Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy (the "Privacy Policy") sets forth the terms and conditions relating to the confidentiality and protection of your personal information collected through this Website operated by Héma-Québec (the "Website"). The Privacy Policy is an integral part of the General Terms of Use posted on the Website and is complementary to Héma-Québec's Privacy Policy.

It applies to everyone who browses the Website. By choosing to browse the Website and voluntarily filling out a form with your personal information, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

The Privacy Policy does not apply to third-party Web sites, including those that may be accessed through links on the Website. If you visit a third-party Web site, it will have its own policies, which we encourage you to review before submitting your personal information, if applicable.

Héma-Québec collects your personal information to fulfill its mission of efficiently meeting the needs of the Québec population for quality blood and other biological products of human origin.

Héma-Québec also uses certain advertising analysis and targeting tools on the Website, such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Ad Grants and the Facebook pixel, which allow Google and Meta to collect, with your consent, personal information about your use of the Website. For more information about the personal information Google collects and how it is used, please see Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. For more information on the personal information collected by the Facebook pixel and its use, please consult its Privacy Policy.

When you use the Website, Héma-Québec may collect the following personal information:

• Identifying information (contact details, date of birth, e-mail and postal addresses, telephone numbers, donor number, etc.);
• Information about your opinions and preferences (language, communication preferences, type of donation, type of volunteering, comments, suggestions, opinions, etc.);
• Information about your academic background (curriculum vitae, experience, grades, etc.);
• Information about your devices (IP address, geographic location, browser type and version, device type and operating system, etc.); and
• Information about your browsing preferences and habits (date and time of access to the Website, pages viewed, activities on Website pages, name and address of the search engine that led you to the Website and any other information about your browsing habits).

Héma-Québec collects your personal information for the following purposes:

• To communicate with you;
• Handle your requests (information, change of address, appointment booking, volunteer registration, etc.);
• To improve the user experience (verify and maintain the Website's performance and functionality, understand and analyze Website usage trends, offer personalized settings, etc.);
• For targeted advertising;
• To recruit staff;
• To produce analyses and statistics;
• To ensure compliance with legal and regulatory obligations; and
• For any other purpose permitted by law or to which you consent.

Only Héma-Québec employees and authorized consultants have access to your personal information when it is necessary to carry out their duties.

As the case may be, the following categories of persons may have access to some of your personal information:

• Customer service – donors staff;
• General Secretariat and Legal Affairs Department staff;
• Research Operations Department staff;
• Talent Acquisition, Diversity and Inclusion Department staff;
• Customer experience and communications vice-presidency staff; and
• Information Technology and Digital Strategy vice-presidency staff.

In the course of its activities and in accordance with applicable legislation, Héma-Québec may disclose your personal information to service providers, some of whom may be located outside Québec, in the following areas:

• Data hosting;
• Data analysis;
• Marketing; and
• Communications (e-mails, phone calls, etc.).

If you have completed the form to register as a volunteer, Héma-Québec may also share your personal information with the Association des bénévoles du don de sang (ABDS).

When Héma-Québec discloses your personal information to a third party, it takes the necessary measures to adequately protect it, in particular by adopting specific contractual measures. In addition, if the third party is located outside Québec, Héma-Québec will conduct a privacy impact assessment.


Héma-Québec collects your personal information by the following means:

• Forms
  These are the various forms that you fill out on the Website on a voluntary basis, for example to subscribe to a mailing list, register as a volunteer or as a blood donor for research, register for Héma-Québec's education platform, make an information request, request a change of address, or other.
  
  
• Cookies
  Héma-Québec collects certain information through cookies and other tracking technologies (collectively, "cookies") when you browse the Website. Cookies are small text files containing a unique identification number that are automatically deposited on a visitor's computer. You can choose whether or not to enable some of these cookies when you log on to the Website and change your preferences by visiting the Manage Cookies section in the menu.
  
  Héma-Québec uses four types of cookies:
  
  
  • Strictly necessary cookies (always active) (always active)
    
    These cookies are necessary for the operation of the Website and cannot be deactivated in Héma-Québec's systems. They are generally set in response to actions you perform that constitute a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling out forms. You can set your browser to block or inform you of the existence of these cookies, but some parts of the Website may be affected. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    
    
  • Performance cookies
    
    These cookies are important because they allow Héma-Québec to monitor the performance of the Website's pages and content in order to offer you a quality experience. They make it possible to know the number of visitors, where traffic comes from and how the Website is used. Thanks to this data, Héma-Québec can analyze what you, as a visitor, look for and consult on the Website, with a view to improving content and better meeting your needs. We recommend that you do not deactivate these cookies, but if you wish to do so, your browsing experience will not be affected.
    
    
  • Functionality/customization cookies
    
    Personalization cookies allow you to configure your browsing preferences on the Website, such as language and region. If you deactivate them, Héma-Québec will not be able to save these preferences for your next visit.
    
    
  • Cookies for targeted advertising
    
    Targeted advertising cookies allow other sites to show you ads related to your interests when you browse away from the Website. If you disable these cookies, you will continue to see advertisements, but they will be less relevant for you.

Your personal information is confidential. Héma-Québec implements appropriate physical (e.g., access control, video surveillance, etc.), technical (e.g., secure workstations and mobile devices, authentication management, etc.) and organizational (e.g., governance rules, employee training and awareness, etc.) security measures to ensure that only authorized persons can have access to it.

Employees who have custody of files containing personal information must respect the security measures implemented by Héma-Québec to ensure their confidentiality.


You have the following rights:

• The right to access your personal information;
• The right to have your personal information corrected; and
• To the extent applicable, the right to withdraw your consent to the use or disclosure of your personal information.

If you have any questions regarding the protection of your personal information, or if you wish to exercise your rights or file a complaint, you may contact the Privacy Officer, Mr. Sébastien Gignac, at the following address: Responsable.Acces@hema-quebec.qc.ca.


In the event of a discrepancy between the different language versions of this Privacy Policy, the French version shall prevail.

The headings of the articles setting forth the provisions of this Privacy Policy are inserted solely to facilitate reading and may not be used to interpret them.

In the event of a discrepancy between any of the terms set forth in this Privacy Policy and a specific term set forth on a page of the Website with respect to a particular piece of personal information, the specific term shall prevail.


The Privacy Policy takes effect on December 12, 2023.

General Terms of Use

The following terms and conditions (the "Terms" or "Terms of Use") constitute the terms and conditions of use of the Website operated by Héma-Québec. By accessing, browsing or otherwise using the Website, you accept, without limitation or qualification, these Terms of Use and agree to be bound by them. If you do not accept these Terms or disagree with any of them, please do not use the Website.


Unless otherwise indicated, all content on the Website (including but not limited to texts, images, videos, articles, photographs, documents, brochures, forms, tools, etc.) (hereinafter the "Content") is the property of Héma-Québec. The Content is protected by copyright laws and may not be copied, used, reproduced, republished, distributed, modified or communicated, in whole or in part, in any form whatsoever, except as expressly provided in the Terms, without the prior written consent of Héma-Québec.


Héma-Québec grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited license to access, display, print and download the pages of the Website for your personal use for educational or informational purposes only. Any use of the Content for commercial purposes is prohibited. With the exception of downloading or printing a copy of any page or using the Content for your own personal use and in the manner indicated, you may not sell, distribute, publish, broadcast, post, modify, index in a database, include or copy in a Web site, copy, reproduce or reuse in any way the Content of the Website, including, without limitation, the text, images, sound or any video document, without having obtained the prior written consent of Héma-Québec. Under no circumstances may you modify or alter any page of the Website. Any permitted reproduction of any Content on the Website, in any form whatsoever, must contain a notice indicating that the intellectual property rights belong to Héma-Québec.

You may use a scanning engine to browse the Website only in accordance with the robots.txt protocol used by this Website. Héma-Québec may, at its sole discretion, block any scanning engine.


Héma-Québec only authorizes links to this Website if they :

• do not create frames around pages or use other techniques that alter in any way the visual presentation or appearance of the Content;
• do not misrepresent your relationship with Héma-Québec;
• does not imply or suggest that Héma-Québec approves or recommends your company, your Web site, your services or product offerings, or your opinions of any kind;
• do not convey false or misleading impressions about Héma-Québec, or otherwise harm customers associated with Héma-Québec's name or trademarks.

As a further condition of your permission to link to this Website, you agree that Héma-Québec may at any time, in its sole discretion, terminate your permission to link to this Website. In such event, you agree to immediately remove all links to this Website and to cease all related use of Héma-Québec's trademarks.


The Website may contain links or references to Web sites operated by third parties. The existence of such links in no way constitutes an endorsement of the Web sites concerned or their content, and Héma-Québec is not responsible for them. Héma-Québec may remove or modify, at its sole discretion, any link or reference appearing on its Website. When you access a Web site not owned or controlled by Héma-Québec, whether or not it displays the Héma-Québec logo, please understand that it is independent from Héma-Québec and that Héma-Québec has no control over its content. It is your responsibility to take the necessary precautions.


Your use of the Website and the Content is at your own risk. Héma-Québec makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express, statutory, or implied, with respect to the Website and its Content. Héma-Québec does not warrant that its Website will continue to operate, that it will be current, that it will operate without interruption or that it will be error-free. Héma-Québec makes no representations regarding the use or the results that may be obtained from the use of the Content offered on its Website in terms of its reliability, accuracy or appropriateness.

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, certain statements made on Héma-Québec's Website may constitute forward-looking statements that may not result in the expected outcome. These statements may involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could affect or have a significant influence on actual results. Héma-Québec offers no guarantee and assumes no responsibility for any discrepancies that may arise between actual results and these forward-looking statements.


To the fullest extent permitted by law, in no event shall Héma-Québec be liable to any person for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages of any kind whatsoever in connection with or arising out of the Website or its use, or any Web site or resource accessed through a link contained on the Website, or referred to or accessed through the Website, or the use or downloading of, or access to, any Content, including, without limitation, any business interruption, loss of profits, loss of anticipated savings, loss of goodwill, loss of customers, loss of use of the Website and related tools or programs, including routers and data stored in connection with its use, or any other loss, including loss of data or programs, even if Héma-Québec, or any of its agents, representatives, employees, officers or directors, has been expressly advised of the possibility of such damages or claims. This exclusion and limitation of liability applies to all forms of claims, whether based on contract, tort, warranty or other legal theory.


Héma-Québec does not expect or wish to receive confidential or proprietary information through this Website (or by electronic mail) unless it is done so in a secure environment specifically designed for this purpose, insofar as, outside of the environment specifically designed for this purpose, the confidentiality of the information transmitted cannot be guaranteed until it is actually received on Héma-Québec's servers. Any information, article or other document that you may send to Héma-Québec outside this specific framework will be considered non-confidential. By sending Héma-Québec any information, articles or other materials outside of this specific framework, you grant Héma-Québec an unrestricted, irrevocable license to copy, reproduce, publish, upload, post, transmit, distribute, publicly display, perform, modify, create derivative works from, and otherwise freely use, those articles, materials or information. You further agree that Héma-Québec shall be free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques that you send us for any purpose whatsoever.

However, Héma-Québec will not disclose your name or the fact that you have submitted articles or other material or information to Héma-Québec unless: (a) you have authorized Héma-Québec to use your name; (b) Héma-Québec has advised you that the articles or other material or information you have submitted to a section of its Website will be distributed or otherwise used with your name; or (c) Héma-Québec is required to do so by law.

This section applies only to confidential and proprietary information, with the exception of personal information, which will be handled in accordance with the Privacy Policy.


The Espace Carrières site (hereinafter "Espace Carrières") is based on a platform operated on behalf of Héma-Québec by a third-party service provider. The purpose of Espace Carrières is to provide information on posted employment offers available at Héma-Québec. Nothing on Espace Carrières constitutes an offer of employment or an obligation on the part of Héma-Québec to contact you with respect to an application for employment that you may submit in response to a job posting. Any individual or legal entity who submits a curriculum vitae (hereinafter "CV") through Espace Carrières on behalf of a candidate does so accepting the following: a) the CV will become the property of Héma-Québec; and b) in the absence of a contract signed by Héma-Québec with an employment agency for the position for which the CV is submitted, Héma-Québec will have the right to recruit the candidate at its discretion and without having to pay any fees to the individual or legal entity (including the employment agency) submitting the CV. Please note that the Espace Carrières site is an integral part of the Website. You can consult the supplier's privacy policy at the following link: https://carrieres.hema-quebec.qc.ca/TGNewUI/PrivacyPolicy.html


Héma-Québec may, at any time and without notice, at its sole discretion, modify these Terms of Use as well as any other information contained on the Website. Héma-Québec may also make improvements or changes to the products, services or programs described on this Website at any time without notice. By continuing to use this Website following any modification or update that has been or may be made to it, you will be deemed to have accepted, as modified, the new Terms, including any new terms or conditions that may have been added, and you will be bound by them.


The Website is controlled and operated by Héma-Québec from Montréal, Québec, Canada. These Terms of Use, the Website and its use are governed by the laws of the Province of Quebec and the laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to principles of conflict of laws. In the event of any dispute or controversy arising out of the application or interpretation of the Terms of Use of this Website or the use of this Website and its Content in any manner whatsoever, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the Province of Quebec (Canada) and the Federal Court of Canada. You further agree not to bring any action or proceeding outside of Montreal, Quebec, Canada in connection with any such dispute or controversy.


In the event that any of these Terms of Use shall be declared or deemed unenforceable, void or invalid by any competent judicial or administrative authority in any manner whatsoever, all other Terms shall remain in full force, effect and enforceable.


In the event of a discrepancy between the different language versions of this Website, the French version shall prevail.

The headings of the sections of these Terms of Use are inserted for convenience of reference only and shall not be used to interpret them.

Certain items, documents, information, products, software and services offered through the Website may be subject to additional, specific or different terms, conditions and notices than these Terms of Use. In the event of any inconsistency, such additional, specific or different terms, conditions and notices shall take precedence over these Terms of Use.

All rights reserved to Héma-Québec.

The Terms and Conditions come into force on December 12, 2023.