LEGAL

The two documents that matter most

Who you're dealing with

Bootstrapped Studios is a Canadian web design and development studio based in London, Ontario, serving local and regional businesses across Canada. Payments to us are for professional web design and development services. We are not a marketplace, we do not process your customers' transactions, and client sites run their own separate payment processing under their own agreements.

Governing law and jurisdiction

Our agreements are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. Disputes belong to the courts located in Ontario, unless a consumer protection law in your home jurisdiction gives you a right to a different forum. If you're an Ontario consumer, the Consumer Protection Act, 2002 gives you rights that no contract of ours can take away, and we don't try to.

Privacy: PIPEDA

Canada's federal privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), governs how we collect, use and disclose personal information in the course of business. Our approach is to collect as little as possible: this site uses cookie free analytics on our own collector, the Rover chat sends only the conversation you type, and client project information is used solely to deliver the project. The full details, including how to reach us about your data, are in the Privacy Policy.

Email and messaging: CASL

Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) applies to commercial email and messages. We send commercial messages only where we have express consent, an existing relationship, or another lawful basis recognized by CASL. That can include implied consent when a business or recipient has conspicuously published its email address without a statement refusing unsolicited commercial messages and our message is directly relevant to that person's business role or the organization's activities. We keep records supporting the basis we rely on. Every commercial message identifies us, provides valid contact information and a working unsubscribe method, and we honour stop requests without delay. When we build email or SMS systems for clients, we build the same consent, record keeping and unsubscribe machinery in from day one, because a customer list you own should also be a customer list you're allowed to use.

Intellectual property and copyright

Copyright in Canada is governed by the federal Copyright Act. Our standard deal is simple: once a project is paid in full, the final custom deliverables belong to the client, and we keep only our pre-existing tools and general know-how. If you believe content on this website infringes your copyright, email us: Canada operates a "notice and notice" regime, and we respond promptly to legitimate notices sent to hello@bootstrappedstudios.com.

Accessibility

Ontario's accessibility legislation (the AODA) and plain good practice both point the same direction: websites should work for everyone. We build toward WCAG standards on our own site, including keyboard navigation, visible focus states and reduced-motion support, and we bring the same defaults to client builds.

Refunds and taxes

• We publish starting ranges and an estimator so you can plan. Anything it shows is a non binding planning range, not a quote, and every project is still scoped and priced individually. We don't take online payments or collect deposits through this site; fees and refund terms live in your written proposal or invoice.
• Refunds are handled as set out in that proposal and as required by law. Full mechanics are in the Terms.
• As a Canadian business we charge applicable sales taxes where the law requires it; invoices state any tax separately.

The portfolio demonstrations

The portfolio shows Lumen Family Dental, Ironwood Custom Homes, Black Rose Tattoo and Coppermill Kitchen. All four are fictional businesses. They are studio demonstrations, not client commissions. Any illustrative names, addresses, prices or ratings inside the design concepts are sample content, not claims about real businesses or their results.

The paired images show an example starting point and an original studio design. They do not document an actual business transformation. Each linked walkthrough explains the design and includes a local sample interaction. These samples do not send enquiries, make reservations or take payments.

Fictional subjects let us explain an approach without using someone else's business as a negative example. To explore a direction for your own business, request a private homepage sample. The finished website is a separate commission.

The Rover chat and AI

The chat bubble on our homepage is powered by an AI model with a strict, narrow job: answering questions about this studio. It can be wrong, it isn't legal or financial advice, and anything important should be confirmed with the humans at hello@bootstrappedstudios.com. Conversations are used to answer you, not to build advertising profiles.