Thanks and as I understand it a flight itinerary is different to a flight plan because it can be filed with a family member or company and not with the government -have I got it?
Yes, that's correct.
CAR 602.75(2): "A flight itinerary shall be filed with a responsible person, an air traffic control unit, a flight service station or a community aerodrome radio station."
A "responsible person" can be anyone. I think the responsible person has to report you missing within 24 hours, but I can't find that in the CARs. It's probably a good idea for your responsible person to report you missing a bit sooner than that though!