Pioneer Professional Accountants Inc.
Canadian Client Privacy Policy
Effective Date: January 1, 2026
1. Introduction
In this Privacy Policy, references to "Pioneer", "us", "we" or similar terms mean Pioneer Professional Accountants Inc. References to our "Affiliates" mean our related entities, including Tax Masters Professional Accountants Inc. (outside of Canada), Narang CPA Professional Corporation, and PPA Tax Partners LLP (outside of Canada).
We were founded on principles of trust, integrity, and the delivery of outstanding professional services. We are committed to client satisfaction and maintaining our clients' privacy. This is accomplished by a range of business procedures and security safeguards to ensure that your personal information is kept confidential, safe, and secure.
This Privacy Policy will help you better understand how we protect, collect, use, or disclose your personal information and your right to access and correct your information.
2. Application of this Policy
This Privacy Policy applies to your personal information collected, used, or disclosed by us to provide you with the products and services you requested. Consistent with applicable privacy laws, personal information means information about an identifiable individual.
This Privacy Policy does not apply to:
Publicly available information (e.g., telephone directories).
Business contact information used to communicate with you in a professional capacity.
Aggregated data that cannot be associated with an identifiable individual.
3. Why We Collect Personal Information
We collect the following personal information from you or your legally authorized representatives to provide the products and services that you request from us:
Tax Information: Information you enter on an income tax form, including your name, address, Social Insurance Number (SIN), and other identifying information, in addition to your tax and financial information.
Account Data: Information provided when you register for our Client Portal, sign in, or contact us for support.
Billing Data: Information for billing and payment purposes. Note that while we collect payment details to process transactions, full credit/debit card numbers are processed by our secure third-party payment providers and are not stored on our local systems.
Technical/Usage Data: Limited information collected via cookies or similar technologies to operate the Client Portal and customize website preferences.
We limit the collection of personal information to what is necessary to fulfill the product and service purposes that you identified to us. We collect this information to effectively provide requested services (including completing and filing your income tax return, establishing your identity, and complying with legal requirements).
Digital & Mobile Data: If you access our Services via a mobile device, we may collect unique device identifiers (IP address, device ID) and information about your interaction with our Portal. If you use a feature requiring identity verification (e.g., uploading a photo ID), we may collect biometric data (such as a facial scan) strictly for authentication purposes and with your explicit consent.
4. Consent to Collection, Use, or Disclosure
In accordance with the law, we may obtain your express consent in writing (e.g., via our Engagement Letter), electronically, or verbally.
Implied Consent: Your consent may be implied by an action you have taken (such as subscribing to a service), but only in circumstances that do not involve sensitive personal information.
Withdrawal: You can always refuse or withdraw your consent. However, doing so may mean we will be unable to provide you with the tax services you have requested.
U.S. Tax Returns: If we assist with U.S. tax return preparation, you may be asked to sign additional U.S.-law consent forms (IRS Section 7216) governing tax return information.
5. Disclosure of Personal Information
We do not sell or trade your personal information to third parties. We disclose your personal information only as described in this Privacy Policy, with your consent, or as permitted by law. Your personal information may be disclosed to:
Affiliates: To our Affiliates listed in Section 1 (Tax Masters Professional Accountants Inc. (outside of Canada), Narang CPA Professional Corporation, and PPA Tax Partners LLP (outside of Canada) to facilitate cross-border tax planning and processing.
Service Providers: To outside suppliers retained by us to perform specific functions, such as payment processing, data hosting, and secure document shredding.
Legal & Business Transactions: In the event we enter into a business transaction (e.g., merger, acquisition, or financing), subject to appropriate confidentiality protections and as permitted by law.
International Transfer Notice: Some of our Affiliates and service providers are located outside of Canada. Accordingly, personal information provided to these companies for processing may be stored outside of Canada and may be subject to the laws of those jurisdictions.
6. Data Retention Policy
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) generally requires supporting documents to be kept for at least six years from the end of the last tax year to which they relate. However, for service continuity and audit-support reasons, we generally retain client files for a rolling period of 8 years.
Rolling Retention: For ongoing clients, retention is measured from the completion of each specific engagement (e.g., the filing date of a return).
Legal Hold: We may retain data longer than 8 years where required by law or advisable for legal reasons (e.g., litigation, audits in progress, or unpaid accounts).
Disposal: Once the retention period expires and the data is no longer needed, it will be securely destroyed, erased, or made anonymous.
7. Security Safeguards
We protect personal information by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
Internal Access: We restrict access to personal information to those employees and Affiliates who need to access it to serve you.
External Access: We maintain physical security, password protection, and encryption to prevent unauthorized access by external parties.
8. Privacy Breach Response
In the event of a security incident involving personal information, we will take immediate steps to contain the breach and assess the risk of significant harm to individuals. In compliance with PIPEDA and provincial laws (including Quebec’s Law 25), we will:
Record Keeping: Maintain records of all breaches of security safeguards for at least 24 months and provide them to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) upon request.
Notification: Notify affected individuals and the relevant Privacy Commissioner(s) as soon as feasible if it is determined that the breach creates a real risk of significant harm.
9. Accessing and Managing Your Information
You may contact our Privacy Officer at any time to request access to your personal information, verify its accuracy, or request correction. We respond to access and correction requests within the timelines required by applicable law (generally within 30 days, subject to permitted extensions). We may extend timelines where permitted by law and will notify you if an extension applies.
Quebec Residents: If you are located in Quebec, you may request a copy (and, where applicable, transmission to an authorized third party) of certain computerized personal information we collected from you (excluding inferred/derived data), in a structured and commonly used technological format, subject to legal limits and practical feasibility.
Contact Information
Privacy Officer
Pioneer Professional Accountants Inc.
1243 Grand Marais Rd W Windsor, ON N9E 1E1,
Canada
Phone: 519-946-2921
10. Managing Electronic Communications
We will honour your choices regarding electronic communications.
Opt-Out: You can unsubscribe from marketing emails by clicking the "unsubscribe" link in any newsletter or by contacting us directly.
Service Messages: Even if you opt-out of marketing, we will continue to send mandatory service or transactional communications (e.g., "Tax Return Filed" notifications).
11. Cookies and Tracking
We use cookies and similar technologies to store visitor preferences and customize our website. You may configure your browser to reject cookies, but this may limit your access to certain functions on our Client Portal.
Do Not Track: Our systems do not currently respond to browser "Do Not Track" signals, as we do not use tracking for third-party advertising and our Client Portal requires certain functional cookies for security.
12. Accountability & Escalation
We are accountable and committed to compliance with this Privacy Policy. Our Privacy Officer oversees compliance. If you have any questions or complaints, please contact our Privacy Officer using the details provided above.
External Escalation: If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) and, if applicable, Quebec’s Commission d'accès à l'information.
13. Changes to this Policy
We may update this policy from time to time; any changes will be reflected with a new effective date. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.