Privacy Policy

What this policy covers

This policy explains how mortgagesbytrev.ca collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you visit the site, request a strategy playbook, send a message through the contact form, or book a call.

It applies only to this website. Once a mortgage application is opened with the brokerage, that file is governed by the brokerage's own privacy practices, which are shared with you at application time.

Who runs the site

This site is operated by Trevor Hough, Mortgage Agent Level 2, practising under The Mortgage Coach (FSRA Brokerage Licence #13120) in Ontario, Canada.

For privacy questions about this site, email trevorhough@themortgagecoach.ca. Privacy concerns that relate to a live mortgage file, or that you want escalated above the agent level, can also be directed to the principal broker at The Mortgage Coach.

What information is collected and when

Only the information listed below is collected through this website. Nothing else is captured behind the scenes.

• Strategy email gate (on /strategies/... pages). When you unlock a strategy playbook, the site collects your name, your email address, and whether you ticked the optional consent box to receive follow-up educational emails. The site also records which strategy you unlocked and the time of the unlock.
• Contact form (on /contact). You can send your name, your email address, an optional message, and an optional consent to receive follow-up emails. The message field is whatever you choose to type. Please don't send sensitive financial details (income, SIN, account numbers) through the contact form. Those belong inside a secure mortgage application, not a public website form.
• Book a call (on /book). Scheduling a call collects your name, your email address, your selected time slot, and any optional message you add. The booking is handled by Google Calendar's appointment scheduling feature (see Third-party services below).
• Server logs. Like nearly every website, the hosting provider records standard request information such as IP address, timestamp, requested URL, browser type, and referring page. These logs exist for security, abuse prevention, and to keep the site running.
• Analytics. The site does not currently run any analytics product. A privacy-friendly tool such as Plausible or Vercel Analytics may be added later. If that happens, this policy will be updated to name the tool and describe what it captures before it goes live.

Why it's collected

The information above is used for the following purposes only:

• To deliver the strategy playbook or other content you asked for.
• To respond to your message or your booking request, and to do the follow-up that responding to your inquiry naturally requires.
• To send you follow-up educational emails (market notes, mortgage strategies, related content) only if you ticked the optional consent box.
• To keep the site secure, troubleshoot problems, and understand which content is useful (in aggregate, never tied back to you personally).
• To meet record-keeping and conduct obligations that apply to a licensed Mortgage Agent in Ontario under MBLAA and O. Reg. 187/08.

Your information is not used for any purpose beyond what is listed here without asking you first.

CASL and your consent

Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) requires express consent before sending commercial electronic messages. On this site, the consent checkbox on the strategy gate and the contact form is the express-consent step. It is unchecked by default. Ticking it is optional. The playbook unlocks and the contact reply happen either way.

Replies that are directly responsive to your inquiry (answering your question, sending the playbook you asked for, confirming a booking) are not marketing and don't require CASL consent. Anything that looks like a newsletter, market update, or educational sequence does require it, and only goes out if you opted in.

You can withdraw consent at any time. Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can also email trevorhough@themortgagecoach.ca to be removed. Unsubscribe requests are honoured within 10 business days, as required by CASL.

Cookies and similar technologies

The site sets one functional cookie:

• mb_strategies_unlock (HTTP-only, 30-day lifetime, site-wide path, secure in production). Once you unlock a strategy playbook, this cookie tells the site you already unlocked, so you don't have to re-enter your name and email on every strategy page for the next 30 days. It contains a simple flag, not your personal information.

No advertising cookies, no cross-site trackers, and no third-party marketing pixels are used.

If a privacy-friendly analytics tool is added later (such as Plausible or Vercel Analytics), this section will be updated before it goes live, and any cookie notice required at that point will be added.

Third-party services

Running a site requires a few service providers. Each one only receives the information needed to do its job, and none of them are used for advertising.

• Vercel hosts the site and handles request logs and delivery. Vercel may process data in regions outside Canada, including the United States.
• Resend will deliver outbound emails (playbook delivery, contact replies, opt-in follow-ups) when email infrastructure is wired up. Resend processes the email address and message contents needed to deliver the message.
• Google Calendar (appointment scheduling) powers the booking page at /book. When you book a call, Google collects your name, email address, chosen time, and any note you add, and stores the booking inside Trevor's Google Workspace account. Google's infrastructure operates internationally, including from servers in the United States. Booker data is processed under Google's privacy practices for Google Workspace users.
• Scarlett Network hosts the application portal that the “Start an application” links on this site point to. Scarlett is a third-party platform operated on behalf of The Mortgage Coach. Once you click through to the application portal, the brokerage's privacy practices govern the application process. This site does not receive or store anything you enter into Scarlett.
• Google Fonts currently serves the typography on this site, which means font requests pass through Google's CDN. A migration to self-hosted fonts is planned to remove this dependency.

When information leaves Canada to one of these providers, it becomes subject to the laws of the country where the provider operates, including lawful access by foreign authorities. Providers are chosen with that in mind, and only what's necessary is sent.

How long information is kept

Information is kept only as long as it is needed for the purpose it was collected for, or as long as the law requires.

• Strategy unlock submissions and contact-form submissions: kept for as long as you remain on the educational email list (if you opted in), or for up to 24 months after your last interaction if you did not opt in, then deleted.
• Booking records: kept inside Trevor's Google Workspace calendar for the life of the booking and a reasonable follow-up window, then archived or deleted in line with Google Workspace retention settings.
• The unlock cookie: stored in your browser for 30 days, then expires automatically. You can clear it sooner from your browser settings.
• Server logs: kept by Vercel for the period described in their documentation, then rotated.
• Records connected to a real mortgage file: retained as long as required by MBLAA and the brokerage's record-keeping obligations, separate from this website. Those rules typically require multi-year retention after the file closes.

You can ask for your information to be deleted earlier. See “Your rights under PIPEDA” below.

How information is protected

• The site is served over HTTPS so traffic is encrypted in transit.
• The unlock cookie is HTTP-only, which means it can't be read by scripts in the browser, and is marked secure in production.
• Submissions are not posted to any public lead list. Email addresses are never displayed back on the site.
• Access to lead data is limited to Trevor and, where applicable, the brokerage staff who need it to follow up.
• Industry-standard providers are used for hosting and email so that the underlying infrastructure benefits from their security investments.

No system on the open internet is perfect. If a breach ever affected information collected through this site, you would be notified in line with PIPEDA's breach-notification requirements, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada would be notified as required.

Information sharing and disclosure

Your information is never sold. It is never traded. It is never rented to advertisers.

It is shared only in these limited cases:

• With the service providers listed above, strictly to operate the site (hosting, email delivery, booking).
• With The Mortgage Coach when the inquiry leads into a mortgage application, or where brokerage oversight of an agent's activities applies under MBLAA.
• When required by law (a valid court order, regulator request, or comparable legal obligation), or to protect the rights and safety of the site and its users.
• With your express consent, in any other case you specifically agree to.

Your rights under PIPEDA

Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, you have the right to:

• Know what personal information is held about you, how it is used, and who it has been shared with.
• Access a copy of that information.
• Correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice.
• Request deletion of information that is no longer needed for the purpose it was collected for.
• Challenge compliance with this policy and with PIPEDA itself.

To exercise any of these rights, email trevorhough@themortgagecoach.ca. Requests are answered within 30 days, in line with PIPEDA. If you are not satisfied with the response, you can escalate to the principal broker at The Mortgage Coach, and beyond that to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca.

This site follows the ten fair-information principles set out in Schedule 1 of PIPEDA: accountability, identifying purposes, consent, limiting collection, limiting use, disclosure and retention, accuracy, safeguards, openness, individual access, and challenging compliance.

Children's information

This site is intended for adults considering mortgage and real estate decisions. It is not directed at children under 18. Information from children is not knowingly collected. If you believe a child has submitted information through this site, email trevorhough@themortgagecoach.ca and the record will be deleted.

Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated as the site evolves, as new tools are added, or as the law changes. The date at the top of the page always reflects the most recent revision. Material changes (new categories of data collected, new third-party services, changes to retention or sharing) will be flagged on the site for a reasonable period after they take effect.

Continued use of the site after an update means you accept the revised policy. If you don't accept a change, you can stop using the site and ask for your information to be deleted.

Contact for privacy questions

Trevor Hough, Mortgage Agent Level 2
The Mortgage Coach (FSRA Brokerage Licence #13120)
Email: trevorhough@themortgagecoach.ca

For escalation beyond the agent level, contact the principal broker at The Mortgage Coach.

For complaints that aren't resolved at the brokerage level, you can contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca.