Privacy

You should not have to trade privacy for legal help. This page explains, plainly, what personal information this site and this office collect, what it is used for, and the rights you have over it. For clients, everything here sits under a stronger layer: professional secrecy.

What is collected

If you contact the office — by phone, email or a form — I collect what you provide: your name, contact details, and what you tell me about your situation. If you become a client, your file contains the documents and information needed to represent you. The website itself is designed to collect as little as possible; it does not require an account and is not a place to upload documents.

What it is used for

Information you provide is used for exactly one purpose: responding to you and, if a mandate follows, representing you. It is not sold, rented, or shared for marketing. It is disclosed only where the mandate requires it (for example, filing with a tribunal), where you instruct it, or where the law compels it — and for privileged information, only within the narrow limits the law allows.

Professional secrecy

Communications made to seek legal advice are protected by professional secrecy, from the first contact and regardless of whether you become a client. This protection belongs to you, not to me: as a rule, only you can waive it. It is among the strongest confidentiality protections in Canadian law, and it is the standard this office works to.

How information is kept

Client files are kept confidentially and retained for the periods required by the professional obligations of the Barreau du Québec, after which they are destroyed securely. Reasonable safeguards — technical and practical — protect information against loss and unauthorized access. Quebec's private-sector privacy law gives you rights of access and correction over your personal information.

Your rights and questions

You can ask what information this office holds about you, ask that it be corrected, and ask questions about anything on this page. The person responsible for personal information in this practice is me, Rachel Bourbeau. The simplest route is the office number: 438 226-3600.

A note for people in a procedure

Some visitors to this site worry about being seen contacting a lawyer. Contacting a lawyer is legal, protected, and invisible to the tribunals and agencies handling your file. No part of your immigration file is notified because you called this office.