Personal Health Information Act and Hours of Work

On November 1, 2004, Ontario’s Personal Health Information Act, 2004 ("PHIA") became law. The PHIA regulates how health information custodians may collect, use and disclose personal health information within the Ontario health care system. Personal health information is broadly defined to include information relating to the physical or mental health of an individual.

Though the PHIA’s regulatory impact will largely be restricted to the personal information practices of "health information custodians" (which by definition includes health care providers such as hospitals, community care access centres, pharmacies, physicians and other medical professions), the new rules will have some implications in Ontario workplaces. Specifically, the PHIA will serve to regulate the information practices of employers whom receive personal health information from health information custodians in the course of, or for the purposes of, administrating