Canadian Agricultural Loans Act Program

Introduction

The Canadian Agricultural Loans Act (CALA) program is a financial loan guarantee program that makes credit more available to farmers and agricultural co-operatives. Farmers can use these loans to establish, improve, and develop farms, while agricultural co-operatives may also access loans to process, distribute, or market the products of farming.

The CALA program builds on and replaces the previous Farm Improvement and Marketing Cooperatives Loans Act (FIMCLA) program, which has helped farming operations grow their businesses by guaranteeing loans issued through financial institutions since 1988.

Through the CALA, the Government of Canada is supporting the renewal of the agricultural sector and enabling co-operatives to better seize market opportunities.

Objective

As the CALA Program involves the collection and management of personal information, a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) was conducted to determine if there were any privacy risks, and if so, to make recommendations for their resolution or mitigation.

Description

The scope of this PIA is restricted to the business process and basic data flows of personal information associated with the CALA. This includes Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's (AAFC) collection, use, retention, disclosure and disposal of personal information in the context of the CALA.

Personal Information Bank (PIB) AAFC PPU 165 outlines the details regarding the personal information collected under the program, including the purpose, use, retention and disposal standards.

Conclusion

As a result of the PIA, measures have been determined to mitigate risks associated with the collection of personal information. These include: a physical Threat and Risk Assessment (TRA) on the CALA file storage room, mandatory privacy training for all AAFC staff who handle personal information, and revision of the Personal Information Bank.

For further information on this PIA please contact:

Access to Information and Privacy
1341 Baseline Road, 10th Floor, Tower 7, Room 130
Ottawa ON  K1A 0C5
Telephone: 613-773-0970
Facsimile: 613-773-1380
Email: aafc.atip-aiprp.aac@agr.gc.ca