TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY these Terms and Conditions of Use for the Social Insurance Number (SIN) online application portal because they contain important information about your legal rights and obligations. These Terms and Conditions of Use should be read in conjunction with the Canada.ca Terms and Conditions. In case they are differing, the present Terms and Conditions of Use take precedence over Canada.ca Terms and Conditions.

We encourage printing and keeping a copy of these Terms and Conditions of Use.

For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions of Use, "ESDC" means His Majesty the King in right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Employment and Social Development, and "CEIC" means the Canada Employment Insurance Commission.

1. Your Use of the Electronic Social Insurance Number Online Application, hereby referred to as the eSIN Application
   1. You are encouraged to review the guidance on how to "Apply for a SIN online" in order to successfully submit your application.
   2. Your access and use of the eSIN Application is subject to 1) your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions of Use and 2) your compliance with these terms. If you do not agree with these Terms and Conditions and Use, this eSIN Application will not permit you to apply electronically. Your agreement with these Terms and Conditions of Use means that you check the box "I Agree to these Terms and Conditions of Use". These Terms will terminate automatically if you fail to comply with any of their provisions.
   3. You are using this service, and at your own risk. You are responsible for protecting your personal information if you are using a public computer to complete the eSIN Application and should terminate the connection to the eSIN application when leaving the computer.
   4. You are responsible, accountable and liable for all use and misuse of the eSIN Application associated with your information.
   5. You must use the services provided via the eSIN Application solely for the purposes for which they are offered and for no other purpose including for no improper or illegal purpose or activity.
   6. You must not upload:
      1. anything unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, pornographic, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
      2. advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation; or,
      3. anything that intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable municipal, provincial, federal or international law.
   7. There are times where the system may unexpectedly be down or brought off-line for routine maintenance. Notices regarding outage will be posted on the Service Canada website.
   8. You understand that ESDC may shutdown or interrupt the application and downloading functionalities at any time for the security or maintenance of the system. ESDC accepts no responsibility, accountability or liability for any harm or damage or delay in the processing of your eSIN application.
   9. This eSIN Application web-portal will only allow 45 minutes of inactivity before your secure session is terminated. Should the session be terminated after 45 minutes, information entered during this time will not be retained and you are required to re-apply in a new session.
   10. You cannot save a partially completed eSIN Application.
   11. You must not allow anyone else to submit an eSIN Application on your behalf unless authorized as described under item l.
   12. An application can only be submitted on your behalf by a parent, guardian, or other legal representative, with the required supporting documentation.
   13. You must answer all questions accurately and submit digital copies of all required documents. If you do not, you will not be able to submit your eSIN Application and it will be rejected.
   14. Digital copies of required documents must be clear and legible, as determined by ESDC, or your application will be rejected. It is your responsibility, not ESDC's, to make sure that you submit your supporting documents. Only documents pertinent to the application are to be uploaded.
   15. If, at any time, you withdraw your agreement to any of the Terms and Conditions of Use, you must stop use of the eSIN Application.
   16. Once you have successfully completed and submitted the eSIN Application, you will receive an unique case reference number at the end of this submission process. Service Canada uses this number to track and process your application. Please print and retain the number as a reference to this application. You may be required to provide it if you make inquiries to Service Canada about this application. This reference number is not transferrable.
   17. For your records, please print the list of the documents you submitted. You understand and agree that your eSIN Application may be revoked without notice if ESDC or the CEIC suspects that you have not complied with these Terms and Conditions of Use.
   18. ESDC carries out the eSIN Application using services from third party provider Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Corporation agrees to comply with the requirements established by Canada that are reasonably required to ensure that Canada meets its obligations under Canada's Privacy Act, Access to Information Act, R.S. 1985, c. A-1, and Library and Archives of Canada Act, S.C. 2004, c. 11 and any other legislation in effect from time to time. Microsoft Corporation also acknowledges that its obligations under its contract with Canada are in addition to any obligations it has under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, S.C. 2000, c. 5, or similar legislation in effect from time to time in any province or territory of Canada. As Microsoft is based in the United States of America (USA), the personal information it stores and processes may be subject to USA laws, including the USA PATRIOT Act. The Microsoft data centres used by ESDC are located in Canada. In addition, delivery and provisioning of services may be from or occur in other countries within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the European Union, or countries with which Canada has an international bilateral industrial security arrangement. Consequently, the data may be subject to the domestic laws of the country through which it is transiting. For additional information, see Microsoft Data Privacy Policy & Privacy Principles.
       
       
2. Disclaimers
   
   You understand and agree that ESDC and CEIC provide the eSIN Application "as is" with no representation, warranty or guarantee, implied or express, of any kind whatsoever and that ESDC and the CEIC disclaim any and all liability for any loss, damage or injury arising from or related to:
   1. any matters or factors outside of its control, including the availability or unavailability of the internet, or telecommunications or other infrastructure systems, or for any restriction, delay, malfunction, malware or unavailability of the online eSIN Application;
   2. the non-acceptance of information provided through the eSIN Application; or
   3. any non-compliance with these Terms and Conditions.
      
      
3. Changes to these Terms and Conditions of Use
   
   ESDC and the CEIC may change these Terms and Conditions of Use and the Privacy Notice at any time. Such changes shall be effective immediately upon notice of the change on the eSIN Application site.
   
   Other
   
   These Terms and Conditions of Use shall be governed, interpreted and construed in accordance with the laws of Canada without reference to conflict of law rules.

The personal information you provide is administered, collected, used, and disclosed in accordance with the Department of Employment and Social Development Act (DESDA), the Privacy Act, and other applicable laws for assigning a Social Insurance Number (SIN). Participation is voluntary; however, refusal to provide your personal information will result in you or your child not receiving a SIN.

The information you provide may be shared with federal departments and agencies that are authorized users of the SIN and in accordance with the Treasury Board Secretariat Directive on the Social Insurance Number for the administration of benefits and services; and/or with federal, provincial or territorial departments for the administration and enforcement of the legislation for which they are responsible. The information may also be used and/or disclosed for policy analysis, research and/or evaluation purposes. However, this additional use and/or disclosure will never result in an administrative decision being made about you.

If you opt to receive email notifications, your email address will be used to send you notifications regarding the receipt and processing status of the SIN application.

If you apply for a SIN online and want to access SIN information on My Service Canada Account (MSCA), your information will be used for MSCA registration and authentication purposes.

You have the right to the protection of, access to, and correction of personal information, which is described in the Personal Information Bank ESDC PPU 390 Social Insurance Number Register and ESDC PPU 680 My Service Canada Account. Instructions for obtaining this information is outlined in the following government publication entitled: Information about programs and information holdings.

If you are not satisfied with our responses to your privacy concern, you have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada about the handling of your personal information at: https://www.priv.gc.ca/faqs/index_e.asp#q005