Decision Regarding the Disclosure of Confidential Information to a Universitas Representative
On May 19, Universitas management was informed that Marco Roberge, a nursing assistant at CIUSSS de l'Estrie – CHUS who was suspended for 15 months for disclosing confidential information, allegedly gave his spouse, a Universitas representative, contact information for new parents over a period of 10 years, from December 2006 to December 2016.
We wish to reassure parents that Universitas was completely unaware of its representative’s actions, which were in total violation of our code of ethics, particularly with respect to protecting personal information. We strongly condemn these acts, which are strictly prohibited in the contracts we have our representatives sign.
As soon as we received this information, we opened an internal investigation to shed light on the situation. This is a grievous and unacceptable offense, and we have accordingly decided to cut ties with the representative in question.
To show that we are taking this matter very seriously, we will also be informing the various bodies governing our business practices, i.e., Chambre de la sécurité financière (CSF), Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), and RESP Dealers Association of Canada (RESPDAC).
Universitas wishes to point out that its representatives are authorized to receive referrals from business partners, so long as this is done legally and in accordance with our policies.
To ensure that the situation does not repeat itself, the organization has taken or is taking the following steps:
- More frequent training courses on compliance for new and experienced representatives, and regular reminders of their privacy obligations
- Reminders of the existence and merits of our Whistleblower Policy, which is aimed at encouraging people who believe that the law has been or may be infringed, or that professional or other misconduct has occurred or may be about to occur, to confidentially and without fear of discipline or reprisal contact an organization that operates at arm’s length from Universitas
- A review of how we monitor business partnerships in our independent distributor network, in order to achieve the best possible control over business prospecting and development practices
On behalf of the entire Universitas team, we would like to offer our most sincere apologies to any families that have been affected by this situation.
Pierre Lafontaine
Vice President, Operations and Customer Service