The widespread adoption of digital medical records has made them more accessible for patients than ever. However, there are still lingering frustrations, such as unclear access processes, fees and delays and incompatible medical record systems that don’t communicate with each other. This means patients may have to separately request their information from multiple health care providers, again and again.
Despite these roadblocks, patients have the legal right to access their records under Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA). This article will guide you through what to expect when requesting your health data, including potential costs, release timeframes and specific steps to initiate this process. It will also discuss how secure platforms, like PocketHealth, can give you more control over your health information.
PHIPA is Ontario’s provincial legislation that protects and safeguards patients’ personal health information (PHI). It details the responsibilities of “health information custodians,” which are the health care professionals involved in your care, and how they must manage and protect your sensitive records.
Patients also have the right to access their PHI in accordance with the law. This includes obtaining copies of medical records for yourself or third parties, as well as requesting corrections when necessary. Additionally, you can provide or deny consent for this information to be accessed by others.
You can request all of your stored PHI from your health care providers. However, there may be circumstances where your data is no longer easily accessible, such as if a clinic closed and the required minimum retention period for holding patient information has passed (usually a minimum of 10 years for adult patients or 10 years from the date a minor turns 18).
There are also exceptions that could cause your record request to be denied, such as when your PHI is subject to solicitor-client confidentiality. These denials are uncommon, however, and usually patients are entitled to all available health records, such as:
If you’ve received care at multiple facilities, your records may be stored across several different providers, which means you’d need to request your records separately from each location.
Below is a brief overview of what to expect when requesting access to your health information.
According to PHIPA, health information custodians have up to 30 days to respond from the date you submit the request form. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will get your health records within this time, just that they must send you a response. Custodians can also extend the time for a response if they give notice of the expected extension length and a reason for it.
There is no universal cost for getting a copy of your health records. It may vary by facility, as many commonly charge a record retrieval fee for this service. Legally, this sum should not exceed the “amount of reasonable cost recovery,” as per PHIPA.
You can request a fee estimate in advance, especially if you know how extensive your records are or how many pages you want copied. Some clinics will waive the fee if you’re only asking for a specific record of a service provided, such as lab results or a radiology report. If, however, you have a long health history and want all the medical records in your chart, payment will likely be collected.
Most health facilities have digital versions of your data. If your provider offers this feature, you may be given login permissions to a patient portal, where you can access them yourself from their electronic system.
In other cases, you may receive a digital version of your PHI, such as in a PDF, email or other electronic form. You may want to ask about privacy and security practices for digital data formats, such as encryption or multi-factor authentication.
Some facilities may only offer hard copy versions of your information in the form of a paper copy or even a CD or USB. Some clinics may mail them to you or have you pick them up in person. Hard copies can be less secure and easy to misplace, so consider scanning or downloading them to a secure digital location.
Here are the general steps to request your PHI:
If you’ve been seen by multiple providers that don’t share access to the same electronic medical records system and don’t have data-sharing agreements in place, you’ll likely need to request access from each provider you’ve seen. That means individual consent forms will need to be signed and individual fees could be charged by each provider.
While much has improved for patient access in Canada, there are still some areas of frustration, including:
PocketHealth is a patient-centric solution for ongoing access to your medical imaging records in one secure place. The platform lets you easily and securely view your imaging reports from an extensive list of participating Ontario health providers. You can also upload your other medical records to the platform, providing centralized record storage from a single account, under one login.
Besides being a way to manage your complete medical history, PocketHealth has other benefits, such as:
Having ongoing, centralized access to your own PHI helps you to better understand your health, track changes over time, easily share with other providers and gives you greater control over your medical information.
Traditional processes can be slow and fragmented, meaning you have to hunt down scattered data and repeatedly request access. Being able to maintain and share your own health history through platforms like PocketHealth makes it easier to obtain second opinions, reduces repeated tests and delays and allows you to play an active role in your own care.
Here are some common questions regarding requesting medical records in Ontario.
Online patient access is the easiest way to get your medical records. This could be through a patient portal your provider grants you access to, or through a secure online platform, such as PocketHealth.
In Ontario, the retention period for patient records is typically 10 years from the last recorded entry or 10 years after a minor patient reaches the age of 18. However, there are exceptions, so it may be worth asking your health information custodian for clarification.
You can request older records, but health care facilities are not required to retain patient records beyond certain time periods. There is a chance that your records are no longer available if you have not been seen in over a decade. That said, it is usually worth looking into, as some clinics keep records longer than required or may be able to help you explore other ways to access them.
If your physician has retired or a clinic has closed, your records are typically transferred to a medical records storage company or a different provider. If you don’t have this information, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) can help you locate your records from closed practices or help you find the custodian of your records.
If someone is legally authorized to make decisions for you, such as a caregiver, they can request your records on your behalf.
Most medical facilities maintain digital versions of patient records rather than outdated hard copies, though there are exceptions. This means that when you request a copy of your health history, they can likely provide it in an electronic format. This may be via an online patient portal or other digital formats, such as a PDF. However, you will likely need to go through the official request process first.
Published: January 8, 2026
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