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Security report for mentalhealthcommission.ca

Mental Health Commission of Canada · Non-profit · Canada

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in SSL/TLS, Security headers and 1 other check.

Security score

51/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) is a well-established non-profit organization dedicated to improving mental health outcomes across Canada. The website serves as a comprehensive platform offering public and professional resources, training programs, research, and advocacy initiatives. It targets a broad audience including individuals experiencing mental health challenges, caregivers, professionals, and policymakers. The MHCC holds a strong market position as a national leader in mental health advocacy and education, supported by partnerships with government and other organizations. Technically, the website is built on WordPress using modern tools such as Elementor and JetEngine, with integrations for SEO and analytics including Yoast SEO, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity, and multiple social media tracking pixels. The site demonstrates good mobile optimization, accessibility, and SEO practices, although performance is moderate and could benefit from further optimization. From a security perspective, the site uses HTTPS with a valid SSL certificate and has domain transfer protections in place. However, it lacks DNSSEC, explicit security headers like Content-Security-Policy, and a published vulnerability disclosure policy. Privacy compliance is partial; while a privacy policy and terms of service are present, there is no visible cookie consent mechanism, which may pose compliance risks under GDPR and similar regulations. Overall, the MHCC website is professional, trustworthy, and content-rich, with a solid technical foundation. Strategic improvements in security headers, DNS security, and privacy compliance would enhance its security posture and regulatory adherence.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

7 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. SSL/TLS

    TLS encrypts the connection and proves the site is really yours. Weak or expiring certificates trigger browser warnings and put traffic at risk.

    • Critical

      Unable to retrieve SSL certificate

      Could not establish secure connection to retrieve certificate information

      What to do: Check if the server is accessible and SSL/TLS is properly configured

  2. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  3. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching mentalhealthcommission.ca

This scan found 23 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

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Recommended

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  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
0
Security headers
25
Email security
70
DNS health
75
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
51

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

MHCC operates as a national non-profit focused on mental health advocacy, training, and resource dissemination. Its business model centers on providing evidence-based programs and tools to improve mental health outcomes. The organization leverages partnerships with government bodies such as Health Canada and other health partners, enhancing its credibility and reach. The website reflects a mature digital presence with extensive content and engagement channels, including social media and mailing lists. The long domain registration history and consistent WHOIS data support its legitimacy and stability. MHCC's competitive advantage lies in its authoritative position in Canadian mental health policy and education, supported by recognized certifications and awards.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a good baseline security posture with HTTPS enforced and domain transfer protections. However, the absence of DNSSEC and key security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Content-Type-Options indicates room for improvement. No security.txt or vulnerability disclosure mechanisms are present, which limits transparency and incident response readiness. The use of multiple third-party tracking scripts increases the attack surface and privacy risks, especially without explicit cookie consent. Overall, the security maturity is moderate, suitable for a non-profit but requiring enhancements to meet higher compliance standards and reduce potential vulnerabilities.

Recommendations

  1. Enable DNSSEC on the domain to strengthen DNS security and prevent spoofing.
  2. Implement a comprehensive Content-Security-Policy header to mitigate cross-site scripting and related attacks.
  3. Publish a security.txt file to provide clear vulnerability disclosure and incident response contacts.
  4. Add explicit security headers such as X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy, and X-Frame-Options.
  5. Introduce a visible cookie consent mechanism to comply with GDPR and other privacy regulations.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
Mental Health Commission of Canada
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Mental Health Commission of Canada
Description
The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) leads the development and dissemination of innovative programs and tools to support the mental health and wellness of people in Canada.
Key services
Mental health training programs, Research and resources, Public and professional resources, Advocacy and awareness campaigns
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
WordPress, Elementor, JetEngine, Yoast SEO, Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Pinterest Core JS, ShareThis, jQuery
Frameworks
Elementor
Platforms
WordPress
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enabled
  • ClientTransferProhibited domain status
  • No DNSSEC enabled (recommend enabling)
  • No exposed emails or credentials in HTML
  • Use of security and analytics scripts asynchronously

Analytics and tracking

Services
Microsoft Clarity, Google Analytics (via GTM), Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Pinterest Core JS, Twitter UWT
Tracking level
extensive
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Microsoft Clarity, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Pinterest Core JS, Twitter UWT
Marketing tools
ShareThis
Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is professionally designed and well-structured.
  2. Content is comprehensive and relevant to mental health advocacy and resources.
  3. Strong presence on major social media platforms.
  4. No explicit privacy or cookie consent banner detected, which may be a compliance gap.
  5. Use of multiple third-party analytics and tracking scripts without visible cookie consent.
  6. No visible security.txt or vulnerability disclosure policy.
  7. WHOIS data supports legitimacy and long-term operation.
Technical notes

Notes

The website is built on a WordPress CMS platform enhanced with Elementor page builder and JetEngine for dynamic content. It uses Yoast SEO for search optimization and integrates multiple analytics and tracking services including Google Tag Manager, Microsoft Clarity, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, Pinterest, and Twitter tracking. The site loads scripts asynchronously to improve performance but overall speed is moderate, suggesting potential for optimization. Mobile responsiveness and accessibility features are well implemented. Hosting is provided by Webnames.ca Inc., a Canadian registrar and hosting provider. The site uses modern web fonts and icon libraries such as FontAwesome. Technical debt appears low, but security header implementation and DNS security could be improved.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

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