a distinct compliance workload. Privacy Horizon has deep familiarity with the PHIPA framework and works with custodians and health-adjacent businesses to assess their current posture, close identified gaps, and build the internal processes needed to respond confidently when incidents occur.
Compliance programs built for Ontario's commercial sector
For the majority of Ontario businesses outside the health sector, PIPEDA governs — and while its ten principles provide a clear framework, translating those principles into concrete operational policies, vendor contracts, and employee practices requires more than a policy template. Privacy Horizon designs compliance programs that reflect how your organization actually collects and handles personal information, assigns clear internal accountability, and builds the documentation trail that supports your position with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner if a complaint or breach report ever lands on their desk.
Other services in Ontario
Privacy & Security elsewhere
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