Privacy Policy

Simple Money Advice for Canadians (SMAC)
Effective Date: 30 Sept 2026
Last Updated: 30 Sept 2026

1. Our Commitment to Privacy

Simple Money Advice for Canadians (“Sharon,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information entrusted to us.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain and safeguard personal information when you visit the Simple Money Advice for Canadians website, complete an assessment or form, use our educational tools or resources, communicate with us, or request information about services.

Our privacy practices are intended to comply with applicable Canadian privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) where applicable.

Canadian privacy principles require organizations to be accountable for personal information, identify why information is being collected, obtain appropriate consent, limit collection and use, protect information and provide individuals with access to their information. Office of the Privacy Commissioner

2. Who Is Responsible for Your Information?

SMAC is operated by Sharon Marie Cruz.

For purposes of this Privacy Policy, Sharon Marie Cruz is responsible for overseeing the privacy practices and responding to privacy questions, requests and complaints.

Privacy Contact:
Sharon Marie Cruz
Simple Money Advice for Canadians
Email: [email protected]

The OPC recommends identifying the person responsible for privacy and providing a way for individuals to contact that person. Office of the Privacy Commissioner

3. What Personal Information We May Collect

Depending on how you interact with our website, we may collect information such as:

name; email address; telephone number; province or territory; information voluntarily provided through forms, assessments, questionnaires or communications; household and family information; housing or mortgage-related information; debt ranges and general financial information; emergency savings information; insurance or protection information; areas of financial interest; appointment or inquiry information; communication and consent preferences;

information necessary to respond to requests for insurance or mortgage information; and technical information such as IP address, browser/device information, website activity and cookies or similar technologies, where applicable.

We aim to collect only information reasonably necessary for the purposes identified to you. Financial information can be sensitive personal information, and Canadian privacy guidance expects safeguards to reflect the sensitivity of the information being handled. Office of the Privacy Commissioner

4. Information Collected Through our Assessments and Tools

Simple Money Advice for Canadians may offer educational assessments, calculators, checklists, templates, questionnaires, and other financial education tools and resources.

Depending on the assessment or tool being used, individuals may voluntarily provide information relating to their financial circumstances, household situation, goals, priorities, areas of interest, or other information relevant to the educational experience being requested.

Information submitted through Simple Money Advice for Canadians assessments and tools may be used to:

generate educational results, summaries, or insights based on the information provided;

deliver requested results or resources;

provide educational information relevant to the individual's responses or selected areas of interest;

personalize educational content and communications;

identify Simple Money Advice for Canadians tools, resources, or topics that may be useful to the individual;

respond to questions or requests initiated by the individual; and

maintain appropriate records within our CRM.

Completing an assessment or using a Simple Money Advice for Canadians educational tool does not constitute an application for an insurance, mortgage, investment, or other financial product or service.

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Assessment results, calculations, summaries, and personalized insights are provided for educational and informational purposes only. They are based on the information voluntarily provided and may not consider all aspects of an individual's circumstances.

They are not intended to be a complete financial, insurance, mortgage, investment, legal, accounting, or tax analysis and do not constitute a recommendation, approval, guarantee of eligibility, guarantee of coverage, or guarantee of any particular financial outcome.

If an individual chooses to request personalized assistance or proceed with a financial product or service, additional information, documentation, consent, or authorization may be required.

5. Why We Collect and Use Personal Information

Simple Money Advice for Canadians collects and uses personal information only for reasonable purposes related to providing our educational tools, assessments, resources, communications, and services.

Personal information collected through Simple Money Advice for Canadians assessments, forms, tools, and other website features may be stored in our customer relationship management system (CRM) as a lead or prospect record.

The information may be used to:

generate and deliver requested assessment results or other requested information;

provide educational information related to an individual's assessment results or selected areas of interest;

provide relevant SMAC educational resources, tools, guides, checklists, and content;

personalize educational communications based on information or interests voluntarily provided;

respond to questions, inquiries, or requests initiated by the individual;

manage appointments or consultations requested by the individual;

maintain communication and consent preferences;

administer and improve SMAC assessments, tools, resources, and website experiences;

maintain appropriate business, privacy, security, and compliance records; and

comply with applicable legal or regulatory requirements.

Information collected through an assessment, form, or educational tool is intended primarily to provide the requested results, educational information, resources, and related communications.

Completing an assessment, using a Simple Money Advice for Canadians tool, submitting a form, or selecting an area of interest does not automatically constitute an application for or request to purchase an insurance, mortgage, investment, or other financial product or service.

Simple Money Advice for Canadians will not use assessment responses or areas of interest to automatically submit an application or provide personal information to an insurer, lender, mortgage provider, or other financial product provider.

If an individual decides that they would like personalized assistance, a consultation, an application, or another service, they may choose to contact SMAC or request that service. Any additional information, consent, authorization, or documentation required to provide that service will be obtained as appropriate before proceeding.

Where consent is required for educational, marketing, or promotional communications, those communications will only be sent in accordance with the individual's communication preferences and applicable Canadian requirements.

Personal information will not be used for a materially different purpose without appropriate notice or consent where required by applicable law.

6. Consent

We seek meaningful consent appropriate to the nature and sensitivity of the information and the purposes for which it will be collected, used or disclosed.

By voluntarily submitting information through the website, you consent to its collection, use and disclosure for the purposes identified when you provide it and as described in this Privacy Policy, subject to applicable law.

Where information is sensitive or a proposed use falls outside an individual's reasonable expectations, express consent may be appropriate. Office of the Privacy Commissioner

You may withdraw consent to certain uses of your personal information, subject to legal, regulatory, contractual or reasonable notice requirements. Withdrawal may affect our ability to provide certain services or requested functionality.

7. Email and SMS Communications

Simple Money Advice for Canadians distinguishes between communications needed to provide something you requested and promotional or marketing communications.

Where required, we obtain appropriate consent before sending commercial electronic messages.

Marketing consent is optional and is not required simply to receive requested assessment results where those communications can lawfully be provided without marketing consent.

Commercial electronic messages sent by SMAC will comply with applicable requirements of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (“CASL”), including applicable requirements concerning consent, sender identification and unsubscribe mechanisms.

You may withdraw marketing consent at any time using the unsubscribe mechanism provided or, for SMS where offered, by replying STOP.

CASL applies to commercial email and SMS communications and generally requires consent, identification information and a functioning unsubscribe mechanism. Unsubscribe requests must generally be acted upon within 10 business days. CRTC

8. When We May Share Personal Information

Simple Money Advice for Canadians does not sell, rent, or trade personal information.

Personal information collected through Simple Money Advice for Canadians assessments, forms, educational tools, website interactions, and communications may be maintained within our CRM as a lead or prospect record. It may be used to provide requested results, educational information and resources, relevant follow-up communications, and information related to interests voluntarily identified by the individual.

Assessment responses, areas of interest, or other information provided through Simple Money Advice for Canadians are not automatically submitted or provided to insurance companies, lenders, mortgage providers, or other financial product or service providers simply because an individual completed an assessment, used a tool, submitted a form, or expressed an interest in a particular topic.

If an individual chooses to request personalized assistance or proceed with an insurance, mortgage, investment, or other financial product or service, personal information may be provided to the appropriate insurer, managing general agency, mortgage brokerage, lender, financial institution, or other authorized organization only as reasonably necessary to respond to or process the individual's request and after any required consent or authorization has been obtained.

Simple Money Advice for Canadians may use authorized technology and service providers to operate and support our website, CRM, hosting, email, SMS, appointment scheduling, data storage, security, and related systems. These providers may process or store personal information as necessary to provide their services. Their role in providing technology or administrative infrastructure does not mean that an individual's information has been submitted for an insurance, mortgage, investment, or other financial product or service.

Where service providers process personal information on our behalf, we expect personal information to be handled only for authorized purposes and subject to appropriate privacy and security safeguards.

Personal information may also be disclosed where required or permitted by applicable law, regulation, court order, legal process, regulatory requirement, or other lawful authority.

Simple Money Advice for Canadians seeks to limit the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information to what is reasonably necessary for the identified purpose.

Unless an individual chooses to request a financial product or service, information provided to Simple Money Advice for Canadians through its assessments, tools, forms, and educational resources remains part of the Simple Money Advice for Canadians educational and communication relationship and is not automatically used to initiate a financial product application.

9. Service Providers and Processing Outside Canada

Some technology providers or service providers used by Simple Money Advice for Canadians may store or process information outside your province or outside Canada.

When personal information is processed in another jurisdiction, it may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction and may be accessible to courts, governments, law-enforcement or regulatory authorities in accordance with applicable law.

Where required, Simple Money Advice for Canadians uses reasonable measures to protect information handled by service providers.

10. Cookies, Analytics and Website Technologies

Simple Money Advice for Canadians may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website, remember preferences, understand website usage, improve functionality and measure website performance.

Depending on the technologies enabled on the website, third-party services may also collect technical information such as IP address, device information, browser information, referring pages and website interactions.

Where required, appropriate notice or consent will be provided.

Canadian privacy guidance recommends that website privacy policies explain cookies and other non-visible tracking technologies used by the website. Office of the Privacy Commissioner

11. How We Protect Personal Information

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information under our control.

These may include access controls, passwords, secure technology platforms, restricted access to personal information and appropriate organizational procedures.

However, no internet transmission or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

PIPEDA does not prescribe one particular security technology; safeguards should instead be appropriate to the sensitivity, quantity, distribution, format and storage of the information. Office of the Privacy Commissioner

12. How Long We Keep Personal Information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and to satisfy applicable legal, regulatory, compliance, contractual or record-keeping requirements.

When personal information is no longer reasonably required, it may be securely destroyed, deleted or anonymized, subject to applicable retention obligations.

PIPEDA's limiting-use principle requires organizations to have retention and destruction practices rather than keeping personal information indefinitely without a purpose. Office of the Privacy Commissioner

13. Accuracy of Information

We take reasonable steps to keep personal information as accurate, complete and current as necessary for the purposes for which it is used.

You may contact us if you believe information we hold about you should be corrected or updated.

14. Accessing or Correcting Your Personal Information

Subject to applicable law and permitted exceptions, you may request:

information about whether we hold personal information about you;

access to your personal information;

information about how it has been used or disclosed; and

correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

Canadian privacy law generally gives individuals rights to access personal information held about them and challenge its accuracy. Office of the Privacy Commissioner

15. Privacy and Children

SMAC's financial assessments and financial-service inquiry forms are intended for adults who are legally able to request the applicable services.

We do not knowingly seek to collect personal information directly from children through these forms.

If we become aware that personal information was collected from a child contrary to applicable requirements, we will take appropriate steps consistent with applicable law.

16. Links to Other Websites

The Simple Money Advice for Canadians website may contain links to websites or services operated by third parties.

Simple Money Advice for Canadians does not control the privacy practices of independent third parties. When you leave the Simple Money Advice for Canadians website, you should review the privacy policy of the website or service you visit.

17. Security and Privacy Incidents

If a privacy or security incident involving personal information occurs, we will assess and respond to the incident in accordance with applicable legal requirements, including applicable notification, reporting and record-keeping obligations.

18. Your Privacy Choices

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you may:

withdraw certain consent;

unsubscribe from marketing communications;

request access to personal information;

request correction of personal information;

ask questions about how your information is handled; or

raise a privacy concern or complaint.

These rights may be subject to lawful exceptions and retention requirements.

19. Privacy Questions and Complaints

Questions, access requests or concerns about SMAC's privacy practices may be directed to:

Privacy Officer
Sharon Marie Cruz
Simple Money Advice for Canadians
Email: [email protected]
Website: smac.sharoncruz.ca

We will review privacy concerns and respond as appropriate.

Individuals may also have the right to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or another applicable privacy regulator regarding a privacy concern.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

20. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in Simple Money Advice for Canadians' services, technology, information-handling practices or legal requirements.

The current version will be posted on this website with an updated Last Updated date. Material changes may be communicated through additional notice where appropriate.