Privacy Policy

Our promise
Foremost in Privacy

Foremost Financial Corporation’s Privacy Policy

Foremost Financial Corporation and its affiliates (collectively “Foremost”, “we”, “us”) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, security and privacy of the Personal Information submitted to us by our clients (i.e., both borrowers and investors) and others with whom we do business (hereinafter collectively referred to as “you”), in accordance with applicable legislation. This Privacy Policy is a statement of the principles and guidelines we apply with respect to your Personal Information.

Consent

BY SUBMITTING PERSONAL INFORMATION TO FOREMOST, OR TO ANY OF OUR STAFF, YOU AGREE THAT WE MAY COLLECT, USE AND DISCLOSE SUCH PERSONAL INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS PRIVACY POLICY AND AS PERMITTED OR REQUIRED BY LAW.

You may refuse or withdraw your consent at any time by contacting the Foremost Privacy Officer. If you refuse or withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide, or continue to provide, our services to you. We will rely, unless you specifically advise us to the contrary in writing at the time, upon your personal representation that you have all necessary authority and/or have obtained all necessary consents to enable us to collect, use and disclose any Personal Information of another individual which you may provide to us, for all purposes permitted by this Privacy Policy.

What Personal Information Does Foremost Collect?

Applicable privacy legislation defines “personal information” very broadly. Generally speaking, it will be information which:

Is about an identifiable individual; or

Allows an individual to be identified; and

In either case, is not information which is already “public” according to exceptions set forth in the applicable legislation.

In this policy, our use of the term “Personal Information” means information which is defined as being personal information under the applicable privacy legislation, and which is not exempted under such legislation.

Generally speaking Personal Information does not include what is considered business contact information: your name, title or position, business address, telephone number, facsimile number, or e-mail address. Certain information, such as your name, home address and telephone number, may be exempted under applicable legislation. In addition to this information, we may also collect your personal email address, income and employment information, asset, liability and net worth information, and other information which is necessary for us to gather in connection with an application, pre-approval, or request for information concerning mortgages, loans or other products or services purchased or applied for through Foremost (including Personal Information about family members, beneficiaries, directors, officers, employees, potential guarantors and other relevant parties).

Why Does Foremost Collect Your Personal Information?

We have a professional obligation to maintain the confidential information we receive from you, and nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to limit our common law obligations to you.

For Borrowers

In general, Foremost collects, uses and discloses Personal Information about you in order to provide you with mortgage financing and related services. This will include some or all of the following:

Providing mortgage financing services to you by arranging and/or renewing loan(s)/mortgage(s);

Checking your credit-worthiness through credit bureau inquiries and personal information agents who have information on your financial position;

Complying with all municipal, provincial, federal and other applicable laws;

Any specific purposes which are communicated to you prior to the collection of such Personal Information; and

Any other purpose to which you consent.

Except when otherwise permitted by law, we will only use your personal information for the purposes identified to you, either in this policy or directly by foremost. when personal information is to be used for a purpose not identified, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that the new purpose is identified and consented to you prior to such use.

To Whom Do We Disclose Your Personal Information?
From time-to-time, Foremost may disclose your Personal Information to:

Prospective investors and other suppliers of services Foremost is providing to you;

Staff within Foremost for purposes related to the services we are providing to you;

Service providers, including organizations or individuals we have retained to perform functions on our behalf, such as office and registry services;

Organizations or individuals retained by us to evaluate your creditworthiness or to collect debts outstanding on an account;

A person who, in the reasonable judgment of Foremost, is providing or seeking the information as your agent or who is otherwise legally entitled to receive that information;

Police or other authorities where in Foremost’s opinion such disclosure is required for protection of the public interest, including any case where we suspect criminal activity such as fraud or money laundering;

Any law firm(s) which may be retained to act on our behalf for any reason;

Our insurers and to regulatory agencies such as provincial financial institutions commissions or others in connection with regulatory or other activities relating to our obligations and/or our mortgage brokerage businesses; or

Any third party or parties, where you consent to such disclosure or where disclosure is required or permitted by law

As many of our dealings with lenders and other parties are conducted through electronic means of communication, you specifically consent to our transmission of your Personal Information by electronic means, including by email and facsimile transmission, for all purposes identified in this policy or otherwise consented to by you.

For Investors

The privacy of our investors is very important to us. Set forth below are Foremost’s policies with respect to Personal Information of investors and former investors of the Foremost Mortgage Trust (the “Trust”) that we collect, use and disclose. In connection with the offering and sale of Units of the Trust, we collect and maintain personal information about our investors. We collect investors’ Personal Information to enable us to provide them with services in connection with an investment in the Trust, to meet contractual legal, regulatory and income tax requirements and for any other purpose to which investors may consent in the future. Investors’ Personal Information is collected from the following sources:

Subscription agreements or other forms that they submit to us;

Their transactions with us and our affiliates; and

Meetings and telephone conversations with them.

Unless an investor otherwise advises, by providing us with their Personal Information they have consented to our collection, use and disclosure of their information as provided herein. We collect and maintain their Personal Information in order to conduct a suitability assessment, provide services to investors in connection with their investments, comply with legal and regulatory requirements (such as establishing the identity of the investor), provide them the best possible service and protect us and investors from error and fraud, and for any other purpose related to the products and services of Foremost or its affiliates to which investors may consent.

We may disclose investors’ Personal Information to third parties, when necessary, and to our affiliates in connection with the services we provide related to their subscription for securities of the Trust, including:

Financial service providers, such as banks and others used to finance or facilitate transactions by, or operations of, the Trust;

Other service providers to the Trust, such as technology, administration, printing, marketing, accounting, legal, or tax preparation services; and

Taxation and regulatory authorities and agencies.

We require that our third-party service providers have similar privacy policies, or agree to acknowledge and abide by ours.

We seek to carefully safeguard investors’ Personal Information and, to that end, restrict access to Personal Information about them to those employees and other persons who need to know the information to enable us to provide services to them. Each employee of Foremost is responsible for ensuring the confidentiality of all personal information they may access.

Investors resident in Ontario should be aware that the Trust is required to file with the Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”) a report setting out the investor’s name and address, the class and series of securities issued, the date of issuance and the purchase price of the securities issued to the investor. Such information is collected indirectly by the OSC under the authority granted to them in provincial securities legislation, for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of the securities legislation.

By submitting a subscription, the investor authorizes such indirect collection of the information by the OSC. The following official can answer questions about the OSC’s indirect collection of the information:

Administrative Support Clerk
Ontario Securities Commission (“OSC”)
Suite 1903, Box 55, 20 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario M5 H 3 S8
Telephone: (416) 593-3684
Facsimile: (416) 593-8122

For Borrowers and Investors

Where Do We Maintain Your Personal Information?

Investors’ and borrowers’ Personal Information is maintained on our networks, or on the networks of our service providers, and are accessible at Foremost. Personal information may also be stored on a secure offsite storage facility. Investors or borrowers may access their personal information to verify its accuracy, to withdraw their consent to any of the foregoing collections, uses and/or disclosures being made of their personal information and may update their information by contacting Foremost by phone at 416-488-5300 ext. 400 or by contacting our Foremost Privacy Officer. please note that an investor’s ability to participate in the Trust or a borrower’s access to financing may be impacted should they withdraw their consent to the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information as outlined above.

How Do We Protect Your Personal Information?

To help protect the confidentiality of your Personal Information, Foremost employs administrative and technological safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of your Personal Information.

While the processes which are employed by the various third parties with whom we deal for protecting Personal Information are established by those third parties, Foremost will not continue to deal with any third party where we have actual notice of a failure by that third party to adequately safeguard your Personal Information. We endeavor to operate secure data networks protected by industry standard firewall and password protection systems.

Changes to The Privacy Policy

Foremost reserves the right to modify or supplement this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make a change to this privacy policy, we will post such changes on our website (www.Foremost-Financial.com) and make such revised policy and changes available upon request to our Privacy Officer.

Further Information

Foremost has appointed Ms. Pauline Cygelfarb as Privacy Officer to oversee compliance with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws. For information on Foremost’s privacy practices, please contact Ms. Pauline Cygelfarb in writing, at the address shown below:

Ms. Pauline Cygelfarb
Chief Privacy Officer
Foremost Financial Corporation
26 Lesmill Road, Unit #1A
Toronto, ON M3B 2T5
Office: 416-488-5300 ext. 400
Fax: 416-488-5401
E-mail: borrowers@foremost-financial.com

Our promiseForemost in Privacy

Foremost Financial Corporation’s Privacy Policy

Our promise
Foremost in Privacy