Built for Ottawa's public sector and businesses

As the capital of Canada, the City of Ottawa is home to over one million people, and its services cover a large urban and rural area. The Ottawa Paramedic Service alone has over 650 employees, including over 450 paramedics, and covers 2,796 square kilometres. Services that size need records that are complete, consistent and easy to report on, whether staff are downtown or in the rural wards.

Public-sector organizations in Ottawa

City departmentsWork orders, inspections, permits and incident reports across urban and rural service areas. Records Management · Workflow Automation · Field Inspections and Audits
Paramedic and fire servicesPatient-care and incident records, vehicle and equipment checks, rosters and overtime. Fire and Emergency Services · Incident Reporting · HRIS and Employee Management
Police servicesOccurrence and case records with supervisor review and a full audit history. Police Records Management · Records Management
Public agencies and institutionsCase files, scheduling and approval workflows for agencies, boards and colleges. Records Management · Workflow Automation · HRIS and Employee Management

Ottawa industries

The City of Ottawa names the federal government and technology as the city's two leading economic drivers, followed by tourism. Its economic development focus also covers knowledge-based business, government-related institutions and agencies, creative industries and the rural economy. For technology firms and the organizations that serve government, Datalynk handles workflow, HR scheduling, inventory and custom applications.

Workflow Automation · HRIS and Employee Management · Inventory Management · Custom Business Applications

Ontario records and privacy laws

Ontario has separate privacy and records laws for provincial bodies, municipal bodies, health care and child and youth services. Ontario has no general private-sector privacy law of its own, so businesses fall under the federal law.

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA)

Applies to provincial ministries and most provincial agencies, boards and commissions, as well as universities, colleges and hospitals. Since July 1, 2025, amendments under Bill 194 require these institutions to complete privacy impact assessments, report privacy breaches and meet expanded safeguarding duties. These amendments do not apply to municipal institutions.

Who it affects: provincial agencies, hospitals, universities and colleges.

Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA)

Applies to municipalities and local public bodies, including police services boards, school boards, public library boards and transit commissions. It governs how these bodies collect, use, disclose and give access to records and personal information.

Who it affects: the City, police, school boards, libraries and transit.

Municipal Act, 2001, sections 254 and 255

A municipality must retain and preserve the records of the municipality and its local boards. A record may be destroyed only after a retention period set under the Act has expired, and municipalities set those periods by by-law.

Who it affects: municipal departments, including fire and paramedic services run by the City.

Archives and Recordkeeping Act, 2006

Every Ontario public body must have a records schedule for each class of public records it creates or receives. The schedule identifies the records and sets how long they must be kept.

Who it affects: provincial ministries and public bodies.

Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA)

Applies to individuals and organizations that deliver health care in Ontario, in both the public and private sectors, and governs personal health information.

Who it affects: hospitals, clinics, paramedic and other health care providers.

Child, Youth and Family Services Act, Part X

In force since January 1, 2020. It sets rules for the collection, use, disclosure of and access to personal information held by children's aid societies and other service providers funded under the Act, and gives individuals the right to see and correct their records.

Who it affects: children's aid societies and funded child and youth service providers.

Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

This is the federal private-sector privacy law. Because Ontario does not have its own general private-sector privacy law, PIPEDA applies to personal information that Ontario businesses collect, use or disclose in commercial activity.

Who it affects: Ontario businesses.

How Datalynk supports these requirements. Datalynk keeps records in Canada, controls access by role, keeps a history of who created and changed each record, and can hold records for the retention periods you set. Meeting a law is still your organization's responsibility. Tell us which rules apply to you and we will show you how Datalynk would handle them, or tell you plainly where it would not.

This is general information about Ontario law, not legal advice. Check the current law and your own obligations with your legal or privacy advisor.

Records management software in Ottawa