Student Privacy Notice

About this notice

This notice provides important information about the collection, use, and disclosure (collectively, “processing”) of the personal information you provide to the University of Winnipeg (“UWinnipeg”) in relation to your application for admissions and at time of registration. It also informs you of your privacy rights. Please read it carefully. If there is anything in this notice you do not understand or if you have questions regarding privacy, please contact UWinnipeg’s Data Privacy and Compliance Office at privacy@uwinnipeg.ca or call 204.988.7538.

What is personal information?

Personal information (also known as “personal data”) means any recorded information which relates to you as an identifiable individual. This includes information which identifies you by name, email address, or other identifier. It also includes information which does not identify you explicitly but, when combined with other information reasonably available, may allow you to be identified. Information which cannot be used to identify you, including information where your identity has been removed, is not considered personal information.

Who is responsible for my personal information?

UWinnipeg is responsible for the processing of student personal information collected in relation to the admissions and registration functions. We are the “controller” of this information. Our contact information is 515 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9. For certain tasks, we engage with other organizations to assist us in this work, which are known as “processors”. We will seek to inform you, whether through this notice or through additional, specific notices, of our use of processors.

What personal information do you collect about me?

We collect your personal information in order to process your application for admissions and for registration. This collection is done under the University of Winnipeg Act and 36(1)(b) of Manitoba's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. If you are admitted to UWinnipeg, we will then use this information to prepare your UWinnipeg accounts and carry out other important tasks. The information collected includes your:

• Citizenship and status (citizen, permanent resident, or refugee)
• Contact information such as name, title, mailing address, phone number, and email address
• IP address
• Date of birth
• Social insurance number
• Gender
• Emergency contact information (ensure your contact person consents to this processing)
• Demographic information such as languages spoken and Aboriginal ancestry
• Educational information such as academic credentials, past institutions attended, courses and grades, and withdrawal status
• Financial information (for fee payments)
• Supporting information such as transcripts and translated documents
• For graduate and PACE students, additional supporting information such as your interest in your chosen program, resume, sample of academic written work, and letters of recommendation

Except where an element of personal information is marked as optional, we must collect the above information. If you do not provide the information requested, we may not be able to process your application or register you for courses. Where we ask for any special information, such as your ethnicity or personal health information, we may seek a separate consent to process that information. You may withdraw your consent at any time. However, any such withdrawal is not retroactive. We will not use your personal information to carry out automated decision making that has a legal or similarly significant effect on you.

On what basis will you process my personal information?

We will only process your personal information for lawful purposes related to the University’s educational, research, and development functions, predicated on one or more of the following legal bases:

• Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract (e.g., the contract formed between you and UWinnipeg)
• Processing is necessary for UWinnipeg’s legitimate interests or the interests of a third party
• Processing is predicated on consent
• Processing is necessary for vital interests (e.g., to protect someone’s life)

How will you process my personal information?

As you fill out your application or register for courses, your personal information is transferred and stored on our servers located in Canada. We employ security safeguards to protect this information during transfer and at rest. Once we have your information, we will only process it where we are permitted to do so under law.

If your application is successful, we will process your personal information for admissions, registration, awards, student records, library services, alumni services, university research/analysis, and other functions related to being a member of the UWinnipeg community.

Specific examples of processing include:

Will you transfer my personal information to others?

Most of your personal information is processed by UWinnipeg at servers located in Winnipeg, and is not shared with outside entities. However, some information is transferred to third party service providers located elsewhere in Canada or in the United States. This involves the transfer and storage of your personal information outside of Manitoba. While adequacy decisions and reasonable safeguards apply to these transfers, foreign jurisdictions may have different privacy laws than Manitoba. As such, please note your personal information may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement according to local laws.

We will also share your personal information with certain third parties which are not performing data processing services for UWinnipeg, but otherwise support the student experience. These include the University of Winnipeg Students’ Association (“UWSA”), the University of Winnipeg Foundation, other universities (e.g., if you apply to a joint program), health insurance providers (as applicable), and government departments and agencies. We will only share your information where permitted under law.

If you have questions regarding UWinnipeg’s transferring of your personal information, please contact privacy@uwinnipeg.ca or call 204.988.7538. Example service providers are listed in the table below.

Examples of transfers include:

 OTHER RECIPIENTS

How long will you retain my personal information?

If you are successful in your application, most of the personal information you provide is retained permanently. We will use this information to create a record of your time at UWinnipeg, produce transcripts, answer any questions you may have regarding your studies, assess your academic record if you pursue further studies at UWinnipeg, and carry out other necessary functions. For personal information not retained permanently, we consider applicable business and legal requirements to determine an appropriate retention period. If you are not successful in your application or abandon your application, we will normally keep your information for a year and then delete it. Questions regarding the retention of your personal information can be addressed to privacy@uwinnipeg.ca or call 204.988.7538.

What are my privacy rights?

Subject to exceptions and limitations under law, you have the right to:

• Request access to your personal information
• Request correction to your personal information if you believe there is an error or omission
• Request we delete or remove your personal information if you believe the information is no longer necessary in relation to the purpose for which it was collected or otherwise processed, or for other permitted reasons
• Object to the processing of your personal information
• Request we restrict the processing of your personal information (e.g., if you ask us to suspend processing until your access or correction request is fulfilled)
• Request we transfer your personal information to another party

If you wish to exercise these rights, please contact the Data Privacy and Compliance Office at privacy@uwinnipeg.ca or call 204.988.7538. If you believe your rights have been violated you may also lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, such as the Manitoba Ombudsman or, for residents of the European Economic Area, your appropriate data protection authority.

Additional notice regarding Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada provides the following notice, for the purpose of informing students of the provision of their personal information to Statistics Canada for statistical purposes:

Statistics Canada is the national statistical agency. As such, Statistics Canada carries out hundreds of surveys each year on a wide range of matters, including education.

It is essential to be able to follow students across time and institutions to understand, for example, the factors affecting enrolment demand at postsecondary institutions. The increased emphasis on accountability for public investment means that it is also important to understand 'outcomes'. In order to conduct such studies, Statistics Canada asks all colleges and universities to provide data on students and graduates. Institutions collect and provide to Statistics Canada student identification information (student's name, student ID number, Social Insurance Number), student contact information (address and telephone number), student demographic characteristics, and enrolment information.

The federal Statistics Act provides the legal authority for Statistics Canada to obtain access to personal information held by educational institutions. The information may be used for statistical purposes only, and the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act prevent the information from being released in any way that would identify a student.

Students may contact Statistics Canada via e-mail if they have any questions: statcan.PSIS-SIEP.statcan@canada.ca.  

Are changes made to this notice?

This notice was last updated on September 21, 2023.