1. Agreement structure and parties
These Service Terms become binding only when incorporated into a signed or electronically accepted Service Order between Panda AI Lab (Canada) Inc., operating as Shepherd Family Connect (“Shepherd,” “we,” “us” or “our”) and the adult receiving companionship (the “Participant”). A person or organization paying for services may also sign as the “Payer.”
The complete agreement consists of the Service Order, these Service Terms, the Participant's Consent & Safety Agreement, and the Privacy Policy. The Service Order must identify the parties, required supplier contact details, service description, price, billing, supply dates or frequency, cancellation and refund terms, and any other disclosure required by applicable consumer law. If documents conflict, the Service Order controls on commercial details; the Participant's latest valid privacy choice controls optional information sharing; and non-waivable law always controls.
2. Eligibility and truthful information
The Participant must:
- be at least 20 years old;
- be located in Canada for online companionship;
- be able to understand the nature and boundaries of the service and provide informed consent;
- provide materially accurate information needed to assess fit and safety; and
- participate voluntarily and not solely because a family member, payer or referral source requested it.
Shepherd may request reasonable confirmation of age, identity, location or authority to act. Eligibility does not guarantee acceptance.
3. Nature of the service
Shepherd provides structured, non-clinical companionship and community connection. Services may include scheduled voice or video conversations, ordinary check-ins, listening, encouragement, discussion of everyday life and support identifying appropriate community activities or connections.
The ordinary service rhythm may be approximately one 30–45 minute scheduled conversation each week, but frequency, duration, format, companion assignment and additional contact depend on the Service Order, fit, availability and ongoing review. Flexible support does not mean on-demand, continuous or guaranteed availability.
4. Online and in-person scope
Online companionship is primary and is offered within Canada. When separately agreed, appropriate and available, in-person support may occur in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, at an agreed café, park, community location, office, appointment location or other suitable public or professional setting.
Shepherd personnel do not enter a Participant's home, provide in-home care, transport a Participant, allow a Participant to ride in a companion's personal vehicle as part of the service, hold house keys, manage money, sign documents for the Participant or assume custody or supervision.
5. Services expressly not provided
Shepherd is not a health-care, counselling, psychotherapy, social-work, home-care, transportation, security, emergency or crisis-response provider. It does not provide:
- diagnosis or treatment of mental-health, medical or substance-use conditions;
- psychotherapy, clinical counselling, psychiatric care or medical advice;
- medication reminders, medication handling, medical monitoring or personal care;
- suicide-risk assessment, crisis planning, detoxification or withdrawal management;
- emergency dispatch, welfare checks, 24/7 monitoring or guaranteed response times;
- transportation, appointment driving, errands involving control of funds or home entry;
- legal, financial or substitute decision-making; or
- a guarantee of friendship, recovery, reduced loneliness, community acceptance or any particular outcome.
The Participant remains responsible for obtaining qualified professional and emergency services appropriate to their needs.
6. Fit assessment and no duty to accept
Shepherd may decide, in its reasonable judgment, that a request is outside scope or cannot be supported safely, appropriately or sustainably. The initial conversation and fit process are not a clinical assessment and must not be relied on as one. Shepherd does not undertake a duty to diagnose undisclosed needs or predict future behaviour.
7. Participant consent and third-party involvement
The Participant is the primary decision-maker about their companionship and personal information, even if another person pays or made the referral. The Payer receives only invoices, payment information and other information authorized by the Participant or permitted by law.
No family member, church, community organization, referral source or payer is entitled to session content, general progress, attendance or safety updates merely because they referred or paid. Any optional sharing must be expressly authorized by the Participant, limited by category and recipient, and may be withdrawn on reasonable notice subject to legal restrictions.
8. Relationship boundaries
Companionship may involve genuine care, warmth and authentic human connection. It remains a paid service relationship with professional and personal boundaries. The Participant agrees to respect scheduled time, communication channels, privacy, personal space and the companion's right to decline contact outside the agreed arrangement.
Shepherd does not promise permanent friendship or ongoing contact after paid service ends. Friendly contact may occur naturally, but it is not guaranteed and does not create an entitlement to unpaid companionship or future availability.
9. Scheduling and communications
Appointments, response expectations and any permitted check-ins are stated in the Service Order or current written schedule. Shepherd is not continuously monitored and messages may not be read promptly. The Participant must not use email, text, voicemail or a scheduled Shepherd conversation as an emergency channel.
A session may be shortened, moved or ended if there is a safety concern, serious boundary issue, technology failure, unsuitable public setting or other reasonable operational need. Rescheduling and cancellation rules appear in the Service Order and remain subject to mandatory consumer rights.
10. Safety responsibilities
The Participant agrees to:
- choose a physically appropriate public location and take reasonable care for personal mobility, weather and environmental conditions;
- not attend in person while intoxicated, carrying a weapon, behaving threateningly or knowingly creating a material safety risk;
- not ask a companion to enter a private residence, transport anyone, handle medication, control money or perform excluded services;
- use respectful, non-discriminatory and non-harassing communication;
- contact emergency or clinical services rather than Shepherd when urgent or professional care is needed; and
- inform Shepherd of material changes that directly affect eligibility, consent or the safe delivery of the agreed service, without providing unnecessary medical details.
11. Emergencies and urgent concerns
Shepherd does not monitor the Participant between contacts and does not guarantee that it will identify or correctly assess a risk. If Shepherd reasonably believes there may be an immediate and serious threat to a person's life or safety, it may contact 9-1-1, another appropriate emergency service or an authorized emergency contact, and may disclose limited information where permitted or required by law.
This limited ability to act does not create a duty to provide crisis intervention, a guarantee that intervention will occur, or responsibility for the independent actions, omissions, response times or decisions of emergency services, family members or other third parties.
12. Privacy, confidentiality and records
Shepherd follows the Privacy Policy and the Participant's Consent & Safety Agreement. Sessions are not audio- or video-recorded, and Shepherd does not keep detailed conversation transcripts or clinical notes. Records are limited to contact, scheduling, consent, payment, authorized sharing, necessary service administration, material safety incidents and legally required information.
Confidentiality is not absolute. Limited disclosure may occur with consent, to service providers acting for Shepherd, to administer the agreement, to respond to safety concerns, to obtain legal advice, to collect amounts owing, to investigate misconduct, or where law permits or requires it. Ordinary internet, email, telephone, text and video systems carry privacy risks that cannot be eliminated.
13. Companion assignment and continuity
Shepherd aims for consistent presence but does not guarantee a specific person, uninterrupted continuity, substitute availability or indefinite service. Personnel, schedules and service formats may change. Where possible, Shepherd will communicate material changes and seek a reasonable transition.
14. Fees, payment, cancellation and consumer rights
Subject to confirmation in the applicable Service Order, Shepherd currently offers the following service options in Canadian dollars:
- First Month — $399: includes the first month of Membership, intake, support planning, a Primary Shepherd whenever practical, priority scheduling, permission-based updates and four hours of eligible support delivered online or at an agreed appropriate location.
- Ongoing Membership — $79 per month: includes one scheduled monthly check-in, reminders and light coordination, a trusted point of contact, priority access subject to fit and availability, permission-based updates when requested, and member pricing for Additional Support after onboarding. Membership does not include in-person support hours.
- Additional Support — $65 per hour: available only after the Participant has completed Shepherd onboarding. A Participant may join Membership directly, but direct Membership purchase alone does not make Additional Support available until onboarding is completed.
The First Month does not automatically renew or convert into a recurring Membership. Recurring Membership begins only after the Participant provides a separate, explicit agreement to the recurring charge. Once expressly started, Membership renews monthly until cancelled in accordance with the Service Order and applicable law.
For hourly in-person Additional Support, billable time begins when the companion arrives at the agreed location. Normal-area travel time is not billed and there is no minimum duration. Venue purchases, admissions and personal expenses remain the Participant's responsibility unless the Service Order expressly states otherwise.
Fees, taxes, billing dates, included service, cancellation, missed-session, refund and renewal terms are set out in the Service Order before payment. No public website statement creates a price or package unless incorporated into that order.
If the agreement is entered electronically or at a distance, Shepherd will provide the disclosures, opportunity to review and accept, contract copy and cancellation rights required by applicable law. Nothing in this agreement removes a refund, cancellation or other consumer right that cannot legally be waived.
15. Participant materials and third-party costs
The Participant is responsible for their own device, connectivity, venue purchases, admissions and other personal expenses unless the Service Order expressly says otherwise. Shepherd is not responsible for third-party platforms, venues, community organizations or services, although it will use reasonable care in selecting tools it controls.
16. Acknowledgement of ordinary risks
The Participant understands that companionship cannot eliminate loneliness, distress or ordinary interpersonal uncertainty. Public-place activities may involve weather, uneven surfaces, crowds, transportation arranged independently by the Participant and other everyday risks. Online communications may involve outages, misunderstandings and privacy limitations.
The Participant voluntarily accepts the ordinary and reasonably foreseeable risks of the specific activities they choose, while retaining all rights that cannot legally be waived. This section does not excuse Shepherd from duties imposed by law.
17. No warranties and limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, services are provided without a guarantee of a particular emotional, social, community, health or relationship outcome. Shepherd is not responsible for a Participant's independent decisions, undisclosed conditions, excluded needs, missed emergency communications, third-party acts or events beyond reasonable control.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Shepherd and its directors, officers, employees, contractors and representatives will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive loss, or loss of opportunity, arising from the service.
Except for liability that cannot lawfully be limited, Shepherd's aggregate liability arising from a Service Order will not exceed the fees paid under that Service Order during the three months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim. This limitation does not apply to fraud, wilful misconduct or other liability that applicable law prohibits us from limiting.
18. Limited indemnity
To the extent permitted by law, the Participant and Payer are responsible for reasonable third-party claims and costs caused by their unlawful conduct, deliberate misconduct, material breach of safety obligations, or submission of another person's information without authority. This responsibility does not extend to loss caused by Shepherd's negligence, breach of law or misconduct.
19. Suspension and ending service
The Participant may end service as provided in the Service Order and applicable law. Shepherd may refuse, pause or end service on reasonable notice when the service is no longer appropriate, helpful or sustainable; resources are unavailable; payment is overdue; consent is withdrawn; boundaries are repeatedly breached; information material to safe delivery was intentionally misrepresented; there is harassment, threats or unsafe conduct; or the need falls outside scope.
Shepherd may act immediately where reasonably necessary for safety, legal compliance or serious misconduct. Where appropriate and feasible, it may provide general transition information, but it does not undertake clinical discharge planning or guarantee an alternative provider.
20. Reviews and relationship changes
Shepherd and the Participant will periodically review whether companionship remains helpful, appropriate and sustainable. A review may result in continuation, adjustment or transition. Long-term continuity is an intention, not a promise of indefinite service.
21. Governing law and concerns
The agreement is governed by the laws of British Columbia and applicable federal laws of Canada, without limiting mandatory rights under other applicable law. A Participant may raise a concern with Shepherd at any time. An attempt to resolve a concern informally is encouraged but is not mandatory.
Nothing in the agreement requires pre-dispute arbitration, waives class proceeding rights, prohibits an honest public review or restricts access to a court, tribunal, regulator or other process available under law.
22. General terms
If a provision is invalid or unenforceable, it will be limited or severed only as necessary. A waiver must be specific and does not waive later breaches. The Participant may not transfer the personal service relationship without Shepherd's written consent. Shepherd may use qualified personnel and service providers while remaining responsible for obligations imposed by law.
Changes to an active Service Order that increase the Participant's obligations or reduce Shepherd's obligations require the notice, consent and cancellation rights required by law. Electronic signatures and counterparts may be used.
23. Contact
Shepherd Family Connect
Operated by Panda AI Lab (Canada) Inc.
contact@shepherdfamilyconnect.com
Launch condition: Before accepting payment, have British Columbia counsel review these terms and ensure each Service Order includes the supplier address, telephone number, complete price, supply date or schedule, cancellation/refund terms and all disclosures required for the way the contract is formed.