Terms of service

Agreement

These terms are an agreement between you and TaxCertificates.ca. By using this website or placing an order, you accept them. If you order on behalf of a firm or a client, you confirm you have authority to accept these terms for them.

What we do

We help you request tax, utility, and related certificates from Canadian municipalities. The municipality issues each certificate. We are not the municipality and do not decide what a certificate says.

How your request reaches the municipality depends on what it supports:

• Municipal website: we link you to the municipality's own ordering page. You order there, under its terms, and we take no order or payment.
• By mail: we mail the municipality your request with payment, and it mails the certificate to the address you choose. Turnaround depends on the municipality and the postal service.
• By email or direct connection: we send your request electronically and deliver the certificate to you by email. You can retrieve it again with your order number and email address.

Turnaround times we show are estimates based on the municipality's usual practice, not guarantees.

Your responsibilities

You agree to:

• Give accurate property, contact, and delivery details
• Order certificates only for a lawful purpose
• Keep your sign-in secure and tell us about any unauthorized use
• Not interfere with the service, access it by automated means without our permission, or try to reach information that is not yours

A certificate is issued for the property you identify. If you give the wrong address or roll number, the municipality may still charge for the search.

Fees and payment

The total for each order, including the municipality's fee and any service fee, is shown in Canadian dollars before you pay. Payments are processed by Stripe. For participating municipalities, the payment goes directly to the municipality's account through Stripe.

Municipalities set their own fees and may change them. We charge the fee in effect when you place your order.

Cancellations and refunds

• If a municipality cannot issue a certificate for your order, we refund you in full.
• You can cancel for a full refund before we send your request to the municipality.
• Once the municipality has your request, it has started work. We refund its fee only if the municipality refunds it, and we refund our service fee if we made an error.

Certificates and their accuracy

The municipality is responsible for the content of each certificate. We deliver it as issued and do not check or guarantee the amounts or information it contains. A certificate reflects the municipality's records on its issue date. If you see an error in a certificate, contact the municipality, and we will help where we can.

Municipalities

Municipalities that receive requests through our service may also be bound by a separate agreement with us. If that agreement conflicts with these terms, the separate agreement governs that municipality's use of the service.

Intellectual property

We own this website and its software, text, and design. Certificates belong to the municipalities that issue them. You may use a certificate you order for its intended purpose, including sharing it with others involved in the same transaction.

Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, for delays or errors caused by a municipality, the postal service, or another third party, or for decisions you make based on a certificate's content. Our total liability for any order is limited to the amount you paid for it.

Nothing in these terms limits any right you have under consumer protection law that cannot be waived by agreement.

Availability and changes to the service

We work to keep the service available but do not guarantee it will be uninterrupted. We may add or remove municipalities, or change how the service works. Orders already paid for will be completed or refunded.

Accessibility

We aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA. If any part of the service is hard to use, or you need information in another format, contact us at or 705-808-2255 and we will help you order or provide what you need.

Privacy

Our privacy policy explains how we handle personal information and forms part of these terms.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms and will change the date at the top when we do. Changes apply to orders placed after they take effect. We will tell signed-in users about material changes by email.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. If you are a consumer in another province, you keep the protections of your province's consumer law.

Contact

Questions about these terms: tim.kennaley@legallocker.ca, 705-808-2255, or 541 Weller Street, Peterborough, ON K9H 2N9.