Privacy Policy

This policy applies to our web platform at www.villages-relais.qc.ca, and is intended for individuals who visit our website for information, subscribers to our social media channels who participate to our contests, municipal officials responsible for Villages-relais files, members of the FVRQ Board of Directors, and staff who access the member platform. However, please note that the rights and obligations described in this Policy do not extend to third-party websites that may be linked to or mentioned on our platform. These third-party websites have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to read carefully.

1 - Personal data

For the purposes of this policy, the term 'Personal data' refers to any information about an individual, including data that can be used alone or combined with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person. Personal information may include business contact details, such as your name, title, or professional contact information.

2 - Collecting personal data

The personal data we collect may include, but is not limited to:

• Your contact details such as your name, mailing address, or telephone number, in order to identify and correspond with you;
• Your professional information such as your position, organization, employer, geographic location (territory and municipality), biography, and links to external websites or social networks mentioning you;
• Your login information such as the date of your registration on the platform, your username, email address, and password;
• Information about your use of the platform such as usage dates or your interactions with other users;
• Marketing information and communication preferences, as well as your feedback;
• Any other personal information you have provided to us.

3 - The Village-relais Program and our activities

« This section applies to Villages-relais representatives and other FVRQ partners ».

The FVRQ collects personal and professional data as part of its monitoring of the Villages-relais program. Representatives, mayors, elected officials, and other individuals designated by their municipality may be required to provide certain personal and professional details (names, physical addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, the organization for which the person works, etc.).

Users may be asked to share their personal information:

• When creating an account, to access the member area of our website;
• When establishing and integrating a new Villages-relais;
• When registering for an event organized by the FVRQ;
• When submitting a candidacy file for the Prix Inspiration.

As part of our work, we may share your personal information with trusted partners, such as the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. Only the information required to carry out our work is used.

4 - Automated data collection

« This section applies to all users who access the villages-relais.qc.ca website ».

When a user visits www.villages-relais.qc.ca, the user’s computer and the FVRQ server automatically exchange data. Session cookies are present at each connection. A user may refuse session cookies and may still browse the FVRQ website without issue. Please note that this exchange of information does not in any way allow for the personal identification of a user. The data collected includes:

• Identification of the Internet service provider (domain name);
• IP address, the numerical address that identifies and locates the user’s computer;
• Browser (Chrome, Explorer, etc.) and operating system (Windows, Mac OS, etc.) used for navigation;
• Date and time of access to the site;
• Web pages visited;
• The address of the site that referred the user to the FVRQ website, if applicable.

This information is used anonymously for statistical purposes, such as identifying the most frequently visited pages. For this purpose, Google Analytics, a web analysis tool, enables the FVRQ to produce reports on site navigation. There is a browser add-on available to disable Google Analytics, which prevents Google Analytics from recording data about user visits. However, any user wishing to access the member platform must necessarily accept session cookies, as this information is essential for its use.

5 - Personal data sharing

The FVRQ does not rent or sell any of your personal information to third parties and will not share it with third parties without your consent, unless required by the law or for reasons outlined below. In the course of our work, we may share your personal data with our employees and trusted partners, such as the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility. Only the information necessary to carry out our work is used, and only personal data obtained with your consent is shared. We may also share your personal data if required by law or if we believe in good faith that such action is necessary to:

1. Comply with the law;
2. Comply with an order from a competent judicial authority;
3. Comply with legal proceedings served to the FVRQ;
4. Protect and defend the rights or property of the FVRQ;
5. Prevent fraud or any other illegal activity carried out through the platform;
6. Act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of platform users or the general public.

6 - Security protocol

No personal data is shared via unsecured email. Likewise, please do not transmit any information by email unless the connection is secure. A connection is considered secure when the address displayed in the browser’s address bar begins with 'HTTPS' and the security seal (closed padlock or key) is shown by your browser.

The FVRQ uses the HTTPS protocol (128-bit encryption) in its online services. This protocol encrypts Internet communication (TCP/IP) between the browser and the FVRQ web server to ensure confidentiality. All content exchanged in this communication is encrypted during transmission and decrypted upon receipt. Since the communication is bidirectional, the browser and the web server alternately act as transmitter and receiver.

7 - Hosting your data

Your personal data may be kept by the FVRQ servers in regions outside your province, territory, or country of residence, including Canada, the United States, and the province of Québec. The FVRQ may also subcontract the processing or share your personal data with third parties located elsewhere, in regions outside your province, territory, or country of residence. In such cases, we will limit access to personal data by these third parties to what is necessary to perform the tasks assigned to them.

We also make every effort to establish contractual agreements with these agents and service providers to ensure the confidentiality and security of your personal data. This may include the implementation of strong and effective security measures. Furthermore, the FVRQ will ensure that your personal data is adequately protected through the appropriate technical, organizational, and legal means.

8 - How long do we keep your personal data

Personal data will be retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected or as required by the law. At the end of this period, these data will be destroyed or anonymized.

To determine the appropriate retention period for your personal data, we take into account the quantity, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm resulting from unauthorized use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether those purposes can be achieved through other means, as well as applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or other requirements.

9 - Protecting your personal data

The Fédération des Villages-relais has implemented security measures to protect your personal data. The standard security measures we use depend on the type of information collected. However, the FVRQ employs electronic, physical, and procedural safeguards to protect your personal data. We also encourage you to exercise caution when browsing the Internet, including refraining from sharing your passwords.

10 - External link

External websites to which a user may be redirected are entirely managed by third parties. The FVRQ cannot guarantee the quality or overall content of these sites. No verification is conducted regarding the security or privacy practices of these websites. The links provided are intended solely to facilitate information searches and do not imply any responsibility on the part of the FVRQ. Once a user clicks on these hyperlinks, this Privacy Policy no longer applies.

11 - Your rights as a user

The FVRQ ensures the protection of the personal data you entrust to us. If a user voluntarily provides personal or highly confidential information to a member of the FVRQ team, through an electronic form or email, only the information required to respond to your request will be used. The FVRQ treats electronic correspondence with the same confidentiality measures as other written documents.

The Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information grants users the following rights:

• Respect for the confidentiality of your personal data;
• Access to your personal data;
• Removal of your personal data from our databases;
• Rectification of your personal data if it is incomplete, inaccurate, ambiguous, or if its collection, disclosure, or retention is not authorized by law.

For any questions regarding the processing or updating of your personal information, or to share any concerns in this regard, please contact the FVRQ’s Privacy Officer:

Mr. Patrick Noel
Privacy Officer
Fédération des Villages-relais du Québec
info@villages-relais.qc.ca
1-819-839-3444

The Privacy Officer will respond within thirty (30) days of receiving your request.

12 - Privacy Policy Updates

Our Privacy Policy will be updated periodically to meet the needs of website users, municipal officials responsible for the Villages-relais program, members of the FVRQ Board of Directors, and staff who can access the member platform.

Policy publication date: November 29, 2023
Last update: December 18, 2025