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GC08: Safe Disclosure (whistle-blower)

This policy and its associated procedure will replace policy 41.18 Safe Disclosure and its associated procedure. 

In 2022, VIU developed a Safe Disclosure Policy and Procedure to address concerns raised by VIU’s Auditors and the Auditor General, as well as VIU’s statutory obligations under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA). VIU’s existing policy, as well as comparator policies at SFU, TRU, KPU and UVF, were reviewed.  

About the policy consultation 

Consultation on the draft policy is now open and members of the VIU community are invited to share their feedback. The consultation runs from Wednesday, February 18 until 4 pm on Tuesday, March 10. Input received during the community consultation will help inform changes to the proposed policy. Any feedback or submissions received after the consultation period concludes may not be reflected in the revised policy or in the consultation summary report. 

Policy Information 

As VIU has the most comprehensive policy of the comparators, this policy and its procedure were brought into the new template keeping existing content: 

  • First section for the “Policy Statement” was re-written as “Purpose” section 
  • “Policy statement” and Principles” sections were combined into the new “Policy” section with redundant content removed 
  • “Scope, “Roles,” and “Definitions” were brought over to the new policy in comparable sections 
  • New sections and content were added consistent with the Framework. 
  • The only major change was moving the majority of the “CONFIDENTIALITY, PRIVACY and PROHIBITION ON REPRISALS” section of the policy into the procedures as it is more directive in nature. 

The new procedure brings over all the content from the existing procedure, adding additional sections consistent with the Policy Framework. As noted above, the majority of the “CONFIDENTIALITY, PRIVACY and PROHIBITION ON REPRISALS” section of the existing policy is now part of the procedure. 

Documents for Review 

Share Your Input  

Once you have reviewed the draft policy, please share your feedback in one of the following ways: 

Policy Office 
Office of the General Counsel and University Secretary 
Nanaimo Campus 
Building: 305, Room: 432 
Mail drop: 305-4A 

All feedback will be reported in public consultation reports and to the Board of Governors in accordance with FIOPPA. Feedback will be anonymized in all reporting. 

 Formal submissions  

Formal submissions from groups or organizations can be submitted by email to policy@viu.ca or in writing (see above). Please state the name of your group and the position of the person submitting the feedback. These submissions will be provided in consultation reports and to the Board of Governors. They will not be anonymized and feedback will be attributed in reporting. Any personal information (with the exception of who provided the submission) will be redacted in accordance with FIOPPA. 

Thank you for participating!  

Once consultation is complete, this policy will go through the Board of Governors approval process. The policy may be updated based on the feedback received. The Policy Office may also make minor changes to formatting/wording for consistency. Consultation feedback and policy changes will be outlined in the consultation report. The consultation report will be provided to the Board of Governors and posted on this policy page. 

We anticipate this draft policy will be provided to the March 31, 2026 Board of Governors meeting for approval. Check back on the GC08: Safe Disclosure (whistle-blower) policy page for updates as this policy moves through the policy approval process.