Privacy Policy

Wheel & Anchor as well as its employees and affiliates are committed to protecting all personal information that you share with us. For purposes of this Privacy Policy only, Wheel & Anchor shall include Vancouver Regency Travel Inc. o/a New Sky Travel, the registered travel agent through which all Wheel & Anchor tours are sold and operated. It is important that you, our members, understand clearly our Privacy Policy.

By using this website and/or the services offered and provided by us, you are consenting to our use of the personal information that you provide to us as outlined below. If you do not consent to the use of your information, we kindly ask that you do not join our membership group or that you resign your membership if you are already a member. If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, please email our founder who is the person responsible for the administration and enforcement of this policy. The email is gordon@wheelandanchor.ca

We do our utmost to ensure your personal information is safeguarded and protected, by adhering and acting in accordance with all applicable legislation, including Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

1. Definition of personal information and reason for collecting it

Wheel & Anchor collects personal information only to the extent necessary to deliver the services, products, or information you, another person booking on your behalf, requests.

Wheel & Anchor collects, holds, uses and discloses, only as necessary the following personal information from members and others in the course of offering services or providing services to you: full name, age, home address, phone number, e-mail address, passport and travel medical information, where required, insurance details, nationality, residency, dietary requirements, travel & accommodation preferences, comments you provide us, trip destination information, credit card and/or other payment information, etc. The collection of this information is done to allow us to provide the services you book.

We may also collect personal information, as defined above if you decide to enter a draw or contest, participate in a survey, or to request a brochure, which we will use only to provide you with the service you have requested (or other substantially similar services directly related to your request).

Where the collection of certain details of your personal information is not required in order to deliver requested services or products, you may elect not to provide such details.

2. How will my personal information be used?

Wheel & Anchor uses this personal information to provide the services and/or products you have requested, or to provide you with information about those services or Wheel & Anchor. This includes using personal information to: register you to receive information about new and upcoming tours and/or special offers, answer your request for further information about our trips, make a booking, provide you with information about Wheel & Anchor and/or our services, and to receive and implement feedback on those services. Furthermore, the personal information allows us to:

Understand your needs as a member and determine eligibility for our products and services.
Inform you about our tour programs, merchandise and other services, or those of our partners that we believe may be of interest to you.
Provide ongoing service and support, including resolution of any issues with the services or products you request from Wheel & Anchor.
To ensure the safety and security of our members and products.
Carry out internal accounting and administration of our business.
Comply with laws, regulations, immigration requirements, etc.

Wheel & Anchor may also use your personal information to book tour programs and services for you or on your behalf from our third party suppliers and service providers, or other service providers for whom we act as agent from time to time. This collection of personal information can be both for our internal purposes, for example, to process your booking, and occasionally on behalf of the parties for whom we act as agent, for their internal purposes in providing the services or products you have requested. Please be aware that the consent you provide to the collection and use of personal information by Wheel & Anchor, applies equally to the parties whose products and services we sell or book on your behalf. For example, if you purchase a flight from us, you will be deemed to have consented to your personal information being provided to the airline to enable your flight to be booked.

3. What if I don’t or won’t provide Personal Information?

If you do not provide the Personal Information that we request, we may not be able to deliver the services you have requested, which may mean you wouldn’t be able to participate in our trips. If you have paid a deposit and later refuse to provide necessary Personal Information to Wheel & Anchor which Wheel & Anchor (or our partners and suppliers) requires to deliver the service for which the deposit was paid (for example, for a flight which requires passport information), you may not be entitled to a refund for that service – the terms & conditions relative to that booking will apply. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about providing or not providing Personal Information when booking or inquiring about programs from Wheel & Anchor. To be clear, personal information is not collected unless it is expressly provided to us. This means you can visit and browse our website, or place a call to our office, without having to provide any personal information to Wheel & Anchor. How do we collect your information and obtain your consent to use it as described here? We collect information from members during the booking process, or during an inquiry if required, through our website, our reservations department, from any necessary trip information forms which you or someone acting on your behalf may complete, from member surveys which you may complete, from any special prize draws that we may feature, and other individuals who make or update bookings on your behalf, or otherwise interact with us on your behalf, including during the inquiry process (whether or not the inquiry proceeds to a booking).

This information is provided by you or on your behalf by someone you have authorized to make or inquire about a booking. We obtain consent by:

Written permission via mail, email or online booking form.
Verbal permission
Third party consent (i.e. from your spouse/common law partner, or the member booking on your behalf to whom you have provided your personal information for such purpose).

4. How is Personal Information protected?

The security and integrity of your Personal Information is extremely important to us. All personal information is stored in secure databases to prevent unauthorized access. Passwords, encryption devices and firewalls protect these databases. Please note however that no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. While we take all steps to ensure the safety of your data, we cannot ensure the security of information you send to us over the internet.

Access to your personal and private information is limited to: authorized employees of Wheel & Anchor, and any of the third-party suppliers who require your information to provide the travel or other services you have requested (such as the airlines, transportation companies, hotels, cruise lines, and tour guides who deliver the services you purchase through Wheel & Anchor or that we arrange on your behalf) . We keep our employees and our third party suppliers and other partners informed about our policies and procedures and require strict compliance with this policy in order to ensure your information remains protected. Unauthorized access and/or disclosure of client information is strictly prohibited.

5. Who do we share your personal information with?

Wheel & Anchor will share your information with the outside suppliers (such as travel companies, hotel companies, and insurance companies with whom we work to provide the travel services as well as credit card processing firms etc., all of whom may be located outside of Canada, or your country of residence if you are booking from abroad, and governed by differing privacy legislation) who perform services on our behalf. Such information must be provided to these suppliers in order to facilitate your booking and in order to provide you with services you have requested. These partners and suppliers are located all over the world - you can reasonably expect your personal information to be shared with organizations we work with in the countries you are travelling to, and in some cases, to the country of the head office of such third party partner supplier.

It is important to note that Wheel & Anchor and its suppliers do not sell, lease or trade information about you or your travel information to other parties in the ordinary course of business. In the event that Wheel & Anchor as a company were to be sold, your personal information would be among the assets sold - though we commit that any subsequent owner would be bound by this Privacy Policy, or one with equal or more protective terms.

6. How can I access my information?

You may request access, and update to or deletion of your personal information by contacting us via email, phone or visiting our offices, subject to reasonable limitations.

Wheel & Anchor
606 - 8133 Warden Avenue
Markham, Ontario
L6G 1B3

+1 (416) 628-2800

Attention: Founder (gordon@wheelandanchor.ca)

Subject to standard legal restrictions, you can withdraw your consent to our use of your information at any time and with reasonable notice. Please note that if you refuse or withdraw your consent for any purpose that is required by us to fulfill our service contract with you, we will not be able to provide you, or continue to provide you, with such service. Any costs which arise out of any cancellation or discontinuation of said services must be entirely borne by you.

Wheel & Anchor will only send you brochures or other promotional and/or marketing materials if you have opted in to receive them. You can subscribe to receive such materials on our website, or by contacting our reservations office.

If you are subscribed to our promotional emails, you can unsubscribe from these at any time using the “Unsubscribe” link in the bottom of each email, or through your Wheel & Anchor account.

Wheel & Anchor retains personal information for as long as is reasonably required, with consideration to the purpose for which it was collected or a related or ancillary purpose, and to our legal, regulatory and tax obligations. Wheel & Anchor deletes or otherwise destroys personal information after a reasonable period of time. On occasion, you may have to provide your personal information to us again in the event that it has been deleted.

7. Complaints

If you have any complaints about Wheel & Anchor's collection, use, disclosure, or dealing with your Personal Information, if you believe that Wheel & Anchor is in violation of or have any questions about Wheel & Anchor’s compliance with applicable privacy legislation in relation to your Personal Information, please send a written letter or an e-mail to our founder at gordon@wheelandanchor.ca or at the mailing address in the section above.

Wheel & Anchor takes all complaints regarding your privacy and Personal Information very seriously. Upon receipt, our team will review your complaint within 30 days and will provide a written response to the return address indicated in the complaint.

In the event you provide us with an Opt Out Notice, your information will be segregated and not disclosed or used in any manner about which you have objected. However, the personal information we collect may be retained by us if necessary for us to comply with any law or legal directive.

Website Policy and Cookies

What is a Cookie?

A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that a website sends to your computer's web browser. While you visit a particular website, a cookie may be used to track the activities of your browser as well as provide you with a consistent, more efficient experience.

How do third-party vendors use Cookies?

Third party vendors, including Google and Facebook, show Wheel & Anchor ads across the internet. These third party vendors use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to the Wheel & Anchor website. Neither Wheel & Anchor, nor any affiliated third party vendor, store any personal information in the cookie data. Users may opt out of third-party usage of cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.

How does Wheel & Anchor use cookies?

Cookies may be used to help speed up the booking process so you do not need to re-type the same information again and again. We may use cookies to measure website usage such as entry and exit points of visitors, how many people visit a certain section or page and details of searches performed and related information. If you are making a purchase we may also use cookies to keep track of the transaction from one page to the next. We do not store any personal information in the cookie, or use it for any other purpose.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

From time to time it may be necessary for Wheel & Anchor to amend or make revisions to this Privacy Policy, which amendments may also apply to your personal information collected under a previous version of this Policy. Wheel & Anchor reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason. If we make a change to the Policy, the revised version will be posted on our website.

Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment for Wheel & Anchor members

The open exchange of comments, feedback and ideas and the freedom of expression are central to Wheel & Anchor’s (W&A) core values and principles. These require an environment that recognizes the inherent worth of every person and group, that fosters dignity, understanding, and mutual respect, and that embraces diversity. For these reasons, W&A requires all W&A members (referred to in this policy as “Members”) to abide by this Policy Against Discrimination and Harassment with respect to their participation in W&A-related activities.

This Policy applies to all W&A-related activities, including use of the website and social media platforms, participation in social events and in all tours.

This Policy applies only to conduct in which the complaining party is a Member and the subject of the complaint is a Member. If a complaint is made by or against any W&A employee, that complaint will be addressed under W&A’s employee policy against discrimination and harassment.

1. Discriminatory Harassment

In general W&A prohibits discrimination and conduct that constitutes or could lead or contribute to harassment because of an individual’s race or color, religion or creed, alienage or citizenship status, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability, marital or domestic partnership status, or any other characteristic protected by law in the province in which the conduct at issue occurs. W&A also prohibits other harassment – including bullying – rising to the level of persistent, malicious, and severe mistreatment by conduct or threats, intimidation, or abuse that has the effect of (i) substantially interfering with a Member’s participation in W&A-related activities or (ii) that would reasonably cause a Member to fear for his or her physical safety.

Examples of prohibited discriminatory harassment include, but are not limited to:

use of ethnic slurs or derogatory terms relating to an individual’s gender or sexual orientation;
distribution of racially or sexually offensive e-mail or other electronic communications; and/or
threatening, intimidating, or hostile acts directed at a particular sex or religious group or directed at an individual because of his or her sexual orientation, color or ethnicity.
Harassment does not require intent to offend. Thus, inappropriate conduct or language meant as a joke, a prank, or even a compliment can lead or contribute to harassment.

2. Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is a specific type of discriminatory harassment. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature can constitute sexual harassment.

W&A prohibits conduct that constitutes or could lead or contribute to sexual harassment. Examples of such conduct include, but are not limited to:

unwelcome sexual flirtations, advances or propositions;
inappropriate touching of an individual’s body;
graphic verbal comments about an individual’s body or appearance;
sexually degrading words used to describe an individual; and/or
the use of the Internet to display or distribute sexually explicit images, messages, or cartoons.

3. Complaint Procedures and Remedial Actions

If you believe that you or any Member has been subjected to any conduct of the type prohibited by this Policy by another Member, you are urged to report the relevant facts promptly. Prompt reporting is very important so that W&A can take action to stop the conduct before it is repeated. All reports will be followed up on promptly, with further investigation conducted where needed to confirm facts or resolve disputed facts. In conducting its investigations, W&A will strive to keep the identity of individuals making reports as confidential as possible.

All reports of inappropriate conduct should be directed to the Founder of W&A (gordon@wheelandanchor.ca). W&A’s founder or his or her designee will review and direct appropriate follow-up of complaints made under this Policy, in consultation with the involved members services person, tour host or any community representative who may have relevant information in regard to the complaint. In consultation with such group, the founder will have the final say on how to resolve any complaint made under this Policy.

Individuals who violate this Policy will be subject to remedial action, including without limitation suspension and termination of their membership in W&A and exclusion from participating in future W&A events and tours. Appropriate remedial action will also be taken with respect to an individual who knowingly makes a false allegation concerning an alleged violation of this Policy or makes a complaint under this Policy in bad faith.

4. Policy Applicability

W&A is not responsible for protecting the safety of Members. A Member who feels that his or her safety is at risk due to harassment or for any other reason is encouraged to take other appropriate steps to ensure his or her own safety, in addition to reporting the conduct to W&A as described above. W&A assumes no liability or responsibility for the actions of any Member.

This Policy applies only to discrimination and harassment as described above and not to other potentially unwelcome conduct. Other complaints regarding issues not covered by this Policy should be addressed under the applicable W&A policy, if any.

5. No Retaliation

Threats or acts of retaliation against individuals who report inappropriate conduct pursuant to this Policy or provide information in connection with a report by another individual will not be tolerated. In the event you believe that you have been retaliated against for such action, you should use the above procedures to report the pertinent facts promptly. W&A will investigate and take appropriate action in the manner described above.