Confidentiality - What to Expect
Confidentiality and the Advisory Service for Executives
What you can expect
APEX’s Advisory Service for Executives (ASE) is available to you free of charge as an
executive of the Public Service of Canada. You do not have to be a member of APEX to
access the services of the Senior Advisor.
Nature and scope of the services
The Senior Advisor provides a discreet and confidential sounding board, a safe place todiscuss sensitive issues and a single window for advice and referral to specialized
services available to the executive community both inside and outside the federal Public
Service. The ASE does not provide on-going mentoring or coaching, interview
simulations and preparation, nor can it dispense legal advice or represent you in
disputes with management.
Collection, usage and disclosure of personal information
In order to deliver the Advisory Service, the Senior Advisor will record certain information that will be stored in a secure database (e.g. your official language of choice, group and level, home organisation and region.) The Senior Advisor will store information on the issue(s) that you raise under a limited number of broad subject headers such as careermanagement, harassment, dismissal or official languages. This information will be kept indefinitely in order to allow APEX to produce various reports on the ASE and to identify long term trends.
The Senior Advisor also keeps a temporary written record of conversations with you in
order to remember the particulars of your situation, the gist of the discussions, the
sequence of events and the actions taken. This record is destroyed nine months
after your situation has been resolved, or if your file remains inactive for the same period or, at any time upon your request.
None of the above information is disclosed to anyone without your specific approval. If
randomly selected, the Senior Advisor may send you a questionnaire to gather feedback
on the ASE and your suggestions for improvement. Aggregate data on the level of
client satisfaction is produced and included in various reports on the ASE.
Confidentiality
APEX will treat all the information you provide in the strictest confidence. However, absoluteconfidentiality cannot be guaranteed because there may be circumstances where the
law could require APEX to disclose information to a third party. For example, in a
criminal or court case, the Senior Advisor could be subpoenaed as a witness. Should
this occur, you will immediately be informed.
Also, in keeping with common professional standards, confidentiality cannot be
respected in situations where there is a significant risk of harm to yourself or others.
Review of your file
You may of course review your file at any time. To do so, you should contact the SeniorAdvisor at 613.992.5592.
