Terms of use

Terms of Use

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) maintains the GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca and the InvestingQuestions.ca websites (individually Website, and collectively Websites) and its related social media sites including, but not limited to, its blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube pages (Social Media Sites) as a non-profit public service, for information and educational purposes only. By accessing or using this Website or by participating in any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites (including by following, reading, viewing, sharing or otherwise using any associated posts or content), you agree that you have read, understand and agree to be bound by these Terms of Use, as amended from time to time. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO AGREE TO THESE TERMS OF USE, DO NOT ACCESS OR USE ANY PART OF THIS WEBSITE OR PARTICIPATE IN ANY OF THE OSC’S SOCIAL MEDIA SITES. The OSC may change these Terms of Use from time to time by posting the changes on the Website. You should review these Terms of Use each time you visit this Website or participate in any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites.

Governing Law

This Website and the OSC’s Social Media Sites are controlled by the OSC from its offices within the Province of Ontario, Canada. All matters relating to your access to, or use of, this Website or any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites (including the content thereat) shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to its conflict of laws principles. In the event of a dispute, you agree to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in the Province of Ontario.

Intellectual property rights

The OSC owns all copyright and other intellectual property rights in all content on this Website, in the underlying website code and in all content on its Social Media Sites, or has the permission of the owner of those rights to use the content on this Website or the Social Media Sites. The mention or display of trade-marks, trade names or service marks on this Website or any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites is not intended to, and will not, convey or create any license or other rights to use such names and marks.

Limited license of content

You are granted a limited license to display on your computer, download, print and use the content of this Website and the OSC’s Social Media Sites only for your own informational purposes or for educational, teaching and training purposes. You may not modify any content that you use. Except as provided below, you may not use the content on this Website or on any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites for any commercial purpose.

Uses subject to prior written approval

If you are interested in using any of the content on this Website or on any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites for other purposes, including: (a) reselling any content; (b) including any content in, or with, any product that you create or distribute; or (c) copying any content onto your own, or any other, website, subject to any overriding third party terms of use for any Social Media Sites, you need the written approval of the OSC before proceeding. To request this approval please send an email to InvestorOffice@osc.gov.on.ca providing a description of your proposed use, including the specific content you wish to use, the manner in which it will be used and the duration of the use. If the OSC grants approval for the proposed use, it may require that you meet certain terms and conditions. If the OSC declines your request, you may not use its content for the proposed purposes. These approval requirements do not apply to the embeddable content licensed to you in accordance with the “Embeddable Content” paragraph below.

Information on this Website or the OSC’s Social Media Sites is not official OSC policy, or legal or financial advice

Information provided on this Website or on the OSC’s Social Media Sites is to be used for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide investment, financial, accounting, legal, tax or other professional advice and should not be relied upon or regarded as a substitute for such advice. We recommend that you seek advice from a qualified professional advisor before acting on any information or other content appearing on this Website, the OSC’s Social Media Sites or any website to which they may be linked.

Accuracy and warranties

Although the content on this Website, and any content posted by the OSC itself on its Social Media Sites, is believed to be complete and accurate when posted, we cannot guarantee that it is, or will remain, accurate, complete or current, or that it will be available without interruption.

NEITHER THE OSC NOR ANY OF ITS SUPPLIERS GUARANTEE THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY OF THE CONTENT OR CALCULATIONS ON THIS WEBSITE OR ON THE OSC’S SOCIAL MEDIA SITES. NEITHER THE OSC NOR ANY OF ITS SUPPLIERS WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR CLAIMS OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM, OR RELATING TO, ANY USE OF THIS WEBSITE, ANY OF THE OSC’S SOCIAL MEDIA SITES OR THEIR RESPECTIVE CONTENT OR CALCULATORS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

THE OSC AND EACH OF ITS SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS, AND CONDITIONS, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS, OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, MERCHANTABLE QUALITY, QUALITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OR OTHER VIOLATION OF RIGHTS, WHETHER ARISING BY STATUTE, USAGE OF TRADE, COURSE OF DEALING, OR OTHERWISE. NEITHER THE OSC NOR ANY OF ITS SUPPLIERS WARRANT OR MAKE ANY OTHER REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS, APPLICABILITY, PERFORMANCE, SECURITY, AVAILABILITY OR RELIABILITY OF THIS WEBSITE, ANY OF THE OSC’S SOCIAL MEDIA SITES, ANY SITES CONTAINING EMBEDDABLE CONTENT, ANY SITES LINKED TO BY ANY OF THE FOREGOING, OR THE RESULTS FROM THE USE OF ANY OF THE FOREGOING, OR OTHERWISE RESPECTING, THE CONTENT OR CALCULATORS ON THIS WEBSITE, ANY OF THE OSC’S SOCIAL MEDIA SITES, ANY SITES CONTAINING EMBEDDABLE CONTENT OR ANY SITES LINKED TO THIS WEBSITE OR ANY OSC SOCIAL MEDIA SITES.

Embeddable Content

Where embed code is provided for content (Embeddable Content) on this Website, you (You), the user of this Website are granted a limited license to use and display the Embeddable Content on your website subject to these additional terms and conditions (Additional Terms and Conditions):

1. You may not charge users of your website for access to the Embeddable Content, use the Embeddable Content as means to secure advertising, or commercialize the Embeddable Content in any other way;
2. The Embeddable Content is licensed “as is”, and Your use of it is at Your sole risk and subject to the disclaimers set out in these Additional Terms and Conditions;
3. You may not suggest any endorsement or approval by the OSC of Your website, any entity, product or content or any views expressed within Your website;
4. You may not use the Embeddable Content in conjunction with any content or websites that:
   • could be considered defamatory, indecent, obscene, harassing, violent or otherwise objectionable;
   • violate the legal rights of others or violate the laws of any jurisdiction (including, without limitation, rights of privacy and proprietary rights);
   • impersonate anyone else or otherwise misrepresent Your identity or status;
   • misrepresent an affiliation with any person or organization;
   • upload or otherwise transmit any advertisements or solicitations of business;
   • upload or otherwise transmit files that contain a virus or corrupted data; or
   • collect information about others (including e-mail addresses) without their express consent;
5. You may not alter, block or remove any copyright notices or Terms of Use links contained in the Embeddable Content;
6. To the extent permitted by applicable law, You agree to defend, indemnify and hold the OSC and its members, employees and agents harmless against any expense, claim or cost suffered by the OSC, including legal fees, losses (actual and consequential), judgments, or damages, arising from: (i) Your use of the Embeddable Content; or (ii) any breach by You of any of these Terms of Use. If You are a government body prohibited by law from granting such an indemnity, this indemnity will not apply to You;
7. You agree that the OSC has the right to monitor Your usage of the Embeddable Content, including traffic generated by You;
8. The OSC may suspend the operation of the Embeddable Content for maintenance or other reasons at any time, without notice. Access to or use of the Embeddable Content or any pages linked to it will not necessarily be uninterrupted or error free;
9. The OSC reserves the right to terminate or discontinue Your license or Your use of the Embeddable Content at any time, without notice;
10. You may terminate this license at any time by ceasing to use the Embeddable Content and removing it from Your website; and
11. Any termination of this license will not affect any accrued rights or liabilities of either party nor shall it affect any provision hereof which is expressly or by implication intended to come into, or continue in, force on or after such termination, including, without limitation, clause 6.

This license to Embeddable Content applies notwithstanding the “Uses subject to prior written approval” paragraph above but is otherwise subject to these Additional Terms and Conditions and the Terms of Use.

Links to other websites or social media sites

Any hypertext links that are provided to other websites or social media sites are as a convenience only. The OSC does not endorse any statements that may be made or any services or products that may be mentioned or promoted on those websites or social media sites or license the use of any content on those websites or social media sites.

Links from other websites

Access to this Website or any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites may be provided by a hypertext link or other link located at another website or social media site. Although the OSC encourages and appreciates links from third-party websites and social media sites, the OSC has no responsibility for the content of such sites and does not endorse, authorize, approve, certify, maintain, or control these other sites and does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficacy or timeliness of the information located at such sites.

Prohibited Uses

You may not use this Website in any manner which could damage, disable, overburden or impair the website or any system or network connected to the website or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the website. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to this Website or any system or network connected to the website through hacking, password mining or any other means. You may not obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available to you through the website.

Termination

The OSC may at any time, without notice, in its sole discretion and without cause, terminate your right to access or use this Website, Embeddable Content or any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites.

General

If any term or condition set out in this Terms of Use is held to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, the remaining terms and conditions will continue in full force. The OSC’s failure or delay to enforce any of these Terms of Use shall not operate as a waiver of any of the OSC’s rights or privileges under these Terms of Use. If these Terms of Use are translated into a language other than English and there are conflicts between the translations, the English version shall prevail and control.

Social Media Guidelines

The OSC encourages all users to discuss and interact with the OSC’s GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca, InvestingQuestions.ca and Social Medial Sites community and other sources of content. You are welcome to post views and opinions in reaction to any content which the OSC posts or otherwise publishes on its Social Media Sites. However, by participating on any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites, you agree to comply with these guidelines.

No Endorsement. Content shared on the OSC’s Social Media Sites should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the author, the shared content or of any organization the shared content refers to. Being followed by the OSC does not imply endorsement of any kind.

Third Party Terms and Conditions. You acknowledge that your use of the OSC’s Social Media Sites is governed not only by these guidelines but by the guidelines and other terms and conditions stipulated by the operator of the social media site. In participating in any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites, you agree to comply with the applicable operator’s guidelines and terms and conditions.

Your Content. You acknowledge that any content, views, opinions, responses to questions or other information which you upload, express, submit or otherwise post is available to the public and for use by the OSC. Other participants may use your posted information beyond the control of the OSC. If you do not wish to have any information you have made available to the public or used, published, copied and/or reprinted by the OSC or any other person, please do not post such information.

No Responsibility for Third Party Views or Opinions. Any content, views, opinions, responses to questions and/or other information uploaded, expressed, submitted or otherwise posted by the creators, sponsors, advertisers or users of the applicable social media site, including on its “walls”, web pages, message boards and groups or otherwise communicated through it, other than the content provided by the OSC, are solely the views, opinions and responsibility of the person submitting them and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the OSC. The OSC is not responsible for content that third parties publish, post, upload, distribute, disseminate or otherwise transmit via any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites.

Right to Moderate. The OSC reserves the sole right to review, edit and/or delete any comment, view, opinion, response or other content it deems inappropriate. The OSC does not condone any form of harassment, written attacks, insults, vulgarity or indecency. You agree not to do any of the following: (i) upload to or transmit using any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites any defamatory, indecent, obscene, harassing, violent or otherwise objectionable material, or any material that is, or may be, protected by copyright, without permission from the copyright owner; (ii) use any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites to violate the legal rights (including the rights of confidentiality and privacy) of others or to violate the laws of any jurisdiction; (iii) misrepresent an affiliation with any person or organization; (iv) upload to or transmit on any of the OSC’s Social Media Sites any advertisements or solicitations of business; (v) upload or otherwise transmit files that contain a virus or corrupted data; (vi) collect information about others (including e-mail addresses) without their express consent; (vii) upload or transmit files or photos or include in a comment links that you know, or have reason to believe, cannot be distributed legally using the OSC’s Social Media Sites or that you have an obligation to keep confidential; (viii) engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the OSC’s Social Media Sites, or which, as determined by the OSC, may harm the OSC or visitors to the OSC’s Social Media Sites or expose them to liability.

No Duty to Monitor/Moderate or Respond. Although the OSC has the right to review, edit and/or delete any comment, view, opinion, response or other content it deems inappropriate, the OSC is under no obligation to do so. You acknowledge that the OSC can neither review all material that is posted on the OSC’s Social Media Sites nor ensure prompt removal of objectionable material. Accordingly, the OSC assumes no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications or content provided by third parties. The OSC has no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or non-performance of the activities described in this paragraph or the paragraph immediately preceding.

Consequences of Non-Compliance. Your failure to comply with these guidelines may result in the termination of your access to the OSC’s Social Media Sites.

Privacy policy

Use of this Website is subject to the terms of the OSC’s Privacy Policy.