Effective Date: February 22, 2016
1. Introduction
a) Ontario Health Quality Council o/a Health Quality Ontario ("HQO") welcomes you to HQO’s website www.hqontario.ca (the “Website”). This is an Agreement between you and HQO, and governs your use of the Website, the content thereof and any services offered therein. You understand, agree, and acknowledge that this Agreement constitutes a legally binding agreement between you and HQO, and that your use of the Website shall indicate your conclusive and irrefutable acceptance of this Agreement.
b) Each time you use the Website you expressly intimate to HQO your acceptance and agreement, and the acceptance and agreement of any legal person you purport to represent, without limitation or qualification, to abide by and to be bound by this Agreement, and you represent and warrant that you have the legal authority to agree to and accept this Agreement on behalf of yourself and any legal person you purport to represent. You also agree that you are not violating any laws of your location by accessing the Website and that you are capable of entering into this Agreement pursuant to the laws of your location. You acknowledge and agree that this Agreement is subject to change without advance notice. However, the latest Agreement will be posted on the Website and you should review the Agreement prior to each use of the Website. Please print a copy of this Agreement for your reference.
c) HQO also reserves the right to modify or discontinue the Website with or without notice to you. HQO shall not be liable to you or any third party should HQO exercise its right to modify or discontinue the Website.
d) If you do not agree to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you are required to leave the Website immediately and delete any cached copies thereof.
2. Important Notices
The website, the content thereof, and any services offered therein or part thereof (collectively referred to as the “services”), are provided for your convenience of reference only. The services are not intended to be relied upon as advice on any particular matter. Your use of the services are at your own risk, without any representations, warranties, or conditions of any kind, whether express or implied to the accuracy and/or usability of the services, whatsoever. HQO will not, under any circumstances, be liable to you or any other person for any loss or damage arising from, connected with, or relating to the use of the services, by you or any other person. Therefore, it is imperative for anyone who wants to rely on the information provided through the services, to double check the information independently and, if necessary, make appropriate arrangements to ensure accuracy and reliability of the services. You should always consult a qualified physician or other applicable health professional before making any decision or taking any action that might affect your personal well-being as there is no substitute for the consideration of an individual’s circumstances by a qualified professional.
Furthermore, HQO does not accept any responsibility for the accuracy, reliability, or currency of any materials or information available through the services, or for any consequences arising from the use of any materials or information that have been obtained from the services.
Furthermore, HQO does not guarantee continuous, uninterrupted, and/or secure access to the services. Therefore, HQO does not accept any responsibility for interruptions or breaches of its security and any damage to you, a third party, or your computer, whatsoever. You may have certain rights under your local law. Nothing in this agreement is intended to affect those rights, if they are applicable.
3. Third Party Websites
c. Our Website links to sites created and maintained by other public and/or private sector organizations. We provide these links solely for your information and convenience. HQO is not responsible for the content or the privacy practices of other sites; we encourage you to examine each site's privacy policy and disclaimers and make your own decisions regarding the accuracy and reliability of material and information found on any third party sites.
The linking to or from this site does not imply and/or confer, on the part of the HQO, any endorsement or guarantee of any of the organizations or information (including the right to display such information) found on their respective websites.
HQO does not assume and is not responsible for any liability whatsoever for the linking of any of these linked websites, the operation or content (including the right to display such information) of any of the linked websites, or for any of the information, interpretation, comments or opinions expressed in any of the linked websites. Any comments or inquiries regarding the linked websites are to be directed to the particular organization for whom the particular website is being operated.
4. Privacy
HQO respects the privacy of visitors. This section summarizes the privacy policy and practices on the Website. HQO does not automatically gather any specific personal information from you, such as your name, e-mail address, etc. We would only obtain this type of information if you supply it by sending us an e-mail or register for any of our services. HQO employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records the IP address of the computer that has contacted our Website, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individual visiting our Website unless an attempt to damage the Website has been detected. HQO does not use cookies except as stated herein. HQO only uses cookies when you login to a secure portion of the Website. The purpose for the cookie is for convenience, (i.e., so that you do not have to re-enter your login information every time you proceed to a different page within the secure part of the Website). HQO will not collect any specific and identifiable personal information from your computer. The cookie will remain active on your computer for the duration of your visit in the secure part of the Website. Once you logout, or 30 days have passed, the cookie which has been placed on your computer will expire and be deleted from your computer and HQO will no longer track your movements on the Website. There may be a few other times when cookies are in use. If cookies are in use at any other time and you have your cookies notification option activated on
your browser the system will notify you before any cookies are used so that you may refuse them. For a detailed review of our Privacy Policy please go to the Privacy Policy Page. It is imperative that understand our privacy practices as by using our Services, you are deemed to agree with and understand these terms and conditions and our Privacy Policy.
5. Copyright and Trademark Information
Copyright in materials and graphical elements on the Services, including site design, text, graphics, interfaces, and the selection and arrangements thereof, are owned by HQO or third parties from whom HQO has licensed such content (collectively the “IP Owners”). The reproduction and redistribution of any written and/or graphical elements on the Services is prohibited except with written permission from the IP Owners, including the HQO logo, trade-marks, official marks, or service marks of the IP Owners. You may not use them without the written permission of the IP Owners. To make a request for permission and/or further information about how to obtain permission please contact: info@hqontario.ca.
You are granted a, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non–sub-licensable, revocable, limited, royalty free license to display on your computer, download, print, and use the content of this Website for personal, educational, or internal company use only.
You may not modify or sell any part of the Services or include any part of the Services in or with any product that you create or distribute, nor copy any part of the Services onto your own or any other website without a license issued by the Queen’s Printer of Ontario. All inquiries regarding permission to reproduce any content on the HQO website or in HQO reports should be directed to: info@hqontario.ca.
HQO welcomes links to pages on this site; however, you may not link directly to pdf files contained on this Website. You agree that if you link to this Website your website shall not imply that HQO is endorsing you or any other person, or your or such other person’s products or services, or imply an affiliation between you or any other person, or your or such other person’s products or services.
6. Prohibited or Unlawful Use
You warrant to HQO that you will not use the Services for any unlawful or prohibited purpose and only use the Services according to the terms and conditions set out in this Agreement, any other agreement and terms and conditions that HQO may impose upon you upon the sign up of any services offered by HQO, and any other applicable federal, provincial, territorial, national, or international laws. This includes the use of any robot, spider, or other automatic devices, or manual processes to monitor or copy the Services. You further agree to HQO that you will not use the Services in any manner whatsoever which may cause the Services, to become disabled, damaged, overloaded, or impaired or interfere other visitors’ use and enjoyment of the Services. You acknowledge and agree that you are prohibited from obtaining or attempting to obtain any materials or information from the Services through any means not intentionally made available or provided for through the Services by HQO. You further acknowledge and agree that your are prohibited from transmitting any material that encourages, incites, or causes conduct that could constitute a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violates any applicable local, provincial, federal, national, or international laws or regulations.
7. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend and hold HQO, the Government of Ontario, and their parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, partners, agents, and licensors any and all of the directors, ministers, public officials, and officers and employees and agents thereof, harmless from any liability, loss, claim, demand, and expense, including reasonable lawyer fees, related to your use of the services.
8. No Liability
HQO shall not be liable for any damages whatsoever, and in particular HQO shall not be liable for any special, indirect, consequential, or incidental damages, or damages for lost profits, loss of revenue, loss of use, bodily or emotional injury arising out of, or related to the use, inability to use or performance of the services, whether such damages arise in contract, negligence, tort, under statute, in equity, at law, or otherwise, even if HQO has been advised of the possibility of such damages. You can recover from HQO only direct damages up to an amount equal to the fee, if any, you have paid to HQO for the services which give rise to the claim for damages. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, in no event, shall direct damages, whether alone or in the aggregate, be more than $10 at any time.
9. Applicable Law
The Services are operated by HQO from its offices within the Province of Ontario, Canada, and is intended for use within the province. The terms and conditions upon which users may access and use the Services are governed by the laws of Ontario and the laws of Canada applicable in Ontario. A user of the Services irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Toronto, the Province of Ontario in connection with any legal matter arising from the use of the Services. In no event shall any access to the Services from any location outside Ontario be construed as an express or implied submission to, or waiver of any immunity from, the jurisdiction of the courts or regulatory authorities of that location by HQO.
10. General
The Terms and Conditions constitute the entire agreement between HQO and you with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersede all communications, representations or agreements, either oral or written, between HQO or its affiliates and you with respect to this subject matter. If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision of the Terms and Conditions or portion thereof to be unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permissible so as to effect the intent of the Terms and Conditions, and the remainder of the Terms and Conditions shall continue in full force and effect. HQO’s failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of the Terms and Conditions or any right shall not be construed as a waiver of any such provision or right.
11. Language
The parties have expressly requested and required that this Agreement and all other related documents be drawn up in the English language. Les parties conviennent et exigent expressement que ce Contrat et tous les documents qui s'y rapportent soient rédigés en anglais.