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Connected Care for Canadians Act

An Act respecting the interoperability of health information technology and to prohibit data blocking by health information technology vendors

Summary

  • Requires health information technology vendors to ensure their products and services are interoperable and meet standards set by regulation, enabling secure access, use, and exchange of electronic health information.
  • Prohibits data blocking by vendors, subject to privacy laws, to prevent anti-competitive practices and improve patient and provider access to information.
  • Applies in a province or territory only if the Governor in Council orders it due to the absence of substantially similar local requirements.
  • Empowers the Minister of Health to verify compliance, manage complaints, and impose administrative monetary penalties; no criminal penalties apply.
  • Allows dynamic incorporation by reference of standards so regulations can keep pace with evolving health IT norms; comes into force by order in council.

Builder Assessment

Vote Yes

This bill advances a connected, secure health data ecosystem that reduces waste and vendor lock-in, improving productivity and service quality. To fully realize benefits while protecting privacy and minimizing compliance burden, it needs clear standards, timelines, and safeguards against jurisdictional conflict.

  • Strengths: targets data blocking; mandates interoperability; improves patient safety and access; enables competition and innovation; supports long-run system efficiency and prosperity.
  • Risks: potential regulatory overreach and compliance costs, especially for SMEs; unclear criteria for federal-provincial application could create duplication; dynamic incorporation of standards needs transparency and accountability.
  • Builders should push for: explicit adoption of widely used standards (e.g., HL7 FHIR, OAuth 2.0, SMART on FHIR), clear phased timelines, and public cost-benefit reporting.
  • Builders should advocate safeguards: baseline cybersecurity and privacy-by-design requirements aligned with provincial regimes; strong encryption, auditability, and breach notification rules.
  • Builders should seek red tape reduction: performance-based compliance, small-vendor transition periods, and alignment with existing provincial frameworks to avoid duplicate certifications.
  • Builders should request federal-provincial coordination: transparent criteria for orders-in-council, Indigenous data governance engagement, and interprovincial reciprocity to ensure seamless care.

Question Period Cards

When will the government publish the specific interoperability standards—such as HL7 FHIR profiles—and the compliance timeline, and what are the estimated implementation costs and savings by province and territory?

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What precise criteria will the Governor in Council use to decide a province lacks substantially similar requirements, and how will the government avoid duplicating or conflicting with provincial privacy laws and Indigenous data sovereignty frameworks?

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What maximum administrative monetary penalties are contemplated, how will complaints be handled and resolved, and what supports will be available to small vendors and clinics to prevent service disruptions during upgrades while maintaining strong cybersecurity?

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Principles Analysis

✓

Canada should aim to be the world's most prosperous country.

More efficient, safer health care boosts labour force participation and reduces system waste, supporting long-run prosperity.

✓

Promote economic freedom, ambition, and breaking from bureaucratic inertia (reduce red tape).

Bans data blocking and vendor lock-in, lowering administrative friction for patients and providers, though execution must avoid heavy compliance burdens.

✓

Drive national productivity and global competitiveness.

Interoperability reduces duplicate tests and delays, improving system productivity and enabling a more competitive digital health market.

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Grow exports of Canadian products and resources.

Indirect effects only; while standardization may help Canadian health-tech firms, the bill does not directly address exports.

✓

Encourage investment, innovation, and resource development.

Open data flows and common standards foster competition and innovation by startups and SMEs, reducing vendor lock-in risk.

✓

Deliver better public services at lower cost (government efficiency).

Improved data sharing can cut duplication and errors, supporting lower-cost, higher-quality care; upfront transition costs must be managed.

—

Reform taxes to incentivize work, risk-taking, and innovation.

No tax measures are included.

✓

Focus on large-scale prosperity, not incrementalism.

Creates a national framework to end data silos in health care—an economy-wide, structural productivity reform rather than a small pilot.

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S-5

PartySenate
StatusAt second reading in the Senate
Last updatedN/A
TopicsHealthcare, Technology and Innovation
Parliament45