Built for Toronto's public sector and businesses

Toronto runs some of the largest public services in the country. Toronto Fire Services is the largest fire service in Canada, and Toronto Paramedic Services is the largest municipal paramedic service in Canada, with emergency medical dispatchers working on a computer-aided dispatch system linked to 9-1-1. Organizations working at that scale depend on records that are complete, controlled and easy to report on.

Public-sector organizations in Toronto

City divisions and agenciesInspections, work orders, permits, incident reports and staff scheduling across many departments. Records Management · Field Inspections and Audits · Workflow Automation
Fire and paramedic servicesIncident reporting, apparatus and equipment checks, rosters and dispatch records. Fire and Emergency Services · Computer-Aided Dispatch · Incident Reporting
Police servicesOccurrence and case records with review, role-based access and audit history. Police Records Management · Records Management
Hospitals, health and community agenciesPatient-facing scheduling, incident reporting and staff rosters, under Ontario's health privacy rules. HRIS and Employee Management · Incident Reporting · Custom Business Applications
Children's aid societies and social servicesRound-the-clock staffing, automated shift call-out and controlled case records. HRIS and Employee Management · Records Management
Transit and school boardsInspections, maintenance work orders, equipment tracking and incident reports. Field Inspections and Audits · Equipment and Asset Management · Workflow Automation

Toronto industries

The City of Toronto's economic development program targets sectors including financial services, technology, life sciences, film, food and beverage, aerospace and the green sector, with advanced manufacturing across several of them. In these industries, Datalynk replaces spreadsheets and paper with inspections and audits, maintenance work orders, inventory, HR scheduling and custom applications.

Field Inspections and Audits · Workflow Automation · 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 Toronto