Privacy Policy

Effective date: 5 October 2026

1. Introduction

City Petcare Hospital & Urgent Care respects your privacy and is committed to protecting the personal information you share with us. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through our website at https://citypetcare.ca and through our communications with you, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices available to you.

This policy applies to information collected through our website, our online forms, our telephone and messaging systems, and our in-clinic client records. It is written to comply with the Personal Information Protection Act (British Columbia), SBC 2003 c.63 (“PIPA”), and other privacy legislation applicable to our practice.

By using our website or communicating with us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy. If you do not agree with it, please do not use our website.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect information you give us when you contact us or use our services. This may include:

Your name, postal address, telephone number, and email address
Your pet’s name, species, breed, age, sex, and health history
Appointment requests and the details you include with them
Product refill requests placed through our online store
Service inquiries and general questions submitted through our website forms
New client registration details
Payment and billing information, and insurance details where you choose to provide them
Messages, voicemails, and correspondence you send us
Any other information you choose to share with our team

You are not required to provide this information, but we may be unable to provide certain services without it.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, certain information is collected automatically by your browser and by the technologies described in Section 5. This may include:

Your IP address and general geographic location
Browser type and version, device type, and operating system
The pages you visit, the time spent on each page, and the links you select
The website or search term that referred you to us
Date and time of your visit

This information is collected in aggregate and is used to understand how our website is used and to improve it. We do not attempt to identify individual visitors from this information alone.

2.3 Communication Platforms

Our telephone, messaging, and email systems are operated with the assistance of third-party communication platforms. When you call, text, email, or leave a voicemail, the content and metadata of that communication may be processed and stored by those platforms on our behalf. This includes telephone numbers, call times and durations, voicemail recordings and transcriptions, and the content of text and email messages.

These platforms act as service providers to us. They are bound by agreement to use your information only to deliver services to our practice.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

To provide veterinary care and related services to your pet
To create and maintain your client and patient records
To schedule, confirm, change, and remind you about appointments
To respond to your inquiries, requests, and messages
To process payments and administer billing and insurance claims
To fulfil product orders and refill requests placed through our online store
To send you service updates and information about our practice, where you have consented to receive them
To understand how our website is used and to improve its content and performance
To measure the effectiveness of our advertising and to show relevant advertising to people in our local service area
To maintain the security of our systems and records
To meet our professional, regulatory, and legal obligations

We use your information only for the purposes for which it was collected, for purposes you would reasonably consider consistent with those, or as permitted or required by law.

4. SMS and Text Message Communications

We send text messages to clients. Our use of text messaging is governed by Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation and by applicable privacy legislation.

Transactional messages. When you provide your mobile number in the course of obtaining services from us, you are regarded as having given implied consent to receive messages directly related to those services. These include appointment confirmations and reminders, notifications that a product order is ready, requests to contact the clinic, and messages concerning your pet’s care. We may send these messages without separate express consent. Implied consent arising from an existing business relationship is time-limited under CASL rather than open-ended, and we seek express consent where it has lapsed.

Marketing messages. Messages that promote our services, products, or practice require your express consent before we send them. We will ask for that consent clearly and separately, and we will keep a record of it. We will not add you to a marketing list simply because you are a client.

Unsubscribing. Every commercial electronic message we send identifies our practice and includes a working unsubscribe mechanism. You may withdraw your consent at any time by replying STOP to any message from us, by telling any member of our team, or by contacting us at citypetcareanimalhospital@gmail.com. We will action your request promptly and in any event within the timeframe required by the applicable statute.

Withdrawing consent to marketing messages does not stop transactional messages about your pet’s care. If you wish to stop those as well, please tell us and we will arrange an alternative way to reach you.

Message and data rates may apply depending on your mobile plan. Message delivery depends on your mobile carrier and we cannot guarantee that every message will be delivered.

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

5.1 Types of Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. We group them into three categories, which match the categories shown in the consent banner on our site:

Essential. Required for the website to function, to keep it secure, and to remember your cookie preferences. These are always active and cannot be switched off.
Statistics. Used to understand how visitors find and use our website, which pages are viewed, and where visitors encounter difficulty. These are set only with your consent.
Marketing. Used to measure the performance of our advertising and to show relevant advertising to people in our local service area. This category includes conversion measurement cookies such as _gcl_au and audience measurement technologies placed by social advertising platforms. These are set only with your consent.

We do not publish a cookie schedule, because the individual cookies set by our service providers change from time to time without notice to us. The three categories above describe every purpose for which cookies are used on this website.

5.2 Cookie Consent

When you first visit our website you are shown a consent banner. You may accept all categories, reject all non-essential categories, or choose which categories to allow. Statistics and Marketing cookies are set only with your consent.

You may change or withdraw your choices at any time using the consent controls on our website. You may also delete cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may affect how the website functions for you.

The consent mechanism on this website is configured by VSA Vet Media Inc., which manages our website on our behalf.

5.3 Universal Opt-Out Mechanisms and Global Privacy Control

Our website recognises automated opt-out signals sent by your browser or by a browser extension, including Global Privacy Control. Where we receive such a signal, we treat it as a valid instruction to withhold consent for Statistics and Marketing cookies, and we apply it to that browser and device without requiring any further action from you.

If you use more than one browser or device, you will need to send the signal from each one, because the signal is tied to the browser making the request.

5.4 Online Advertising and Remarketing

We advertise our practice online. Our advertising is limited to a local radius around our clinic. We do not run national or international advertising campaigns.

Where you have consented to Marketing cookies, advertising and audience measurement platforms may use information about your visit to our website to show you our advertising on other websites, in search results, and on social platforms. This is commonly called remarketing or retargeting. It takes place only with your consent, which you may withdraw at any time using the consent controls on our website.

We never provide advertising platforms with your pet’s health information or with the content of your communications with us.

You may opt out of personalised advertising independently of our website:

Advertising personalisation settings: https://www.google.com/settings/ads
Industry opt-out page: https://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp
Canadian industry opt-out tool: https://youradchoices.ca/choices/

Opting out through these mechanisms stops personalised advertising. It does not stop you seeing advertising altogether.

6. Third-Party Services

We use third-party service providers to operate our practice and our website. We describe them by the function they perform rather than by name, because the specific providers we use change from time to time. These functional categories are:

Website hosting and infrastructure providers
Website design and management providers
Analytics and website performance platforms
Advertising and audience measurement platforms
Consent management providers
Email and text messaging communication providers
Telephony and call handling providers, including voicemail recording and transcription
AI-assisted communication and transcription providers
Online form and appointment booking providers
Online retail and product fulfilment providers
Practice management and client record systems
Payment processing providers
Review and reputation management platforms
Professional advisers, including legal, accounting, and insurance advisers

We provide these service providers only with the information they need to perform their function. Those acting on our behalf are bound by agreement to protect your information, to use it only on our instructions, and not to use it for their own purposes. Our professional advisers are an exception: they act under their own professional and regulatory duties rather than on our instructions. Some providers operate servers outside Canada, which means your information may be stored or processed in another country and may be subject to the laws of that country.

7. AI-Assisted Tools

Our practice uses AI-assisted tools to help manage client communications. We disclose this in full because we think you should know when a system rather than a person has handled part of a communication. The tools we use may include voicemail transcription, call categorisation and routing, automated appointment reminders, a website chat assistant, an automated telephone attendant, and suggested wording for responses to online reviews.

7.1 No Medical Decisions by AI

No AI-assisted tool makes any decision about your pet’s health or care. These tools do not assess your pet, do not identify what is wrong with your pet, and do not determine the care your pet receives. Every clinical judgement about your pet is made by a veterinarian licensed in British Columbia who has examined your animal.

If an AI-assisted tool provides you with general information, that information is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice and must not be relied upon in place of it.

7.2 Call Recording

Telephone calls to and from our practice may be recorded and transcribed. We do this to maintain accurate records of what was discussed, to support the care of your pet, and to train and support our team.

In British Columbia, the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by our practice is governed by PIPA. Call recording is carried out in accordance with PIPA and, where it applies, with PIPEDA. We notify you that a call may be recorded before the recording begins, and continuing with the call indicates your consent to being recorded.

If you do not wish to be recorded, please tell the team member you are speaking with. We will either stop the recording or arrange another way to communicate with you, and this will not affect the care your pet receives.

7.3 Automated Communications

Some messages you receive from us are generated and sent automatically. These include appointment reminders and confirmations, notifications that a product order is ready, and follow-up messages after a visit.

Automated messages are scheduled by our systems based on your records. They are not monitored in real time. If you need to reach us about something urgent, please telephone the clinic rather than replying to an automated message.

7.4 AI Interaction Disclosure

If you interact with a chat assistant on our website or with an automated attendant when you telephone us, you are communicating with an automated system and not with a member of our team. We identify these systems as automated at the point of interaction.

You may ask to be transferred to a member of our team rather than continue with an automated system. We do not require you to use an automated system to reach us, and our telephone number and email address are published on our website for that reason.

7.5 AI Rights

In relation to our use of AI-assisted tools, you may:

Ask us whether an AI-assisted tool was involved in a particular communication with you
Ask for a person to handle your communications with us instead of an automated system
Ask us not to record or transcribe your telephone calls
Ask for access to a transcription or recording we hold of a communication with you, subject to the limits in Section 9
Ask us to correct a transcription that is inaccurate
Withdraw your consent to automated communications

To exercise any of these, contact us at citypetcareanimalhospital@gmail.com or telephone (604) 501-0077. Exercising any of these rights will not affect the care your pet receives.

8. Data Protection and Security

We maintain physical, organisational, and technological safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information we hold. These include restricted access to client records, authorised access to our systems on a need-to-know basis, encrypted transmission of information submitted through our website, secure storage of paper records, and agreements with our service providers requiring them to protect the information we entrust to them.

No method of transmission over the internet and no method of electronic storage is completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

8.1 Data Breach Notification

If a breach of security safeguards involving your personal information occurs, we will assess it and will notify affected individuals and the appropriate authorities as required by applicable law. We keep records of security breaches as our obligations require.

9. Privacy Rights

Under PIPA, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you:

Access. You may request access to the personal information we hold about you and information about how it has been used and to whom it has been disclosed.
Correction. You may request that we correct personal information about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.
Withdrawal of consent. You may withdraw your consent to our collection, use, or disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions and on reasonable notice. We will tell you the likely consequences of withdrawing consent before we action it.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at citypetcareanimalhospital@gmail.com or telephone (604) 501-0077. We may ask you to verify your identity before we respond, so that we do not disclose your information to someone else. We will respond within the timeframe required by the applicable statute.

There are limited circumstances in which we may be unable to provide access to information, including where doing so would reveal personal information about another individual or where the information is subject to legal privilege. If we refuse a request in whole or in part, we will tell you why.

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information or your request, you may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.

10. Sharing of Information

We do not sell your personal information. We do not trade or rent it.

We share your personal information only in the following circumstances:

With your consent, or where your consent can reasonably be implied from the circumstances.
With service providers, within the functional categories listed in Section 6, who process information on our behalf and on our instructions.
For your pet’s care, with referring veterinarians, specialist practices, emergency facilities, and laboratories involved in your pet’s care.
For payment and insurance, with payment processors and, where you ask us to, with your pet insurance provider.
Where required or permitted by law, including in response to a court order, a lawful request from a public authority, or an obligation under professional regulation.
In connection with a business transaction, such as the sale or reorganisation of our practice, in which case information would be disclosed subject to appropriate protections and notice.

Our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information is governed by PIPA and, where applicable, by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”). Where we disclose information to an advertising or analytics platform in connection with the activity described in Section 5.4, that disclosure takes place only with your consent and is limited to website activity information. It never includes your pet’s health information or the content of your communications with us.

11. Children’s Privacy

Our website and services are directed at adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13.

If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at citypetcareanimalhospital@gmail.com and we will delete it, unless we are required to retain it under the obligations described in Section 13. Where a parent or guardian provides information about their household in the course of obtaining services from us, we treat that information as the parent or guardian’s.

12. Links to External Websites

Our website contains links to websites operated by other organisations, including pet health references, government and regulatory resources, educational content, our online store, and our online booking system.

These links are provided for your convenience. We do not control those websites and we are not responsible for their content, their accuracy, or their privacy practices. When you follow a link away from our website, this Privacy Policy no longer applies. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any website you visit.

We maintain a presence on Meta platforms, including Facebook and Instagram. Those platforms are operated by Meta Platforms, Inc. and are governed by Meta’s own terms and privacy policy, not by ours. Information you share with us through a Meta platform, including comments, reactions, and direct messages, is processed by Meta according to its own policies. We have no control over how Meta collects or uses information about you on its platforms. Please do not share your pet’s health information or any confidential information through a social platform. Telephone us or use the contact details in Section 16 instead.

13. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as it is needed for the purposes described in this policy, and for as long as we are required to retain it to meet our professional, regulatory, and legal obligations.

Client and patient records are retained for the period required of veterinary practices in British Columbia. Website analytics information is retained in aggregate form. Call recordings, transcriptions, and message logs are retained for the period needed to support your pet’s care and our record keeping.

When information is no longer required for any legal or business purpose, we destroy it, erase it, or make it anonymous.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, our services, or applicable law. The effective date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.

Where a change materially affects how we handle your personal information, we will take reasonable steps to bring it to your attention. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continuing to use our website after a change takes effect indicates your acceptance of the revised policy.

15. Website Design and Management

This website is designed, built, and managed by VSA Vet Media Inc. on our behalf. In the course of that work, VSA Vet Media Inc. acts as a service provider to our practice and may have access to information submitted through our website forms, to website analytics information, and to the configuration of the consent and tracking technologies described in Section 5.

VSA Vet Media Inc. is bound by agreement to use that information only to provide services to our practice and not for any purpose of its own. VSA Vet Media Inc. is not a veterinary practice and has no role in your pet’s care.

How website form submissions are handled. Information you submit through a form on this website is transmitted over an encrypted connection to the form and booking providers described in Section 6, and is delivered to our practice by email, into our practice management system, or both. Submissions may be retained by the form provider for a limited period in addition to the record we keep. Our team and, for technical support purposes, VSA Vet Media Inc. may have access to them. Form submissions are retained in accordance with Section 13. Please do not use a website form to tell us about an urgent problem. Telephone the clinic on (604) 501-0077 instead, because forms are not monitored continuously.

16. Contact Information

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise any of the rights described in Section 9, or wish to make a complaint about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us:

City Petcare Hospital & Urgent Care
7218 King George Blvd Ste 120
Surrey, BC V3W 5A5
Telephone: (604) 501-0077
Email: citypetcareanimalhospital@gmail.com
Website: https://citypetcare.ca

Our privacy contact can be reached at the email address above. We will acknowledge your inquiry and respond within the timeframe required by the applicable statute.