Health

Accessing or Correcting Medical Records

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Whether your medical records are held at a public health care institution or a private clinic, the information that health care professionals write down about you belongs to you. You have the right to access this information and to correct it. In some cases, you can also request access to a loved one’s medical records.

Who can make a request?

The request for access or to correct information must be made by the patient or by

  • A parent or a person with parental authority if the patient is a minor,
  • A mandatary or a tutor caring for an incapacitated person,
  • An heir or the liquidator of the estate if the patient is deceased.

In all cases, the person making the request must provide proof of their identity and their relationship to the patient.

For more information, see our article on the right to access medical records.

How to make a request

1. Checking if the information is available online

The Québec Health Booklet allows you to look at your list of pharmacy prescriptions and test results from public health care institutions online.

Some private clinics may offer a similar service.

Coming soon: In the coming years, you will be able to access all your health information online with the Dossier santé numérique (digital health record or DSN). This service is currently being tested at the CIUSS du Nord-de-l’Île-de-Montréal and the CIUSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec. It will gradually become available to all Quebecers.

2. Drafting your request

If the information you need is not available online, or if you want to update, correct or add a comment to information already in your medical record, you must submit a written request to the health care institution. Making a request for access of for rectification is free.

Most health care institutions have their own form to fill out for these requests, which you can find on their website. (You can also try looking up the name of the institution and “access medical record” or “rectification medical record” in the search engine of your choice.)

You can also get a paper copy of the form by visiting the health care institution in person. In public health care institutions, the form is available at the medical records department.

If no form is available, you can use one of the model letters on the website of the Commission d’accès à l’information (access to information commission). You can send the form to the health care institution by email or by any other method.

If you want to access information on the vaccines you received, you have to submit a request through the Québec Vaccination Registry.

If your request is missing information, or you need certain accommodations due to a disability, the law requires organizations to be flexible and to help you with your request.

3. Sending your request

Send your request to the person responsible for protecting personal information in the health care institution. This person will verify your identity.

You can find this person’s contact information on the request form or the health care institution’s website.

For a public health care institution, you can also find the contact information of the person in charge on the website of the Commission d’accès à l’information. Simply scroll down on their website to find the “List of concerned public bodies and persons in charge of An act respecting access”. This list gives an up-to-date directory of all concerned public institutions.

If the organization has no website, it is legally required to make this information available in some other appropriate manner.

The health care institution must answer you

The institution is required to answer you within 30 days of receiving a request.

There are three ways the institution could answer:

The institution allows the request

If the request is allowed, the health care institution must allow you to see your medical records, send you a copy of the records, or modify the information and send you a copy of the modified records, depending on your request. The health care institution must provide these services for free.

If the information is stored electronically, you have the right to ask for a “written and intelligible transcript”. For example, you can ask for a written transcript of a recorded call in addition to the audio file.

You can also ask that electronic information that was collected be given in a “structured, commonly used technological format”. This allows you to receive the information in digital form instead of on paper and ensures that the file can be opened with standard software.

If you need certain accommodations due to a disability, the law requires organizations to be flexible to make sure you can access and understand the information.

If you wish, you can ask the health care institution to inform the individuals or organizations that received the incorrect information by providing them with the corrected information.

The institution refuses the request

If the request for access is refused, the person in charge of personal information for the institution must provide a written reason for the refusal. They must tell you which section of the law justifies the refusal and answer any questions you may have if you do not understand the decision.

They must also explain that a review of the refusal can be requested and when such a request must be made.

Examples of reasons to refuse a request:

  • The request is abusive, excessive, or not justified.
  • Granting access to the medical records could reveal the identity of the person who provided information about you without their consent.
  • The requested correction concerns a professional opinion, such as a medical diagnosis. Only factual errors can be corrected (for example, if your left leg was injured but your medical records state that your right leg was injured).

For more examples of reasons why a request to access medical records may be refused, see our detailed article on the topic.

The institution doesn’t give you an answer

Your request Is considered refused. 

If the institution doesn’t respond or refuses

If a health care institution doesn’t answer you or refuses your request, or if you are otherwise not satisfied with its answer, you can contact the Commission d’accès à l’information. To learn more about the process and deadlines, see our article on the solutions that exist when a request to access or to correct medical records is refused. 

If an employee illegally accesses your medical records

If you think that a health care employee has accessed your medical records or told others about your personal information without a valid reason, you can:

Did you know?

You have rights and legal recourse to protect all types of personal information, not just the information in your medical records. See our article on personal information for more details.