Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 4, 2026

Carpenter Bee (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates carpenterbee.ca, a classified directory for Ontario construction, renovation and trades businesses. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information in compliance with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), and applicable provincial privacy laws including Quebec’s Law 25, British Columbia’s PIPA, and Alberta’s PIPA.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, and what choices you have. By using carpenterbee.ca, you consent to the practices described here.

Information you provide directly. When you register as a contractor, post a listing, leave a review, contact us, or make a payment, we collect: name, email address, phone number, business name, business address (including Ontario municipality), HST number if applicable, photos, descriptions of services, payment details (processed by our payment provider — we never store full card numbers), and any other information you choose to share.

Information collected automatically. When you visit our website, we automatically receive your IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, pages visited, time on pages, referring URL, and approximate location at the city or region level. This is collected through cookies, log files and similar technologies described in Section 5.

Information from third parties. If you sign in through Google or another third-party authentication service, we receive basic profile information (name, email) in accordance with your privacy settings on that service. If you arrive via a referral, we may know the referring source.

Under PIPEDA, we collect personal information only for purposes a reasonable person would consider appropriate. We use the information we collect to:

• Provide and operate the platform — display listings, process payments, enable communication between homeowners and contractors.
• Send transactional communications such as account confirmations, payment receipts, HST invoices and listing expiry notices. These are required for service operation under PIPEDA and exempted from CASL consent requirements.
• Send marketing communications (newsletters, platform updates, tips) only with your express consent, as required by CASL. You can withdraw consent anytime — every marketing email includes a clear unsubscribe link that we honour within 10 business days.
• Improve the platform — analyze how visitors use the site, identify and fix technical issues, develop new features.
• Prevent fraud, abuse and violations of our terms or applicable law.
• Comply with legal obligations, including the Excise Tax Act (HST), the Income Tax Act, court orders and lawful requests from regulatory authorities.

We do not verify contractor credentials. Carpenter Bee is a classified directory — we do not vet or screen contractor licences, insurance, WSIB coverage or workmanship. The information contractors provide in listings is their own representation, and we are not responsible for confirming it. See our Safety Policy for details.

Information you include in your public contractor listing (business name, photos, services, address, phone, email, website) is visible to all visitors of carpenterbee.ca and may be indexed by search engines like Google.

Reviews you leave on contractor listings are public and attributed to the name you choose to display. Do not include private, sensitive or confidential information in public listings or reviews. Once published, you can request edits or deletion through our contact form.

We comply with Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). Specifically:

• We send commercial electronic messages (marketing emails, newsletters) only with your express consent — typically by checking an opt-in box during signup or on a newsletter form. We never pre-check consent boxes.
• Every commercial email includes our full business identification, a valid mailing address, and a working unsubscribe mechanism that takes effect within 10 business days.
• Transactional emails (payment receipts, account notifications, listing expiry reminders) are exempt from CASL consent rules because they relate directly to the service you’ve requested.
• We do not use deceptive subject lines, false sender information, or hidden links.
• We retain records of consent and consent withdrawals as required by CASL.

We use cookies and similar technologies to remember your preferences, keep you signed in, analyze traffic, and measure marketing effectiveness:

• Strictly necessary cookies — required for the website to function (login state, security, shopping cart, payment processing). Cannot be disabled without breaking site functionality.
• Analytics cookies (such as Google Analytics) — help us understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it. Aggregated and anonymized where possible.
• Marketing cookies — used to show you relevant ads on other websites. Only set when you’ve consented through our cookie banner.

You can manage cookie preferences through our cookie banner, in your browser settings (most browsers let you block or delete cookies), or by visiting opt-out pages of major ad networks. Disabling essential cookies may break parts of the website.

We share personal information only with trusted third-party providers who help us operate the platform. Each provider receives only the data necessary to perform their function and is bound by confidentiality and data-protection obligations. Categories include:

• Payment processors (e.g., Stripe) — to process credit card payments securely.
• Hosting providers — to store and serve the website.
• Email delivery services — to send transactional and consented marketing emails.
• Analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics) — to measure site usage in aggregate.
• Customer support tools — to manage your inquiries efficiently.
• Legal and regulatory authorities — when required by law, court order, or to protect our legal rights.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

Some of our service providers may store or process data outside Canada — particularly in the United States or the European Union. When personal information crosses Canadian borders, it remains subject to this Privacy Policy and PIPEDA, but may also be accessible to foreign law enforcement under the laws of those jurisdictions.

By using Carpenter Bee, you understand and accept that your information may be transferred and stored outside Canada. We select providers with strong data-protection practices and contractual safeguards.

We protect your data using industry-standard safeguards: HTTPS encryption in transit, encryption at rest where possible, firewalls, role-based access controls, regular security updates, and monitored backups. While no system is completely immune to risk, we work continuously to maintain appropriate security.

Retention periods:

• Active account data — retained while your account is active.
• Payment and tax records — retained for at least 6 years as required by the Canada Revenue Agency.
• Marketing consent records — retained for the period required by CASL.
• Analytics data — typically anonymized or aggregated after 26 months.
• Closed-account data — retained for limited periods to comply with legal, tax or fraud-prevention requirements, then deleted or anonymized.

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to access — request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to correction — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to withdraw consent — withdraw consent to specific uses of your data, subject to legal or contractual constraints. We’ll explain the consequences of withdrawal where it would affect service.
• Right to deletion — request deletion of your data, subject to our legal retention obligations (tax records, fraud prevention, etc.).
• Right to data portability — request a copy of your data in a structured, commonly-used format where technically feasible.
• Right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) at priv.gc.ca, or to your provincial privacy commissioner in Quebec, BC or Alberta if you believe we have mishandled your information.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us through our contact form. We will respond within 30 days as required by PIPEDA.

If you reside in Quebec, you have additional rights under Quebec’s Law 25 (formerly Bill 64), including the right to data portability and the right to request the cessation of dissemination of your information. You may also contact the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec to file a complaint.

Carpenter Bee is not intended for users under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us immediately and we will delete it promptly.

In the event of a security breach that creates a real risk of significant harm to affected individuals, we will notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and affected individuals as required by PIPEDA’s mandatory breach reporting rules. We maintain internal records of all breaches for at least 24 months.

We may update this Privacy Policy as our practices evolve or as Canadian privacy law changes. When we make significant changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, for material changes affecting registered users, send notification by email. Continued use of the platform after changes means you accept the updated policy.

Questions, complaints or requests about this Privacy Policy or your personal information? Reach our Privacy Officer through our contact form. We respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 30 days, as required by PIPEDA.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you can file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca.