Who Holds the Record · country brief · data as of 2026-10-02
Who holds the health record in Canada?
In 2026, Canada scores 52 of 100 on a person's right to see, control and share their own health record: rank 42= of 65 countries, in the Mixed band (45 to 64). Who holds the keys: Shared. Source: Who Holds the Record, SuperTruth, data as of 2026-10-02.
The person has real controls inside a state or provider system. Its strongest right against the other countries is clinical AI governance (56, against a median of 50 across 65 countries); its weakest is patient access to the full record (50, median 62).
Provinces grant record access and Quebec and Ontario allow blocking, but records stop at provincial borders and only 13% see core records online.
Published · updated · data as of 2026-10-02 · research tool, not legal advice
52overall, of 100 · Mixed
42=rank of 65
Sharedwho holds the keys
highconfidence
85 · Goldevidence grade (DTI)
Can I get my health records in Canada?
Access to the full record scores 50 of 100 in Canada, against a median of 62 across 65 countries. Provincial laws give a right to a copy, and the largest provinces run portals with labs and medications. But in 2025 only 13% of adults could see test results, vaccines and medication history online, and Quebec holds results back 30 days.
Can I control who sees my health record in Canada?
Control and consent scores 55 of 100 in Canada, against a median of 52 across 65 countries. Control depends on the province. Quebec lets patients block named providers or categories from chosen items and shows an access log in Carnet santé, while Ontario cut its EHR blocks to whole repositories in February 2026 and gives logs only on request.
Eight rights, against United States, Australia, United Kingdom and the EU
Patient access to the full record20%
50
50 · 70 · 66
Patient control and consent20%
55
35 · 68 · 52
Privacy and security15%
58
50 · 62 · 56
Connected care journey15%
50
60 · 70 · 62
Protection from commercial use10%
45
38 · 65 · 60
Clinician access at the point of care10%
55
55 · 66 · 60
Research and trial consent5%
49
49 · 50 · 64
Clinical AI governance5%
56
56 · 55 · 55
Black dot: Canada. Hollow dots: United States, Australia, United Kingdom (scores on the right, same order). Grey line: median of all 65 countries. Dashed teal line: EU median. Overall: Canada 52, EU median 61. Scores move in steps of about 5; gaps of 4 or less are ties.
What would Canada need to change to score higher?
Canada sits in Mixed (45 to 64); Strong starts at 65. The two rights furthest below the 65-country median, weighted, are patient access to the full record (50, median 62) and connected care journey (50, median 62). The published rubric reads:
Patient access to the full record: A national portal showing at least part of the record (summary, prescriptions, labs) to most residents puts access at 60 to 75; a near-full record with export, long history and majority use, 76 to 90.
Connected care journey: Primary care, hospitals, labs, pharmacy, claims and public health linked to one record and used at national scale.
Which laws give health record rights in Canada?
Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) (2000): Consent-based private-sector privacy law; four provinces have health laws deemed substantially similar.
Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), Ontario (2004): Access within 30 days at cost recovery, marketing needs express consent, EHR access logging, fines up to $1 million.
Loi sur les renseignements de santé et de services sociaux (LRSSS), Quebec (2023): Right to restrict named providers, know who accessed records, and controlled researcher access.
Strain and split context, not scored
Doctors per 10,000
28.5 2024 · OECD 31 of 38
Nurses and midwives per 10,000
116 2024 · OECD 14 of 38
Private insurance + out-of-pocket
27.9% 2023 · OECD 11 of 35
Record reaches private care?
partial
"Diagnostic imaging reports from most private clinics will not be available in Health Gateway as they currently are not available to our provincial repository."
Published stories
2026-03-19 · Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (PHIPA Decision 332) Doctor did not answer a patient's request for their own health record
2026-02-06 · Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (Order F26-09) Health authority ordered to release withheld lines from a patient's own hospital record
In 2026, Canada scored 52 of 100 on a person's right to see, control and share their own health record, rank 42= of 65 countries (Mixed; who holds the keys: Shared). Source: Who Holds the Record, SuperTruth, data as of 2026-10-02, https://whoholds.supertruth.ai/brief/CAN/
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OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (38 mostly high-income countries). DTI: SuperTruth's Data Trust Index, grading the evidence behind each score. Everything here comes from public information: laws, government and regulator pages, court decisions, published news, WHO, OECD and World Bank data. Full sources: https://whoholds.supertruth.ai/brief/CAN/#sources. SuperTruth built this index and sells health data verification products; no one paid to be included. Research tool, not legal advice. Text and scores CC BY 4.0.
Who Holds the Record · country brief · data as of 2026-10-02