Travel advisory for Ontario

Travel advisory for Ontario

Please check in with Ontario Northland Customer Care to confirm if your scheduled trip is operating by calling 1-800-461-8558.

For further details on weather alerts, please visit https://meteo.gc.ca/index_e.html

STORM WARNING

Ontario Northland understands the importance and responsibility of getting our passengers and parcels to their desired locations on time without compromising safety. At Ontario Northland, we take pride in making every effort to ensure that our service will run every day as scheduled.

Ontario Northland is constantly monitoring road and weather conditions. This may lead to Storm Warnings being issued, affecting certain routes. When a storm warning is issued, current and/or imminent weather conditions may cause hazardous travel conditions resulting in the possibility of any of the following scenarios:

  • Ontario Northland service will be delayed
  • The service will be interrupted enroute
  • Ontario Northland service will be cancelled

If your schedule allows, we suggest that you postpone your trip until a later time when the warning is lifted. During a Storm Warning, Ontario Northland will rebook your ticket to a later date at no charge. Passengers scheduled to travel on a route that is cancelled due to a Storm Warning (Travel Advisory) will be entitled to a refund. If your route is not under a Storm Warning, standard transaction fees will apply for eligible tickets.

If a passenger decides to travel under a Storm Warning, Ontario Northland will not accept responsibility for any additional costs incurred due to service delays, interruptions, or cancellations. Please ensure that you have planned by taking the following action:

  • Notify anyone who will be picking you up, that delays may occur
  • Ensure that you have additional cash or a debit/credit card to cover any additional needs which may arise

If you decide to leave now, you accept responsibility for any additional expenses that may occur as a result of a delay or interruption of service, as well as any other possible inconvenience. This may include an overnight stay at a hotel.

Please note that unaccompanied children cannot travel when a storm warning is in effect with Ontario Northland.

How will passengers know if a Storm Warning has been posted?

In the event of inclement weather, Ontario Northland advises passengers to regularly check ontarionorthland.ca. If a Storm Warning has been posted for any route, a Travel Advisory will appear on the website.

Ontario Northland route information can also be obtained by:

  • Phone 1.800.461.8558
  • Email us by visiting the Contact Us section
  • Contact a local Ontario Northland Station or agency through the Station Locater tab
  • Follow us through social media via Facebook and Twitter

Customer Privacy Policy

The Ontario Northland Transportation Commission (ONTC) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, security and privacy of the personal information we collect and use, in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. In order to meet this commitment, we have developed and adhere to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy applies to the business and activities of ONTC and its divisions.

By submitting your personal information to ONTC, you confirm your agreement to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.

1. Accountability for Personal Information

Personal information is any recorded information about an identifiable individual, and may include:

  • name, address, telephone number or email address;
  • birth date;
  • any identifying number, symbol or other particular identifier; and
  • correspondence that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature.

Pursuant to Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), ONTC is responsible for personal information in its custody or under its control.

2. Consent for the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

By submitting your personal information to ONTC, you give ONTC consent to collect, use and disclose your personal information:

  • in accordance with this Privacy Policy;
  • for such other purposes as may be identified to you at the time of collection; and
  • for such purposes as are permitted pursuant to applicable law.

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by providing written notice to us. However, please note that your withdrawal of consent may affect our ability to respond to your requests or provide services to you.

3. Collection of Personal Information

Your personal information is collected as required to enable ONTC to provide services and/or products to you, now and in the future. ONTC may collect personal information from you in person, over the telephone, by mail, by fax, or through the internet.

We may operate video cameras in our facilities for the safety, security and protection of ONTC staff, visitors and customers as well as for the prevention and detection of criminal activity.

4. Purposes for the Collection of Personal Information

ONTC shall have the right to use your personal information for the following purposes:

  • To provide our products and services to you, including:
    • to communicate with you about our products and services;
    • to verify your identity and/or eligibility for certain ONTC services;
    • to process financial and other transactions, such as processing a fare payment or issuing a refund;
    • to conduct promotional campaigns, including contests, draws, raffles, promotions and offers for third party products and services;
    • to provide you with information on new products, services or upcoming events, including third party events sponsored by ONTC; and
    • to conduct and administer rewards or loyalty programs.
  • To manage, develop and improve our operations, products and services, including:
    • to respond to comments, questions or complaints;
    • to detect and prevent  theft and other illegal activities;
    • to enforce and administer ONTC rules, by-laws and policies; and
    • to audit internal procedures.
  • To assess, process and administer: applications for employment; injury, damage and other claims; and tenders, proposals and contracts.
  • For research, statistical, planning and actuarial purposes, including:
    • to analyse business results, trends and patterns; and
    • to conduct market research.
  • To comply with our legal and regulatory requirements and to ensure compliance with this Privacy Policy.
  • For any other purpose required or authorized by law.

We may also use your personal information to create aggregated data. Aggregated data is information placed in a format that prevents or limits the chance of revealing an individual’s identity. It may be used to show general statistics or track customer behavior as a whole (for example, the number of customers living in a certain area). Such aggregated information is used by ONTC to plan, develop, implement, market and promote our services and products. It will not be used to identify you.

If we require personal information for any purpose(s) other than those set above, we will ask for and obtain your consent before using your personal information for such purpose.

5. Disclosure of Personal Information

ONTC may from time to time provide your personal information to third parties that we work with to provide our products and services or who have a need to know the information for one of the purposes described above. This may include circumstances where:

  • aggregated data is provided to third parties for the purposes of planning, developing, implementing, marketing or promoting ONTC services, or for research, statistical, planning and actuarial purposes;
  • disclosure is required or permitted by law or pursuant to a court order; or
  • disclosure to a third party is reasonably required to facilitate the provision of our products or services.

Third parties includes various organizations with whom we work to provide products and services to you, including contractors and other service providers, affiliates, municipalities, and other government agencies. We will not transfer personal information to third parties unless they have agreed to comply with all applicable privacy standards, including this Privacy Policy and FIPPA.

6. Limiting Collection, Use, Disclosure and Retention of Personal Information

The collection of personal information will be limited to that which is necessary to fulfill the purposes identified by ONTC, in this Privacy Policy or otherwise.

Once collected, personal information will only be used and disclosed:

  • for the purposes for which it was collected, and to which you have consented (pursuant to this Privacy Policy or otherwise), or
  • as required or permitted by applicable law.

Personal information will be retained as long as it is required for the identified purposes and, thereafter, for a further period as determined by FIPPA and other applicable law. We will act in accordance with FIPPA to destroy, delete or erase your personal information from its records when it is no longer required. There may, however, be circumstances where we may not be able to completely remove your personal information, including as a result of data backup procedures or document retention policies. In these circumstances such information will continue to be held securely pursuant to this Privacy Policy.

7. Ensuring Accuracy of Personal Information

ONTC will take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up–to–date. If you wish to verify, update, remove or amend your personal information in our records, please notify us in writing at the address set out below. If you successfully demonstrate the inaccuracy or incompleteness of your personal information, we will amend your information as required. Depending upon the nature of the information challenged, amendment may involve the correction, deletion, or addition of information. Where appropriate, we will provide the corrected information to third parties that have access to your information.

8. Ensuring Safeguards for Personal Information

Security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information are used to protect personal information collected by ONTC against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. Technical, contractual administrative and physical security measures, or a combination thereof, may be used. ONTC protects personal information regardless of the format in which it is held.

9. Openness about Policies and Practices

We are committed to ensuring that information about our privacy policies and practices is available to you. ONTC makes general information regarding its privacy policies and practises available on its website. For additional information, please contact the ONTC Legal Counsel at 555 Oak Street East, North Bay, Ontario P1B 8L3, (705) 472-4500 ext. 316.

10. Individual Access to Your Own Personal Information

Upon written request, we will confirm the existence, use and disclosure of your personal information. You may request access to your personal information at any time. Please provide sufficient information in your request to enable ONTC to provide an accurate account of your personal information. Depending on the nature and complexity of the request, you may be required to pay a fee (as prescribed by FIPPA s.57) before your request can be processed.

In certain situations, ONTC may not be able to provide access to all personal information it holds about you. For example, we may not be able to disclose information if the record also contains references to other individuals, contains confidential information, or is subject to legal privilege. Exceptions to the access requirements are determined in accordance with applicable law, and the reasons for denying access will be provided to you.

11. Challenging Compliance

ONTC has procedures in place to receive and respond to complaints or inquiries about its policies and practices relating to the handling of personal information. If you believe that we are not complying with the principles set out in this Privacy Policy or FIPPA, please contact the ONTC Legal Counsel, who will investigate your concerns. We will investigate all complaints. If a complaint is found to be justified, we will take appropriate measures to resolve the matter in accordance with applicable law.

Any questions pertaining to the privacy concerns should be addressed to:

Hayden Wice, Access and Privacy Specialist
Ontario Northland Transportation Commission
555 Oak Street East
North Bay, Ontario, P1B 8L3
(705) 472-4500 ext. 516

12. Changes

Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time; however, we will not reduce your rights under this Privacy Policy without your express consent. We will post any Privacy Policy changes on our websites and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice (including, for certain services, an email notification of changes to this Privacy Policy). We will also keep prior versions of our Privacy Policy in an archive for your information.

Your Privacy: Frequently Asked Questions

What is personal information?

“Personal information” is any recorded information about an identifiable individual. Examples of personal information include:

  • your name, address, birth date, address, email address, and telephone number
  • financial information, such as credit or debit card information or bank account information, used to process pre-authorized payments
  • correspondence describing a personal experience with an ONTC service, and replies to that correspondence
  • personal opinions or views expressed in a letter or email to ONTC
  • demographic information collected as part of a survey
  • language preference provided when requested
  • information relating to your education or employment history, collected when you apply to work at ONTC
What is NOT personal information?

Any data that has been collected in which all personal identifiers have been removed, making determination of your identity impossible, is not personal information. Also, your job title, business address and business telephone number are not personal information.

Why does ONTC need my personal information?

We need to collect personal information from you from time to time in order to provide our services to you, to promote our services, to make our services better and to operate our business in accordance with legal requirements.

What personal information does ONTC collect?

The type of information we collect depends on the ONTC services you choose to use. For example:

  • We may collect your name and email address so that we can correspond with you, or respond to your questions.
  • If you choose to purchase a passenger ticket , we may collect your name, address, email address and financial information from you.
  • If you choose to use our shipping services we may collect your name, address, email address and financial information as well as third party consignee information.
  • We may collect your name, address, email address or other personal information when you enter a contest or wish to take advantage of a promotion sponsored by ONTC.
  • More detailed information may be required if you violate any of ONTC’s rules.

We may collect personal information from you in person, over the telephone, by mail, email or fax or through the internet. This Privacy Policy applies regardless of the method of collection.

More specific information about what information we collect and why can be found in our Privacy Policy, or on the website for the specific service you intend to use.

How does ONTC use my personal information?

We only use your personal information for the purposes identified in Section 4 of our Privacy Policy, or for purposes specifically identified to you at the time the information is collected. We may further use such information to develop and customize products and services to better meet your needs and preferences, and to offer you products and services from ONTC, including any divisions within ONTC.

Who has access to my personal information?

Your personal information is only made available to those people who require access to your information for the purposes specified in Section 4 of our Privacy Policy. This includes certain ONTC employees. We may also from time to time disclose your information to our third party service providers who need the information to provide services to you on our behalf.

We make sure our employees and service providers are fully aware of our Privacy Policy and the requirements of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal information. We ensure that service providers who will have access to personal information are bound by contractual terms requiring them to clearly comply with our Privacy Policy and the requirements of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

ONTC may also be required to disclose your personal information to people outside of ONTC for legal or regulatory reasons. Such disclosure is governed by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

How is my personal information protected?

We use a variety of means to protect your personal information. Depending on the type of information, these may include any or all of the following:

  • Technical safeguards, such as the use of passwords, encryption and firewalls;
  • Physical safeguards, such as facility access controls, workstation security, placing written information in locked filing cabinets, and mobile device security requirements, as and when required;
  • Administrative safeguards, such as requirements for employee security clearances and limiting access on a "need-to-know" basis.

We make every effort to ensure that these safeguards not only comply with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act but also, where appropriate, reflect current trends and privacy best practices/industry standards.

Can I find out what kind of personal information ONTC collects and retains?

Yes. To view a listing of all Personal Information Banks maintained by ONTC, please visit the Directory of Records maintained by the Ministry of Government Services.

The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) defines a Personal Information Bank as “a collection of personal information that is organized and capable of being retrieved using an individual’s name or an identifying number or particular assigned to the individual”.

How long will you keep my personal information?

ONTC will keep your personal information for as long as the information is required for the identified purpose(s). After that, ONTC is required to retain your personal information for a further period as determined by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and other applicable law.

What if I don’t want ONTC to use my personal information?

We will collect, use and disclose your personal information only with your knowledge and consent, except where required by law. Whenever you provide information to us, we ask for your consent to use your personal information generally for the purposes described in Section 4 of our Privacy Policy. This includes your consent to use your personal information for the purposes specified. In practice, before using your information, ONTC will consider the circumstances in which it was provided and the sensitivity of the information.

If you do not want ONTC to use your personal information, you may choose not to provide it to us or you may withdraw your consent at any time by providing written notice to us; however, this may affect our ability to respond to your requests or provide services to you.

Can I access or update my personal information?

Yes. If you wish to access or update the information we have about you, please contact ONTC’ Privacy Officer at the address listed below.

What if I have a question about ONTC’ Privacy Policy?

If you have a question about our Privacy Policy or our use of your personal information, please contact the ONTC Privacy Specialist at the address listed below.

Hayden Wice, Access and Privacy Specialist

Ontario Northland Transportation Commission
555 Oak Street East
North Bay, Ontario, P1B 8L3
(705) 472-4500 ext. 516