Transport Canada on Twitter

Transport Canada is responsible for transportation policies and programs. We promote safe, secure, efficient and environmentally-responsible transportation.

Transport Canada’s Twitter accounts are a great way to interact with the department and learn about everything from car seat safety to transportation of dangerous goods. We look forward to sharing information with you beyond the conventional government web experience, but always encourage visits to our website for more detailed information.

The use of Twitter by Transport Canada is intended to encourage interaction between the user of this platform and Transport Canada, and in no way verifies or confirms either the accuracy of user comments or their compliance with the guidelines outlined here. Transport Canada does not endorse any of the views in comments posted by users. Comments in violation of these Terms of Use may result in Transport Canada blocking the user in question to prevent further inappropriate tweets.

Content

The Transport Canada Twitter accounts (Transport_gc and Transports_gc) are mainly used as an alternative method for accessing the material posted in Transport Canada's RSS Feeds and website. If you are looking for more information about the Department, information is available on the Transport Canada website.

Links to Other Websites

From time to time the Transport Canada Twitter account may tweet links to websites that are not under the control of Transport Canada or the Government of Canada. These links are provided solely for the convenience of the users. The Government of Canada is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or reliability of the content. The Government of Canada does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.

Tweet Frequency

The number of tweets will vary; depending on the number of media articles and other relevant material published each day. During some periods, we may tweet more or less frequently than average. You should expect to receive tweets during regular working hours, Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST/EDT. Any activity during holidays, after core hours and on weekends would likely be along the lines of emergency or urgent communications of significant value to our followers. Otherwise, the accounts will be relatively inactive during these times.

Availability

Transport Canada Twitter updates are also subject to downtime that may be out of Transport Canada‘s control, because Twitter servers are managed by a third party. As such, we accept no responsibility for the Twitter network becoming unresponsive or unavailable.

Following and unfollowing

At this time, Transport Canada will only follow other Government of Canada institutions and organizations which we believe are relevant to the mandate of our work – specifically, as it relates to transportation and infrastructure. This could include following the Twitter accounts of non-profit organizations, associations and other governmental agencies.

We will only take steps to remove or block subscribers if they do not abide by these Terms of Use. Users may also be reported to Twitter if they do not comply to the service provider's terms of use.

The appearance of a Twitter user as a follower of the Transport Canada account does not imply endorsement, nor does Transport Canada following any particular user.

Retweets

Transport Canada may retweet relevant material posted by other Government of Canada Twitter accounts and/or other accounts determined to be relevant to our followers and of significant value. This may include cross-linking, research findings, statistics, relevant events and conferences.

Direct Messages and @replies

Feedback and interaction is highly encouraged. All @replies and direct messages, as well as email sent to the Twitter account will be read, and any emerging themes or helpful suggestions will be passed to the relevant people in the department. Although we are not able to reply individually to all messages, they will be handled on a case-by-case basis and responded to when deemed appropriate.

If we feel a comment or a question posed to Transport Canada is of significant business value and/or requires a greater level of detail, we may develop a formal response and distribute the information through other channels such as our website or other social media channels. We will pay attention to emerging themes and helpful suggestions and look forward to this potential interaction.

Reporters are asked to send questions to the appropriate individual in Media Relations.

Transport Canada cannot engage in issues of party politics or answer questions that break the rules of our commenting policy.

Accessibility

Twitter, as a third party service provider, is not bound by Government of Canada policies for web accessibility.

The Government of Canada is committed to achieving a high standard of accessibility and is working to address issues with third-party service provider platforms. A more accessible version of Twitter is located at http://www.accessibletwitter.com.

Copyright

Information posted by Transport Canada is subject to the Copyright Act of Canada. For more information, see the Important Notices page on the Transport Canada website.

Official Languages

Transport Canada respects the Official Languages Act and is committed to ensuring that information products are available in both French and English, of equal quality. Transport Canada's tweets are available in both official languages. Simply view the appropriate Transport Canada Twitter account: in English on Transport_gc, and in French on Transports_gc.

Through the very nature of the social media forum, content will vary between the English and French Twitter accounts, particularly where messages and comments are concerned. Any tweets or retweets that originate from Transport Canada will be made available in both official languages when it concerns both English and French communities. Responses to direct messages and @replies will be made in the official language of origin.

Users should be aware that some links direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and that these sources are only available in the language in which they are written.

Twitter.com is available in multiple languages including English and French. To change this user preference, go in your account settings and adjust accordingly.

Privacy

Transport Canada's Twitter accounts are not Government of Canada websites and represent our presence on Twitter, a third-party service provider. Users are encouraged to read Twitter's privacy policy.

Information shared with Transport Canada on Twitter is subject to the provisions of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, which means that the information you share with Transport Canada’s Twitter account may be captured, stored, accessed and disclosed in response to a request under either of these acts.

The personal information provided by you to Transport Canada’s social media accounts is collected under the authority of the Financial Administration Act (FAA), in accordance with the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada. This information is being collected to capture conversations between you and Transport Canada via the Department’s social media accounts. “Conversations” include questions and answers, comments, “likes”, retweets and other interactions where you provide feedback on content that the Department has posted, or when the Department provides you with information based on content that you post. The personal information collected is described in Personal Information Bank entitled Public Communications (TC PSU 914). Under the provisions of the Privacy Act, individuals have the right of access to, correction of and protection of their personal information. Instructions for obtaining your personal information are provided in Info Source, a copy of which is available in major public and academic libraries or online at http://www.infosource.gc.ca.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, Transport Canada recommends that you do not include personal information in your comments or other content you post. Personal information includes home addresses and telephone numbers, photographs containing images of identifiable individuals, and any other information consisting of personal information as defined in paragraph 3 of the Privacy Act. Should you have any questions about your privacy rights as explained in these Terms of Use, please contact the departmental Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Coordinator.

Additional Information

If you are looking for more information about the Department, please consult our website.

The usual ways of contacting us for official correspondence are detailed in the Contact Us section of our website.

If you have questions about this policy, please contact TC.Mediamonitoring-suivimediatique.TC@tc.gc.ca.

Contact information

Transport Canada's Twitter accounts (Transport_gc and Transports_gc) are managed by the Web Services team in the Communications and Marketing Group of Transport Canada, located at:

330 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0N5
Email: TC.Mediamonitoring-suivimediatique.TC@tc.gc.ca

For further contact details, please see the Contact Us page on Transport Canada's website.

For media enquiries

Media representatives can contact Transport Canada's Communications and Marketing Group during regular working hours and on an emergency basis after regular working hours.

Thank you for taking the time to read this policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.