Privacy Impact Assessment on the Climate Toolkit Initiative

Title of the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)

Privacy Impact Assessment on the Climate Toolkit Initiative

Government institution

Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (HICC)

Head of HICC or delegate for section 10 of the Privacy Act

Melanie Davis, Director, ATIP and Executive Correspondence

Senior official or executive responsible for the new initiative

Abderrahmane Yagouti, Senior Director, Environment and Infrastructure Policy

Name of the program or activity of the government institution

Climate Toolkit Initiative

Legal authority

The legal authority for the collections of personal information from the general public and the SMEs is under the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Act, which received Royal Assent on June 20, 2024, and the Financial Administration Act. The collection from the general public is also in accordance with the Directive on the Management of Communications and the Policy on Communications and Federal Identity.

Personal information banks

The Help Desk inquiries under this initiative aligns with the HICC Grants and Contributions, Public Communications, and Outreach Activities Personal information Banks. The development of the list of SMEs under this initiative aligns with the HICC Grants and Contributions and the Professional Services Contracts personal information banks.   

Short description of the new initiative

Canada's first National Adaptation Strategy (NAS) is a shared vision of what we want our future to look like. The NAS is a shared path to a more climate-resilient country with the 2050 transformational goal that all infrastructure systems in Canada are climate resilient and undergo continuous adaptation to adjust for future impacts, to deliver reliable, equitable, and sustainable services to all of society. In order to help municipalities across Canada build low-carbon resilient housing and infrastructure, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada (formerly Infrastructure Canada) is developing an open-access Climate Toolkit platform with tools, guidance, data and resources, and providing direct support to communities through a help desk and a roster of climate and infrastructure practitioners.

Risk area identification and categorization

The following section contains risks identified in the PIA for the new or modified program. The numbered risk scale is presented in an ascending order: the first level (1) represents the lowest level of potential risk for the risk area; the fourth level (4) represents the highest level of potential risk for the given risk area.

Type of program or activity

Administration of program or activity and services. Personal information is used to make decisions that directly affect the individual.

Level of risk to privacy: 2

Type of personal information involved and context

Only personal information, with no contextual sensitivities, collected directly from the individual or provided with the consent of the individual for disclosure under an authorized program.

Level of risk to privacy: 1

Program or activity partners and private sector involvement

Within HICC and other federal institutions, provincial, territorial or municipal governments, and the private sector.

Level of risk to privacy: 4

Duration of the program or activity

Short-term program or activity

Level of risk to privacy: 2

Program population

Personal information used for external administrative purposes affects all individuals.

Level of risk to privacy: 4

Technology and privacy

The program or activity requires the use of an existing electronic system, application or software to support the program or activity in terms of the creation, collection or handling of personal information.

Level of risk to privacy: 1

Personal information transmission

The personal information is transmitted using wireless technologies.

Level of risk to privacy: 4

Risk impact to the individual or employee in the event of a privacy breach

Inconvenience

Level of risk to privacy: 1