Last updated: October 2026

Keys to Hope Counselling Services ("Keys to Hope", "we", "us") is a counselling practice in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Your privacy matters to us, and protecting your personal information is part of the care we provide. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we protect it and the choices you have.

We follow Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and the professional standards of the colleges our practitioners belong to, including the College of Alberta Psychologists and the Alberta College of Social Workers.

What we collect

When you contact us or become a client, we may collect:

  • Contact details, such as your name, phone number, email address and mailing address
  • Information you share with us about your reasons for seeking counselling, your health and your history
  • Notes and records from your sessions
  • Billing and payment information, including insurance details
  • Emergency contact information

When you visit our website, we also collect basic information about how the site is used (see "Our website" below).

Why we collect it

We collect only what we need to:

  • Book and manage your appointments
  • Provide counselling and keep accurate clinical records
  • Bill you or your insurer
  • Contact you about your care
  • Meet our legal and professional obligations

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We do not use it to send you marketing emails.

Who can see it

Your information is seen only by the Keys to Hope practitioners and staff who need it to provide your care or run the practice. We do not share it with anyone else without your consent, except where the law requires or allows it. Your practitioner will explain the limits of confidentiality when you begin counselling. These include situations where someone's safety is at serious risk, where a child may need protection, or where a court orders records to be released.

We use trusted service providers to run the practice, such as our booking and records system (Jane App) and payment processors. They may handle your information only to provide their service to us, and they are expected to protect it.

How we protect it

We use physical, administrative and electronic safeguards to protect your information. These include password-protected systems, limited access and secure storage. No system is perfectly secure. Email and text messages in particular are not fully private, so please don't use them to share sensitive details or for urgent matters.

How long we keep it

We keep client records for as long as our professional colleges and the law require. When records are no longer needed, we destroy them securely.

Our website

Our website is hosted by Jane Websites. When you visit, we use Google Analytics to understand how people use the site, such as which pages are visited, and Google Ads to measure how our ads perform. These tools use cookies and collect information such as your device, browser and general location. They do not tell us who you are. You can turn off cookies in your browser settings.

Our website does not collect health information. If you send us a message through our contact form, it comes to us by email, and we treat it as confidential.

Our website links to other sites, such as our online booking page (Jane App) and Learn Heal Thrive. Those sites have their own privacy policies.

Your rights

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, and ask us to correct it if it's wrong. Please contact one of our Privacy Officers. We may ask you to put your request in writing, and we'll respond within the time PIPA requires.

Questions or concerns

If you have a question or concern about your privacy, please contact one of our Privacy Officers:

Melisha Franks, R.Psych, Privacy Officer

Deena West, Privacy Officer

Keys to Hope Counselling Services

550c Allowance Ave SE, Medicine Hat, AB T1A 1G5

Phone: 403-487-1607

Email: admin@keystohopecounselling.com

If we can't resolve your concern, you can contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.