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Anti-Racism Data Act Notification Guide

Last updated on June 12, 2025

The Anti-Racism Data Act (ARDA, the Act) states that “a public body may collect personal information for the purposes of identifying and eliminating systemic racism and advancing racial equity”. This guide helps public bodies to develop collection and use notices required under the Act.

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Personal information and safety

Personal information that may be collected under ARDA includes identity factors such as:

  • Indigenous identity
  • Race
  • Ethnicity
  • Religion

Cultural safety and community harm must be considered at every stage when collecting and using personal information. Learn more about how to approach these concepts when using personal information in the Introduction to Anti-Racism in Research training.

The Government of B.C. is currently developing data standards to guide what racial and Indigenous identity information that can be collected and used under ARDA.

Notice Requirements

ARDA requires public bodies to provide a collection notice and/or a use notice when collecting and using personal information for the purposes of identifying and eliminating systemic racism and advancing racial equity. These notice requirements are in addition to the direct collection notice requirements under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA).

  • Section 3 of ARDA outlines the information you must include in a direct or indirect collection notice
  • Section 4 outlines what you must include in a use notice

Step 1: Determine what kind of notice is required

Before you can collect and use personal information under the Act, you first need to determine what kind of notice is required. This will impact what needs to go in your collection notice. You will need to consider if you are:

  • Directly collecting from individuals under ARDA
  • Indirectly collecting from individuals under ARDA, and/or
  • Using existing information that has already been collected from individuals under another law

Direct collection

This is when a public body collects personal information directly from the person the information is about.

The BC Demographic Survey is an example of direct collection. Residents of B.C. provided demographic information about themselves through the voluntary survey. 

Indirect collection

This is when a public body collects personal information:

  • From an individual that is not the individual the personal information is about, or
  • From another entity who is not an individual (for example, a public body)

Examples of indirect collection of personal information include:

The Ministry of Education and Child Care (ECC) directly collects personal information under FOIPPA to deliver a program. The Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) indirectly collects personal information from ECC under ARDA for the purposes of identifying and eliminating systemic racism and advancing racial equity. MCFD combines this personal information with information they had previously collected under FOIPPA about children in care to conduct research on the educational outcomes of Indigenous and racialized children in care. 

Under ARDA, the ECC indirectly collects personal information from a parent about their child.

Note: Best practice is to either:

  • Collect personal information directly from the individual the information is about, or
  • Indirectly from another public body that already collected directly from the individual, as much as possible

This helps ensure that information is being collected voluntarily and in a culturally safe way. 

Using information already collected under another law

This is when a public body uses information that it originally collected (whether directly or indirectly) under another law like FOIPPA for the secondary purpose of identifying and eliminating systemic racism under ARDA.

The most common case where you will need a use notice is when you use information you have already collected under another law for a secondary purpose under ARDA. For example, Service BC (SBC) collects personal information directly from users under FOIPPA to determine if they are eligible for benefits. SBC then uses that information under ARDA to identify gaps in its provision of services.

Note: For any given piece of personal information, you will only ever need one of the following:

  • Direct collection notice under ARDA 
  • Indirect collection notice under ARDA 
  • Use notice under ARDA

This is because the notice is to let the public know generally that personal information is being collected or used for the purposes of identifying and eliminating systemic racism and advancing racial equity. It is not to let the public know the specifics of the collections, uses and disclosures that happen after the notice, though it is good practice to share the specifics if known. 

This approach aligns with other public sector legislation such as FOIPPA.

Determining an appropriate notice of collection and/or use of personal information under ARDA

The following chart provides example scenarios of public bodies that need collection and/or use notices depending on the collection method:

Public Body “A”

Public body A collects Indigenous identity information from members of the public under s. 2 of ARDA and uses it to evaluate how well their services are reaching Indigenous communities.

  • Direct collection notice required under ARDA and FOIPPA because direct collection happened under ARDA and FOIPPA
  • Notice of use NOT required under ARDA because information was directly collected under the same law (ARDA)

Public Body “B”

Public body B collects racial identity information from members of the public under s. 26 (c) of FOIPPA and uses it to determine eligibility for a benefit geared towards racialized individuals. The public body now wants to use that same information to see if there are differences in how racialized people are accessing the benefit.

  • Direct collection notice required under FOIPPA because direct collection happened under FOIPPA only
  • Notice of use required under ARDA because information was collected under a different law (FOIPPA)

Public Body “C”

Under s. 2 of ARDA, public body C collects racial identity information, originally collected by public body B, and uses it to ensure individuals are receiving culturally safe care. They now want to use that same information to see if their services are being accessed equitably.

  • Indirect collection notice required under ARDA because indirect collection happened under ARDA
  • Notice of use not required under ARDA because information was indirectly collected under the same law (ARDA) 

Step 2: Prepare and post a notice

Once you know what kind of notice is needed, you must prepare and post a notice in accordance with the requirements for direct and indirect collection and use found in section 3 and section 4 of the Anti-Racism Data Act.

Direct collection notice

Timing

You must provide a collection notice to an individual before you collect their personal information.

Format

You should provide a written collection notice when possible. However, there may be cases where a verbal collection notice would be more appropriate such as when collecting information by phone or if an individual is not able to read the collection notice.

Where to Post

The notice should be posted where there is the best possible chance of individuals reading it before providing their information. This helps people understand why you will be collecting their information.

Content

Under ARDA, the notice must tell the individual that:

  • Providing their personal information is voluntary, and
  • Benefits or services will not be withheld, altered or otherwise limited if they decline to provide their personal information, unless that personal information is necessary to deliver the benefit or service

Under section 27 (2) of FOIPPA, the notice must also include the:

  • Purpose for the collection 
  • Legal authority for the collection
  • Contact information of an officer or employee of the public body who can answer questions about why personal information is being collected and how it will be used and stored

The contact method should suit the collection method. For example, if you collect personal information through an online form, you should include an email contact. Where possible, always include an email address that belongs to a program, rather than an individual, as individuals in positions may change.

Example

The following example of a direct collection notice combines requirements under both FOIPPA and ARDA. This notice was posted at the top of the survey form for the BC Demographic Survey (PDF):

Your personal information is being collected for the purposes of identifying and eliminating systemic racism and advancing racial equity. This information is being collected by the Ministry of Citizens’ Services under section 2 of the Anti-Racism Data Act and section 26(c) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Personal information will be kept confidential, and disclosure of personal information is voluntary. If you decline to provide your personal information, benefits or services by the government will not be withheld from you, unless the personal information is necessary to deliver the specific benefit or service. 

If you have any questions about the collection of this personal information, please contact: data-act@gov.bc.ca.

Indirect collection notice

Timing

You must publish a collection notice before indirectly collecting personal information.

Format

You should publish a written collection notice.

Where to post

The notice should be posted on the website for the program through which the personal information was originally collected. For example, if the information was collected from individuals through the Ministry of Health, but is now indirectly collected by the Ministry of Citizens’ Services, it may make sense to provide the notice on the website for the Ministry of Health. There is no requirement to mail or email indirect collection notices to affected individuals.

Content

All indirect collection notices must include the:

  • Purpose for the collection
  • Legal authority for the collection
  • Type of personal information that may be collected
  • Contact information of an officer or employee of the public body who can answer questions about why personal information is being collected and how it will be used and stored

The contact method should suit the collection method. For example, if you collect personal information through an online form, you should include an email contact. Where possible, always include an email address that belongs to a program, rather than an individual, as individuals in positions may change.

Example

The following is an example indirect collection notice that could be posted on Ministry of Health websites:

Your personal information will be collected indirectly from the Ministry of Health by the Ministry of Citizens’ Services for the purposes of identifying and eliminating systemic racism and advancing racial equity. Information that will be collected includes personal information such as race, ethnicity, age, gender and sex. This information is being collected by the Ministry of Citizens’ Services under section 3 of the Anti-Racism Data Act.

If you have any questions about the collection of this personal information, please contact: data-act@gov.bc.ca.

Notice of use of information collected under another law

Timing

You must publish a use notice before using personal information for anti-racism purposes.

Format

You should publish a written use notice.

Where to post

The notice should be posted on the website for the program through which the personal information was originally collected. For example, if the information was collected from individuals through the Ministry of Health, but is now being used to identify systemic racism, it may make sense to provide the notice on the website for the Ministry of Health.

Content

All use notices must include the:

  • Purpose for the use
  • Legal authority for the collection
  • Type of personal information that may be used
  • Contact information of an officer or employee of the public body who can answer questions about why personal information is being collected and how it will be used and stored

The contact method should suit the collection method. For example, if the information was originally collected through an online form, you should include an email contact. Where possible, always include an email address that belongs to a program, rather than an individual, as individuals in positions may change.

Example

See the Notice of use for personal information from BC Stats. This notice was posted to use personal information from the BC Demographic Survey alongside previously collected information to carry out research under ARDA.

Contact us

If you have questions or need assistance with this guide, please contact data-act@gov.bc.ca.