Urban Pharmacy ("we," "us," "our") is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of the personal information and personal health information entrusted to us by our patients, customers, and website visitors.

 

This statement explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and the rights you have with respect to it. Our practices are governed by Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and the standards of practice of the Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP).

1. Our role as a health information custodian

 

Under PHIPA, Urban Pharmacy is a health information custodian. Our pharmacists and staff who handle personal health information do so as our agents, and are bound by the same obligations of confidentiality and security described in this statement.

Where we handle personal information in the course of commercial activity that is not personal health information — for example, supplier contacts, retail purchases, or job applications — PIPEDA applies.

 

2. Information we collect

 

Personal health information may include:

• Name, date of birth, gender, address, telephone number, and email address

• Ontario Health Card number and other health plan or insurance identifiers

• Prescription and medication history, including refills, dosage, and directions

• Allergies, medical conditions, lab values, and other clinical information relevant to your care

• Records of pharmacy services provided (medication reviews, injections, minor-ailment assessments, vaccinations, compliance packaging, delivery)

• Information about your primary care provider, prescriber, or substitute decision-maker

• Correspondence with you or your circle of care, including phone calls, faxes, secure messages, and text messages

 

Other personal information may include:

• Payment and billing details, including third-party insurance plan information

• Delivery addresses and instructions

• Information you provide through our website, contact forms, or online refill requests

 

Information collected automatically on our website:

• IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, and referring pages

• Cookies and similar technologies used to operate the site and understand how it is used

 

We collect information directly from you wherever possible. We may also collect it from your prescriber, another pharmacy, a hospital or clinic, your insurer, or provincial systems such as the Digital Health Drug Repository, where permitted or required by law.

 

3. Why we collect and use your information

We collect, use, and disclose personal health information to:

• Dispense prescriptions accurately and safely, including screening for drug interactions, allergies, duplication, and dosage appropriateness

• Provide clinical services such as medication reviews, immunizations, minor-ailment assessments, prescribing, and pharmacist consultations

• Communicate with you about your prescriptions, refills, and appointments

• Communicate with your prescriber and other members of your circle of care

• Bill and obtain payment from you, the Ontario Drug Benefit program, or your private insurer

• Maintain records as required by the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, and OCP standards

• Comply with legal, regulatory, inspection, and reporting obligations

• Manage, evaluate, and improve our services, including quality assurance and risk management

We use other personal information to operate our business, respond to your inquiries, process payments, and, with your consent, send you service updates or promotional messages.

 

4. Consent

Implied consent within the circle of care. Under PHIPA, we may assume your implied consent to collect, use, and disclose your personal health information for the purpose of providing or assisting in the provision of health care to you, unless you tell us otherwise.

Express consent. We obtain your express consent for uses and disclosures outside your circle of care — for example, disclosing information to an employer, a lawyer, a family member who is not your substitute decision-maker, or for marketing purposes.

Withdrawing consent. You may withdraw or limit your consent at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer, subject to legal and record-keeping requirements. Withdrawing consent may affect our ability to provide certain services, and we will explain any such consequences to you. You may also instruct us to withhold or restrict specific information from other health care providers (a "lockbox"). In that case, we will notify the recipient that information has been withheld, without revealing its content.

Marketing communications. Where we send commercial electronic messages, we do so in accordance with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). Every such message includes a means of unsubscribing.

 

5. When we may disclose information without consent

PHIPA and other laws permit or require disclosure without consent in limited circumstances, including:

• To eliminate or reduce a significant risk of serious bodily harm to a person or group

• To the Ontario College of Pharmacists or another regulatory college for investigation or inspection

• To the Ministry of Health for payment, administration, or monitoring of publicly funded programs

• To public health authorities for mandatory reporting, including reportable diseases and adverse events

• To Health Canada or the OCP in relation to controlled substances, losses, or thefts

• In response to a court order, summons, warrant, or other legal requirement

• To the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario

 

6. How we protect your information

We maintain administrative, physical, and technical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, including:

• Staff confidentiality agreements and privacy training, with access limited to what each role requires

• Restricted access to dispensary areas, prescription records, and secure storage of paper records

• Password-protected, access-controlled pharmacy management systems with audit logging

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest for our electronic systems, including secure fax, telephone, and messaging infrastructure

• Written agreements with service providers requiring privacy and security protections consistent with PHIPA and PIPEDA

• Secure destruction of records at the end of their retention period, by shredding or certified secure disposal

Where your information is stored. Your pharmacy and prescription records are stored on our pharmacy management system (Fillware), which is hosted locally on secure equipment inside the pharmacy in Mississauga, Ontario. Records are not stored on servers outside Canada. Access is restricted to authorized staff with individual credentials, the system is physically secured within the dispensary, and backups are encrypted and retained under the same controls.

 

7. Retention

We retain prescription and pharmacy records for the periods required by Ontario law and OCP standards — generally at least ten (10) years from the date of the last entry, or ten years past the patient's eighteenth birthday, whichever is longer. Records are securely destroyed once retention obligations have expired.

 

8. Privacy breaches

If personal health information in our custody is stolen, lost, or used or disclosed without authorization, we will notify you at the first reasonable opportunity, and will notify the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and the Ontario College of Pharmacists where required by PHIPA.

 

9. Your rights

You have the right to:

• Access your records of personal health information and receive a copy, subject to limited exceptions under PHIPA. We will respond within 30 days, or explain any permitted extension. A reasonable cost-recovery fee may apply, and we will give you an estimate in advance.

• Correct information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. If we decline a correction, we will tell you why, and you may attach a statement of disagreement to your record.

• Withdraw or limit consent, as described above.

• Ask questions or make a complaint about our privacy practices.

• Know to whom your information has been disclosed, where we are able to provide that.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer. We may ask you to make your request in writing and to verify your identity.

 

10. Website, cookies, and third-party services

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, remember your preferences, and understand aggregate usage. You can disable cookies through your browser settings, though some features may not function properly.

Our site may use third-party services such as analytics providers, hosting providers, or online refill tools. These providers process information on our behalf under contractual privacy obligations. Our site may also link to external websites, which are governed by their own privacy policies and are not under our control.

Please do not send personal health information by unsecured email or through our website contact form. If you choose to communicate with us by email or text message, you acknowledge that these channels are not fully secure. Contact us by telephone or in person for anything involving your prescriptions or health information.

 

11. Changes to this statement

We may update this statement from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or in the law. The current version will always be posted on our website and available in the pharmacy, with the effective date shown at the top.

 

12. How to contact us

Privacy Officer Urban Pharmacy 900 Rathburn Road West, Unit B-4 Mississauga, Ontario L5C 4L4

Telephone: 905-897-2210 Fax: 905-568-4988 Email: admin@urbanrx.ca

Pharmacy hours: Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; closed Sunday.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your concern, you may contact:

Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario 2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400, Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8 Telephone: 416-326-3333 / Toll-free 1-800-387-0073 Website: ipc.on.ca

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada 30 Victoria Street, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 1H3 Toll-free: 1-800-282-1376 Website: priv.gc.ca

Ontario College of Pharmacists 483 Huron Street, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2R4 Telephone: 416-962-4861 / Toll-free 1-800-220-1921 Website: ocpinfo.com