What are cookies?
Cookies are small text files stored on your device (computer, tablet, or mobile phone) when you visit a website. They help websites function properly, improve user experience, analyze traffic, and support marketing efforts.
Cookies may be:
- Session cookies – Deleted when you close your browser
- Persistent cookies – Remain on your device until they expire or are deleted
They may be stored on your computer as long as they are not deleted. You may delete the cookies at any time within your browser.
What types of cookies do we use and why?
We use cookies for the following purposes:
A. Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential to support the functionality and security of our website. For example, they facilitate a secure connection, help run legal and compliance-related functions, and provide functionality to the tools that you may use on the website. These cookies are mandatory and you cannot disable them.
Some examples include:
- Software to manage cookie preferences of visitors
- Software to provide accessibility options for visitors
- Fraud prevention and security monitoring
- Load balancing to route website traffic to an appropriate server
- Setting browser language for visitors
- Website tools (e.g. our quote tool) to gather information to provide pricing
B. Preferences
Preference cookies enable a website to remember information that results in changes to the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.
C. Analytics Cookies
These cookies help us understand how visitors use and interact with our website so that we can improve the functionality, provide educational content, and enhance the user experience. They also help us to analyze our marketing effectiveness.
Some examples of what these cookies track include:
- Website traffic patterns, pages viewed, time spent on the website, approximate geographic location (province-level)
- How the visitor found our website and what type of content they engaged with
- Buttons clicked, video engagement, podcast engagement
D. Marketing Cookies
We work with third-party advertising partners to promote our services online. These partners may use tracking technologies known as “pixels” (also called web beacons or tracking tags) on our website.
A pixel is a small piece of code embedded in a webpage that allows an advertising provider to collect certain information when you visit the page or take specific actions (such as requesting a quote or submitting a form).
When you visit our website, pixels may:
- Record that you visited certain pages
- Track actions such as form submissions or quote requests
- Help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns
- Support “retargeting” (showing you relevant ads after you leave our website)
- Limit how often you see the same advertisement
Pixels generally collect technical information, such as:
- IP address
- Browser type
- Device information
- Pages viewed
- Time and date of visit
- Referring website
Third-party advertisers process information in accordance with their own privacy policies. In some cases, information collected through pixels may be transferred outside of Canada and may be subject to the laws of other jurisdictions.
We do not control how third-party advertising platforms use data collected through their technologies, but we require our service providers to use information only for authorized purposes.
E. Unclassified
Unclassified cookies are cookies that we are in the process of classifying, together with the providers of individual cookies.
Third-Party Data Sharing
Certain third-party service providers (analytics, CRM, advertising, social media) may process information on our behalf.
We require these providers to:
- Maintain appropriate safeguards
- Use information only for agreed purposes
- Comply with applicable Canadian privacy laws
Some providers may store data outside of Canada. Where this occurs, information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is processed.
Sensitive Information
As a life insurance provider, some interactions on our website may relate to financial planning or insurance needs.
We:
- Do not collect medical or health information through cookies
- Only collect personal information through forms you voluntarily submit
- Use cookies primarily for analytics, marketing, and service optimization
Consent to Use Cookies
Under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), your consent is required for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information.
When you first visit our website, you will be presented with a cookie banner allowing you to:
- Accept all cookies
- Customize your preferences
You may withdraw consent at any time by adjusting your cookie settings or browser controls.
you consent to the use of cookies as described in this policy.
How to Change or Withdraw Consent
You can change or withdraw your cookie consent at any time by clicking the “Cookie Settings” link icon in the bottom right of your screen. The icon looks like an open lock.
Please note that disabling cookies in the browser may impact the functionality of our forms, calculators, and quote tool.
Data Protection and Retention
Cookie retention periods refer to how long a cookie stays on a user’s device before it expires or is deleted. There’s no single standard duration — it depends on the cookie’s purpose, the platform setting it, and privacy regulations.
The cookie consent that you enter on our website will last for 12 months, at which point you will see the consent banner appear again to ask you what your preferences are.
Updates to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Updates will be posted on this page with a revised effective date.
Contact Us
If you have any questions about the above information, or wish to receive a copy of Serenia Life Financial’s Privacy Policy, feel free to contact Member Services at:
Serenia Life Financial
300-470 Weber St. North
Waterloo, ON N2L 6J2
Tel: (519) 886-4610
Toll-free: 1-800-563-6237
Fax: (519) 886-0350
E-mail: member.services@serenialife.ca
If you have an issue that remains unresolved after contacting Member Services, you may then choose to contact our Chief Privacy Officer at the address above.
