Customer Service Practices for Release of Information

You may receive calls requesting information from an apprentice or tradeworkers file.  If you do, your obligations under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy act require that you apply the same rigorous protocols as ITA Customer Service personnel for caller verification and release of information.

These protocols specify the type of information that can be released and to whom.  Any requests that fall outside these documented protocols must be supported by a Release of Information form signed by the individual.  This form must be scanned and attached to a note to the individual’s file in Direct Access prior to the release of information.

Exam Results

The ITA does not provide Exam Results over the phone.  As a participant in the Red Seal Program, our practices must be consistent with other jurisdictions across Canada regarding the issuing of exam results.  Results will be sent to the examinee within 2 – 4 weeks, via their preferred channel of communication (email or mail).  Sponsor will also be notified at this time.

Verification of Caller Identity

Our practice for verification of identification is as follows:

1. Generally speaking, 3 pieces of information are required to confirm identity, i.e.

• name, date of birth, and program OR Individual ID
• name, date of birth, and address on file
• name, date of birth, and technical training provider where they attend a specific level of training

2. If an individual is a regular customer and calls on a daily basis, verification can be as simple as voice recognition.  (We always required verification of identification as stated before)

3. For sponsors, we generally ask for company name, name of caller (verify this individual is included in the contact list), and address of company.

Information Sharing

Information to the Individual

Once their identity has been verified, information on any record, whether it is an apprentice, challenger, trainee (foundation), certified journeyperson, or sponsor may be released to that individual.

If the individual requires certification numbers, we go one step further in our verification:  Certification numbers can only be provided to the holder of the certification in which case we must follow the above mentioned process plus obtain certification date, sponsor at time of certification, technical training provider, exam location of IP or CofQ exam and/or exam mark.

Information to Sponsors

We will provide the current sponsor (primary contact and/or any secondary contact) of record (on file) with all information associated with the apprentice’s file for that specific apprenticeship.  All of this information can be found on the transcript.

If more than one person from the sponsor needs access to the apprenticeship record, the primary contact person for that sponsor must formally add the other contacts to the list in writing by submitting the Add Staff Form to the ITA.

If the apprentice has a second active registration in another trade, with a different sponsor, this information must not be released.

Once the apprenticeship ends (due to employment termination or certification) the information sharing agreement between the sponsor, apprentices and ITA ends.  After that time, we can only release information to the sponsor pertaining to activities that took place while the apprenticeship was active under that sponsor.

If a sponsor calls requesting a transcript for a past apprenticeship we MUST black out the apprenticeship contact information and any other information/activity on file that is not related to this specific sponsor.

We do not provide certificate numbers to sponsors.

Challengers are not associated with a sponsor.  If a third party such as an employer or potential employer want details about the status of a challenger’s application form and exam results, a Release of Information Form is required from the individual.

Information to General Public

When a member of the general public calls to confirm a certification, we do not provide certification dates or numbers.  Our practice is to ask for the journey person’s full name, DOB, trade and/or certificate number and we will only confirm that we do have a record of an individual with that name and certificate number in that trade.

If a third party wants access to a file i.e. mother, father, wife, etc, they must provide a signed Release of Information Form to the ITA prior to any information being released.  The Release of Information must list the name of an individual to whom we are authorized to release the information and the relationship to the individual; a company name is not sufficient.  Please notice that a third party could be given full or limited access to the individual’s file; we MUST note on file if there are any limitations of the information to be released (section 3 of the form).  There is no expiry date on the Release of Information form.

On a one-time basis, verbal authorization can be given to a third party calling in with the apprentice on a 3-way call, this authorization expires at the end of the call.  A full detailed note MUST be left on file of this special circumstance.

Information to Training Providers

Training Providers have access to apprenticeship information via ITADirectAccess for all apprentices who are actively registered in trades for which they offer technical training.  If a training provider requests information outside of these parameters, a Release of Information form is required. The only exception to this practice is BCIT. They require confirmation of certification in order to grant Diplomas to apprentices registered in their coop diploma programs.  This verification is provided upon written request from BCIT.

Information to Other Organizations

Other requests for information should be referred to the ITA.