Privacy Policy

Last Updated: February 03, 2025

Kent is Committed to Your Privacy

Kent is committed to protecting the privacy of our customers. This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) explains the types of personal information Kent collects, how it is used, when and if it is disclosed, and the steps we take to protect your personal information. You can shop instore or online via our websites, mobile sites, and mobile applications with confidence knowing that we will not collect, share or sell any information without your knowledge and consent.

Our Policy has been designed to comply with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, and the provincial laws relating to the protection of personal information including Quebec’s Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private section, as applicable.

Accountability

Kent is responsible for the personal information in its possession or under its control, including any personal information that is transferred to third parties for processing, storage or other purposes. To meet our commitment to you, Kent has appointed a Privacy Officer to oversee our privacy policies, practices, and compliance to privacy laws.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your privacy, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Email Address: privacyofficer@jdirving.com
Telephone: 506.632.7777
Mail: Attn: Privacy Officer
J.D. Irving, Limited
300 Union Street
Saint John, N.B., E2L 4G7

Terms of Use

Consent

By using the kentpro.ca and the kent.ca sites (the “Sites”), our mobile sites, our mobile applications, and the products and services we offer, you are agreeing to be bound by this Policy, including its Terms of Use, and consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as outlined in the Policy. You also agree to the copyright notice located at the bottom of the page. As such, we ask that you read this Policy carefully.

Limiting Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal information

Kent will not collect, use or disclose your personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected without your consent. If there is a specific need to collect, use or disclose your personal information that is considered sensitive and outside of what is outlined in this Policy, we will obtain your express consent to collect, use or disclose that information.

Kent may disclose personal information collected by it without your knowledge or consent for purposes relating to an investigation, the enforcement or administration of a law or where required by law to disclose the information. Kent does not trade, sell or rent personal information to third parties.

Collection of Personal Information

This Policy applies to the information we collect during your interactions with us, including, but not limited to:

  • Visiting our retail locations
  • Using our websites, including mobile websites
  • Downloading or using our applications for mobile phones/tablets and smart devices
  • Our communications with you, including, but not limited to, via phone, in person, via on-line chat, e-mail and text message
  • Social media interactions on our websites, applications or third-party websites such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google, X (formally known as Twitter), and Threads.
  • Viewing our online advertisements

This Policy also applies to information we receive from business partners or other third parties but does not apply to third-party websites accessible through our websites or mobile applications or information collected through the job application process. For information regarding the collection of applicant personal information related to open positions at Kent, please visit our careers site.

Personal Information Collected

Canadian privacy legislation defines personal information as information about "an identifiable individual" or information that allows an individual to be identified. Personal information does not include business contact information, such as the name, title or business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization.

Kent does not collect any personal information about our customers that is not knowingly and willingly provided to us. The types of personal information that we may collect include:

  • General information such as your name, address (physical, mailing and/or billing), telephone number, fax number, and email address
  • Account information, such as username, password, and other account related information
  • Social media information
  • Biometric information
  • Loyal program information
  • Payment information such as your credit card or debit card, credit card tokens, cheque, PayPal account, Google Pay account, Apply Pay account, and available credit with Kent financing
  • Commercial information, including the products or services you purchased in store and online, and products or services you like
  • Geographical information, such as store selection, usage information, including individual preferences and characteristic, inferences related to shopping patterns and behaviours, language preferences, search history, referring site, and date and time of visits(s)
  • Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses
  • Product and website reviews

We may collect this information from multiple sources, including:

  • Directly from you or a friend/contact if they have purchased something for you
  • Cookies and similar technologies. A cookie is a small non-executable file that is stored on your hard drive for the purposes of identifying your computer. Kent uses both session and permanent cookies. Session cookies are active only during the period you are logged on to the Sites and are removed when you leave. Permanent cookies remain on your hard drive until you remove them through your browser’s internet security settings. Any cookies which are used on the Sites will exist only to make your browsing experience easier; they will not collect personal information, nor will they harm your computer.
  • A device associated with you or your household
  • In-store technology
  • External third-party sources, such as marketing companies
  • Social media platforms

Some of the services we offer on our Sites may require information about a third party. This includes shipping an item directly to a recipient’s address. By using these services, you represent to Kent that you have obtained the appropriate consent from the third party to permit Kent to collect, use and disclose third party personal information for the purposes identified. We consider any messages sent between you and a third party to be private and we will only use or disclose this information for the following reasons:

  • To ship and/or confirm orders
  • To resolve customer service or technical issues
  • To comply with legal and governmental requirements
  • To detect and protect Kent and other third parties against fraud, error, theft or other illegal activity
  • For any other purpose we may indicate to you from time to time
Use of Personal Information

If the personal information we collect is used for a reason other than the purposes stated in this Policy, your consent will be obtained before or at the time the information is collected.

Your personal information may be used for the following reasons:

  • Operational and business purposes
  • Communicating with you, including to answer your questions, queries and/or complaints, providing you with technical or customer service support, and to respond to product/service reviews. Any communications that you post to our Sites (e.g. feedback, bulletin boards or other forums available) are public and you provide such information at your own risk. Such voluntary public disclosure of personal information is not governed by this Policy
    Although it is prohibited to use our forums as a source of email addresses for sending unfounded or unsolicited messaged or spamming, others may still capture your email address and send you email messages if you post your email address, and we cannot control such actions by others. We advise you to always remain vigilant and attentive when you are on the Internet
  • Providing you with the product, service and/or information you requested (e.g. through direct mail and/or e-mail, text message, e-newsletters, e-flyers, etc) and to process, track and deliver orders, returns and exchanges. This information is required to identify you, to contact you, if necessary, and to complete the process of your purchase
  • Processing payment for products and/or services, including Kent gift cards, and e-receipts
  • Processing personal and commercial credit card applications. If you are applying for credit with Kent, personal information such as your name, address, email address, phone number, credit card number and expiry date will be collected and stored to properly establish and maintain your account, if approved. We may also use and disclose this personal information to assist us in collecting any debt owed by you and to perform credit checks
  • Registering for Kent’s online services which enables account authentication and allows you to personalize your experience. Your registration information is used to provide and otherwise administer the services you requested and allows us to make your shopping experience easier and faster by pre-filling online forms.
    You do not have to register to visit our Sites however, some of the features offered may require you to register. As part of the registration process, you will be asked to provide your name, address, email address, a personally selected password, and other optional information. You are not required to provide us with optional information
  • Participating in contests, sweepstakes, and promotions. You will always find detailed contest rules and regulations that will clearly identify what personal information is collected and where it will go
  • Conducting customer surveys and research. From time to time, we may offer you the opportunity to participate in one of our surveys or other customer research. The information obtained though our surveys and customer research is used in an aggregated, de-identified form. This means that the data does not contain any personal identifiable information. We use this information to help us better understand our customer’s needs, to enhance our products and services, promotions and events
  • Enhancing the website and mobile application experience for our customers. For example, cookies are used to enable us to track and target the interest of our customers, to personalize our Sites in accordance with your preferences, and to generally enhance your experience on our Sites
    If you wish to view the cookies which reside in your computer or change your browser settings to reject all cookies or ask you for approval before accepting them, use the preferences settings in your browser. If you do decide to disable Kent’s cookies, you may not be able to take full advantage of certain features available on our Sites
  • IP addresses are collected to track information regarding site traffic (including information such as page requests, browser type, operating system and average time spent on our Sites)
    This information allows us to understand our website activity, gather and analyze information about the areas that you visit, and monitor and improve the customer experience and content on the Sites. With the exception of collecting and/or disclosing IP addresses for fraud detection purposes (e.g. credit checks) to a third party with whom we have a commercial relationship, we do not collect any personal information from a user’s IP address
  • Facilitating internal business processes and analysis. This includes performance analytics, projections, customer interests, and general improvement areas
  • Where you have agreed or consented, for marketing campaigns and targeted advertising across various channels, including social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and to measure the effectiveness of these campaigns
    To opt-out of marketing communications at any time, please update your preferences in your Account under Newsletter Subscription. Please note, your request will be processed but may not be processed in time to remove you from promotional communications already in process. We may still contact you regarding transactions or account administration issues
  • Detecting fraud, loss, error, theft, or any other illegal activity to protect Kent, our employees, our customers and members of the public
  • Complying with legal and governmental requirements and auditing compliance with Kent policies and contractual obligations
  • For any other purpose we may disclose to you
CCTV, Photography & Video Recording

We operate CCTV and utilize video recording at our retail locations. Any images and recordings will be used for specific and legitimate purposes, such as security, theft prevention, and health and safety. If your image is captured it may be used, if required, for those purposes.

Disclosure of Personal Information

We may transfer your information to services providers outside of Kent who assist with our business activities and perform services on our behalf. Your personal information may be maintained and processed by our third-party service providers in Canada and the United States. Our service providers are only given the information they need to perform their designated functions, and we do not authorize them to use or disclose personal information for their own marketing or any other purposes.

By accessing and using the Sites, you consent to such transfers and the purposes for which your information is transferred, which include

  • Account and sales order creation, order processing, including gift card orders, and authorizing and processing payments
  • Loyalty program management and delivery
  • Subscription management
  • Customer relationship management
  • Marketing and targeted advertising
  • Data analytics
  • Performing credit checks
  • Collecting outstanding debts
  • Performing audits
  • Enablement of the features on our Sites, such as customer support chat services
  • Sending email or other communications
  • Facilitating our contests and promotions
  • Conducting customer research

We may disclose your personal information to any of the companies, business units, and divisions that form part of Kent (i.e. amongst Kent Building Supplies, its divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates) to serve you better and to provide you with information about Kent’s products and services.

Kent may be involved in the sale, merger or transfer of some or all of its business (including transfers made as part if insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings). As part of that sale, merger, transfer or change of control, Kent may disclose your personal information to the acquiring organization but will require the acquiring organization to agree to protect the privacy of your personal information in a manner consistent with this Policy

Residents of Quebec

As Kent provides products across Canada, we may transfer your information outside of Quebec. We conduct privacy impact assessments on the personal information of Quebec residents that is being transferred outside of Quebec to ensure there is adequate protection.

Safeguards

We take physical, administrative, and technological measures to protect the confidentiality of the personal information that you provide to us, and you can be sure that all necessary precautions are taken to ensure the security and confidentiality of your personal information. These measures include:

  • Appointment of a Privacy Officer and the development of processes, including privacy impact assessments, to ensure that the products and services we provide are designed with a focus on privacy
  • Internal processes, procedures and training that are focused on privacy and data security. This includes appropriate access rights to ensure that those employees with access to your personal information use that information in strict compliance with this Policy
  • Locked cabinets
  • Technical and security measures, including encryption, restricted access, and the use of passwords to protect your personal information against loss or theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying and use or modification.
  • Proper contractual language with third parties who assist with our business activities and perform services on our behalf
  • Firewalls, antivirus software and intrusion detection to protect information provided over the internet
  • Change control processes to manage and oversee changes within our systems

Please take steps to protect yourself against unauthorized access to your mobile phone, tablet, computer, and password. This can be done by ensuring you have signed out of your account after using a shared computer, by creating a complex password that is not shared and keeping your log in information confidential. We recommend that you do not share the password you have created to gain access to the Sites with anyone to help keep your personal information secure. Kent will never request your password through email, phone, mail or any other unsolicited form of communication. If your password or account has been compromised, you should immediately change your password.

Retention of Personal Information

Kent will only keep your personal information for as long as it is needed for its identified purpose. Files are destroyed or anonymized when there is no longer any possibility of them being used for administrative or legal purposes or when we are obligated to do so by law.

Retention periods may vary depending on factors including, but not limited to, legal compliance requirements, record keeping, protecting the rights and safety of Kent employees, customers and the general public, and the requirement to prevent fraud and protect our assets.

Rights of Access, Accuracy and Withdrawal of Consent

With certain limited exceptions as provided in the applicable legislation, you have the right to access your personal information held by Kent and, as the case may be, to request that the information be corrected if it is inaccurate, incomplete, or collected in violation of the law. In circumstances where your personal information has been provided by a third party (e.g. credit bureaus), we will refer you to that third party.

To access, update or edit your personal information, please do one of the following:

  • If you have a registered account, you can access your profile at any time from the “Account” button on the kent.ca home page or the “Sign In” button on the kentpro.ca home page to update your information, or
  • If you do not have a registered account, submit a written request to our Privacy Officer:

Attention: Privacy Officer
E-mail: privacyofficer@jdirving.com
J.D. Irving, Limited
300 Union Street
Saint John, NB
E2L 4G7

To request that your personal information be deleted from our records please contact the Privacy Office at the contact information listed above. Please be aware that we may have an obligation under applicable legislation to retain your information for a prescribed period of time. This means that it may not be possible for us to remove all the personal information that we have about you from our records.

If you believe that you are being targeted by a fraudulent communication, please contact us immediately so that we may investigate. If you have been the victim of a fraudulent communication and have mistakenly provided a User ID or password that may allow your personal identifiable information to be exploited, contact us immediately so that we may disable access.

Protecting the Information of Children

The Sites, including mobile websites and mobile applications, are not intended for use by children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 18. Please do not allow children under 18 to provide their personal identifiable information through our Sites. If it comes to our attention that a minor has submitted or posted personal information using our Sites, such personal information will be destroyed as soon as can be reasonably accomplished.

Links to Other Websites

Kent may contain links to other websites that Kent does not own or operate. We provide links to third party websites as a convenience only. These links are not intended as an endorsement of or referral to the linked website. The linked sites have separate and independent privacy statements, notices, and terms of use. Kent is not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites or the manner in which such sites collect, use or disclose, and otherwise treat your personal information. Kent Site visitors should carefully read the privacy statements of each and every linked website.