Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of These Terms

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) form a binding agreement between you and Browse Ontario (“Browse Ontario,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) and govern your access to and use of our website, accounts, event submission tools, editorial content, newsletters, and related services (collectively, the “Services”).

By accessing or using any part of the Services, creating an account, submitting content, or clicking to accept these Terms where that option is presented, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and all policies incorporated into them, including our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, you must not use the Services.

Your electronic acceptance of these Terms has the same legal effect as a handwritten signature to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

Important consumer notice: Nothing in these Terms is intended to exclude, waive, or limit rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded under applicable law, including mandatory rights under consumer protection, privacy, anti-spam, accessibility, and other public-interest legislation that applies to your use of the Services.

2. About Browse Ontario and Our Role

Browse Ontario is an Ontario-focused discovery platform that helps people find events, activities, stories, neighbourhood highlights, and cultural experiences.

Unless we expressly state otherwise in writing for a specific offering, Browse Ontario is not:

• the organizer, host, promoter, sponsor, or operator of third-party events,
• the seller or issuer of third-party tickets, passes, or reservations,
• the venue owner, travel provider, insurer, or security provider, or
• the employer, agent, partner, or legal representative of any organizer or user.

Event organizers, venues, ticketing providers, advertisers, and other third parties remain solely responsible for their own products, services, statements, conduct, safety practices, permits, licences, insurance, accessibility information, pricing, taxes, and legal compliance.

3. Eligibility and Authority

You may browse the public portions of the Services without creating an account. However, to create an account, submit an event, upload media, subscribe to certain communications, or use any restricted feature, you represent and warrant that:

• you are at least the age of majority in your province or territory of residence, or you have the involvement and authorization of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms on your behalf,
• you have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement, and
• if you use the Services on behalf of a business, organization, collective, venue, or other entity, you have authority to bind that entity to these Terms.

If you do not satisfy these conditions, you must not use the portions of the Services that require an account or submission.

4. Accounts and Security

If you create or use an account, you are responsible for maintaining accurate, complete, and current information and for safeguarding your login credentials and any device used to access the Services.

You agree that you will:

• provide truthful registration and profile information,
• keep your contact details reasonably up to date,
• not share your account with unauthorized persons,
• not impersonate another person or organization, and
• notify us promptly if you suspect unauthorized access, misuse, or a security incident affecting your account.

You are responsible for activity that occurs through your account unless and until you notify us of unauthorized use and we have a reasonable opportunity to respond.

5. Event Submissions and Organizer Responsibilities

Browse Ontario may allow users, organizers, businesses, and community groups to submit events, images, links, and related materials for review, moderation, and possible publication.

If you submit or manage an event listing, you represent, warrant, and agree that:

• you own or control all rights needed to provide the submitted content and authorize us to use it under these Terms,
• the submission is accurate, current, complete, and not false, deceptive, or misleading in any material respect,
• you have obtained all permissions, licences, consents, and moral rights waivers needed for all text, photographs, graphics, logos, music, videos, and other materials you provide,
• you have all legal rights needed to publish any personal information you submit, including contact details for organizers, speakers, performers, or other individuals,
• the event and its promotion comply with applicable laws, regulations, bylaws, permit requirements, health and safety rules, accessibility requirements, advertising rules, and tax obligations,
• you will promptly update or notify us of any material changes, postponements, cancellations, age restrictions, safety issues, or access limitations, and
• your submission will not infringe, misappropriate, defame, invade privacy, or otherwise violate any person’s rights.

We may review, reject, edit, reformat, shorten, categorize, feature, unpublish, or remove any submission at any time, with or without notice, and without assuming any duty to do so. Moderation or publication by Browse Ontario does not mean we endorse, verify, certify, or guarantee the event, organizer, venue, or content.

6. Rights You Grant to Browse Ontario

As between you and us, you retain ownership of content you lawfully submit, post, upload, or otherwise make available through the Services (“User Content”), subject to the rights you grant below.

By providing User Content, you grant Browse Ontario a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable licence to host, store, cache, reproduce, publish, distribute, display, communicate to the public by telecommunication, perform, transmit, translate, adapt, crop, resize, reformat, excerpt, and otherwise use that User Content for the purposes of:

• operating, maintaining, and improving the Services,
• reviewing, moderating, and publishing listings and editorial pages,
• marketing and promoting Browse Ontario and the submitted event or listing,
• creating backups, archives, analytics, and internal records, and
• complying with legal obligations and enforcing these Terms.

This licence continues for as long as reasonably necessary for the above purposes, including where content has been shared, cached, archived, or retained to satisfy legal, audit, backup, dispute-resolution, or enforcement requirements.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you waive, and agree not to assert, against Browse Ontario and its service providers any moral rights you may have in User Content to the limited extent necessary for us to exercise the rights granted in these Terms. If you are not the author, you represent that you have secured any necessary waivers or consents from the author.

If you provide feedback, ideas, suggestions, or requests regarding the Services, you grant us the unrestricted right to use them without acknowledgment, payment, or other obligation to you.

7. Acceptable Use and Prohibited Conduct

You may use the Services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You must not, and must not encourage or permit any other person to:

• break any law or regulation, or help another person do so,
• post, submit, or transmit content that is false, fraudulent, defamatory, infringing, hateful, harassing, abusive, obscene, or otherwise unlawful,
• misrepresent an event, affiliation, endorsement, sponsorship, price, availability, accessibility feature, age restriction, safety condition, or other material fact,
• upload malicious code, spyware, ransomware, destructive files, or any technology intended to disrupt, damage, intercept, or exfiltrate data,
• access, scrape, harvest, or copy the Services, listings, or data using bots, spiders, crawlers, or automated means except as expressly authorized by us in writing or by publicly published technical permissions,
• circumvent security features, rate limits, authentication controls, or content protections,
• interfere with the proper operation of the Services or with another user’s access or enjoyment of them,
• use the Services to send spam, unlawful promotions, or unsolicited commercial electronic messages,
• collect personal information from other users without lawful authority,
• frame, mirror, or reproduce substantial portions of the Services, or
• use the Services in a way that creates legal exposure, reputational harm, or security risk for Browse Ontario, our users, or third parties.

8. Browse Ontario Intellectual Property

The Services, including our design, layout, editorial content, text, graphics, logos, branding, compilations, interfaces, software, source materials, and other content made available by us other than User Content, are owned by Browse Ontario, our licensors, or our content partners and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to access and use the Services for your personal, informational, and internal business use. This licence does not permit you to:

• resell or commercially exploit the Services without our written permission,
• copy, reproduce, republish, or distribute protected content at scale,
• remove notices relating to ownership or rights, or
• use our name, logos, or marks in a way that suggests affiliation, endorsement, or sponsorship without authorization.

9. Third-Party Services, Listings, and Transactions

The Services may contain links to ticketing services, maps, venues, payment processors, sponsor websites, social media pages, embedded media, and other third-party services. Your use of those services is governed by their own terms, privacy policies, and business practices, not ours.

Browse Ontario is not responsible for third-party content, products, services, security, payment processing, accessibility, refunds, cancellations, pricing, taxes, promises, or disputes. Any purchase, booking, donation, attendance decision, or other transaction you make with a third party is solely between you and that third party.

10. Communications, Privacy, and Consent

By using the Services, you agree that we may send you service-related and transactional communications, including confirmations, moderation updates, account notices, legal notices, security alerts, and other messages needed to operate the Services.

Where required by applicable law, we will obtain the necessary consent before sending you marketing or promotional communications. Promotional messages will include an unsubscribe mechanism where required by law. You may opt out of marketing messages at any time, but you may still receive non-promotional service communications.

Our collection, use, disclosure, retention, and safeguarding of personal information is described in our Privacy Policy. If you provide us with information about another person, you represent that you have lawful authority to do so and, where required, that you have provided any notices and obtained any consents needed for that disclosure and any intended publication.

11. Paid Services and Future Commercial Features

Certain Services are currently offered without charge. If we introduce paid features, subscriptions, sponsored placements, premium listings, advertising services, or other commercial offerings, additional terms, pricing disclosures, renewal terms, tax information, refund terms, cancellation rights, or order forms may apply.

If additional commercial terms apply, they will supplement these Terms and control to the extent of any direct conflict for the applicable paid service. We will not advertise a price, discount, or sponsorship status in a false or misleading way.

12. Availability, Accuracy, and Assumption of Risk

We strive to keep the Services useful and current, but listings, dates, locations, prices, accessibility details, weather conditions, attendance limits, and event availability can change quickly. Content may include errors, omissions, outdated information, delays, or incomplete information.

You are responsible for independently verifying information that matters to you.

• Confirm important event details directly with the organizer or venue.
• Review third-party ticketing, refund, and cancellation terms before purchase.
• Assess accessibility, transportation, safety, and suitability for your needs.
• Use your own judgment before travelling to, attending, or participating in an event, activity, or location referenced through the Services.

Participation in events, travel, outdoor activities, nightlife, family activities, and other experiences involves risks that vary by event and circumstance. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you assume those risks when deciding whether and how to participate.

13. Suspension, Removal, and Termination

We may, at any time and without liability, suspend, restrict, remove, decline to publish, de-index, or terminate access to any part of the Services or any account, listing, or content if we reasonably believe:

• these Terms or applicable law have been breached,
• the content is unlawful, infringing, deceptive, unsafe, or harmful,
• there is a security, fraud, spam, or abuse concern,
• we are required to do so by law, rights holder request, or court order, or
• continued availability creates risk for Browse Ontario or others.

You may stop using the Services at any time. Termination of access does not affect rights, remedies, obligations, or liabilities that accrued before termination, and we may retain records as permitted or required by law.

14. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, and except for rights that cannot lawfully be excluded, the Services are provided on an “as is,” “as available,” and “with all faults” basis.

Browse Ontario disclaims all representations, warranties, conditions, and guarantees, whether express, implied, statutory, or collateral, including any implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, quality, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, quiet enjoyment, availability, compatibility, security, accuracy, or uninterrupted operation.

Without limiting the above, we do not guarantee that:

• the Services will always be available, uninterrupted, timely, or error-free,
• content will be accurate, complete, or current,
• any event or listing is genuine, safe, lawful, or suitable for you,
• bugs or vulnerabilities will be identified or corrected, or
• the Services or any files made available through them will be free of malware.

The Services are provided for general informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice, financial advice, tax advice, travel advice, accessibility advice, public safety advice, medical advice, or professional advice of any kind.

15. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Browse Ontario and our affiliates, licensors, service providers, officers, directors, employees, contractors, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, aggravated, or punitive damages, or for any loss of revenue, profits, business, opportunity, goodwill, reputation, data, expected savings, or use, arising out of or relating to the Services, these Terms, or any third-party event, listing, product, or service, even if we were advised that such damages were possible.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, our total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or relating to the Services or these Terms will not exceed the greater of:

• CAD $100, and
• the total amount, if any, that you paid directly to Browse Ontario for the specific paid service giving rise to the claim during the 12 months before the event giving rise to liability.

These limitations apply regardless of the form of action and even if a remedy fails of its essential purpose. However, nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability to the extent such liability cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including, where applicable, liability for our fraud, wilful misconduct, gross negligence, or for death or bodily injury caused by our negligence where the law does not permit exclusion.

16. Indemnity

If you submit content, create or manage a listing, organize or promote an event, use the Services for a commercial purpose, or act on behalf of a business or organization, you agree, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Browse Ontario and our affiliates, officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, and service providers from and against any claims, demands, proceedings, damages, judgments, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising out of or relating to:

• your User Content, listings, events, or promotional materials,
• your breach of these Terms,
• your infringement or violation of another person’s rights,
• your violation of law, regulation, permit condition, or regulatory order, or
• your relationship, dispute, transaction, injury claim, refund claim, or other dealings with attendees, venues, ticket buyers, sponsors, or third parties.

This indemnity does not apply to the extent a claim results from our fraud, gross negligence, or wilful misconduct.

17. Complaints, Takedown Requests, and Legal Notices

If you believe content on the Services is unlawful, infringing, defamatory, unsafe, misleading, or otherwise violates your rights, please contact us at legal@browseontario.com.

To help us assess a complaint, please provide enough detail for us to identify and investigate the issue, which may include:

• your full name and contact information,
• the URL or sufficient description of the content at issue,
• the legal or factual basis for your complaint,
• any documents supporting your claim of rights or authority, and
• a statement that the information you have provided is accurate to the best of your knowledge.

We may remove or restrict access to content while we investigate and may disclose complaint materials where permitted or required by law or where reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, and the integrity of the Services.

Unless mandatory law requires a different method, formal legal notices to Browse Ontario relating to these Terms must be sent to legal@browseontario.com. We may send legal or operational notices to you using the email address associated with your account, by posting through the Services, or by another reasonable electronic method.

18. Governing Law, Jurisdiction, and Consumer Rights

These Terms and any non-contractual disputes arising out of or relating to them or the Services are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario, without regard to conflict of laws rules.

Subject to any rights you may have under mandatory applicable law to commence a claim in another forum or to seek help from a regulator, you and Browse Ontario agree to attorn to the courts located in Toronto, Ontario for the resolution of disputes.

Nothing in these Terms is intended to require arbitration of claims where such a requirement would be invalid or unenforceable, or to prevent a consumer from exercising any right that applicable consumer protection legislation gives them.

Before starting formal proceedings, we ask that you contact us first at legal@browseontario.com so we can try to resolve the issue in good faith. This request does not limit any non-waivable right you may have to proceed sooner.

19. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes to the Services, our business practices, or legal requirements. When we do, we will post the revised Terms on this page and update the “Last Updated” date.

If a change is material, we may also provide additional notice through the Services, by email, or by requiring renewed acceptance where appropriate. Your continued use of the Services after updated Terms become effective means you accept the revised Terms, except to the extent applicable law requires a different form of consent.

20. General Provisions

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of that provision or any other right. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms, in whole or in part, in connection with a merger, acquisition, restructuring, financing, or sale of assets.

These Terms, together with any policies, supplemental terms, and service-specific disclosures referenced in them, constitute the entire agreement between you and Browse Ontario regarding the Services and supersede prior or contemporaneous understandings relating to the same subject matter.

The following sections survive any suspension or termination to the extent applicable by their nature: Sections 6, 8 through 10, and 12 through 20, together with any rights or obligations accrued before termination.

21. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact Browse Ontario at: