This consolidation is unofficial and is for reference only.

For the official version of the regulations, consult the original documents on file with the Office of the Registrar of Regulations , or refer to the Royal Gazette

Part II .

Regulations are amended frequently.

Please check the list of Regulations by Act to see if there are any recent amendments to these regulations filed with our office that are not yet included in this consolidation.

Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this electronic version, the Office of the Registrar of Regulations assumes no responsibility for any discrepancies that may have resulted from reformatting.

This electronic version is copyright ©

, Province of Nova Scotia , all rights reserved. It is for your personal use and may not be copied for the purposes of resale in this or any other form.

Personal Health Information Regulations

made under

Section 110 of the

Personal Health Information Act

S.N.S. 2010, c. 41

O.I.C. 2012-371 (effective June 1, 2013), N.S. Reg. 217/2012

amended to O.I.C. 2026-68 (effective March 3, 2026), N.S. Reg. 63/2026

Table of Contents

Please note: this table of contents is provided for convenience of reference and does not form part of the regulations.

Click here to go to the text of the regulations .

Citation

Interpretation

Definitions for Act and regulations

Additional custodians prescribed

Designation of health-care service

Designation of prevailing provisions

Designation of health authority

Designation of Ministers

Collecting and Using Health-card Numbers

Authorization for specified non-custodians and purposes

Authorization for non-custodian facilitating provision of Provincially funded insured

health services

Complaints

Complaints policy

Mediation

Electronic Information Systems

Additional safeguards

Record of user activity

Fees for Accessing Personal Health Information Records

Fee exceptions

Fees prescribed do not include applicable tax

General fee for access to record

Specific fees

Direct costs

Visit history

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Personal Health Information Regulations .

Interpretation

Definitions for Act and regulations

(1) In the Act,

“applicant”, in subsection 102(1) and clauses 103(5)(

b) and (

c) of the Act, means

an individual whose personal health information was the subject of a review under

clause 92(2)(a), (2)(

b) or (3)(

a) of the Act;

“data linkage” means the bringing together of 2 or more records of personal health

information to form a composite record;

“electronic health record” means an electronic information system that is approved

by the Minister and integrates data from multiple electronic information systems

for the purpose of providing a comprehensive record of an individual’s personal

health information;

“health information” has the same meaning as “personal health information”;

“Minister” means,

(

i) in subclause 3(f)(viii) of the Act, the Minister of Seniors and Long

Term Care, and

(ii) in clauses 31(l), 31(o), 35(ha), 38(1)(g), 38(1)(u), subclause

72(1)(e)(

i) and

Section 83 of the Act, any of the following Ministers:

(

A) the Minister of Health and Wellness,

(

B) the Minister of Seniors and Long Term Care,

(

C) the Minister responsible for the Office of Addictions and

Mental Health,

(

D) the Minister of Health and Wellness as the Minister responsible

for the Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment.

(2) In the Act and these regulations, “electronic information system” means a

computer system that generates, sends, receives, stores or otherwise processes

personal health information.

(3) In these regulations, “Act” means the Personal Health Information Act .

Additional custodians prescribed

3 The following individuals, organizations or classes of organizations are prescribed as

custodians for the purposes of subclause 3(f)(

x) of the Act:

(

a) a Nova Scotia Hearing and Speech Centre;

(

b) a home care agency that is approved by the Department of Health and

Wellness and has a service agreement with a district health authority under

the Health Authorities Act or with the Izaak Walton Killam Health Centre;

(

c) a home oxygen agency that is approved by and has a service agreement with

the Department of Health and Wellness;

(

d) each of the following Mi’kmaw First Nation bands in the Province:

(

i) Annapolis Valley First Nation,

(ii) Eskasoni First Nation,

(iii) Glooscap First Nation,

(iv) Membertou First Nation,

(

v) Pictou Landing First Nation,

(vi) Potlotek First Nation,

(vii) Sipekne’katik First Nation,

(viii) Wagmatcook First Nation,

(ix) We’koqma’q First Nation,

(

x) Millbrook First Nation;

(

e) a community hospice operator as defined in the Community Hospices

Regulations made under the Health Authorities Act ;

(

f) the Minister of Seniors and Long Term Care;

(

g) the Minister responsible for the Office of Addictions and Mental Health;

(

h) the Minister of Health and Wellness as the Minister responsible for the

Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment.

Designation of health-care service

4 The following services are designated as health-care services for the purposes of

subclause 3(k)(vi) of the Act:

(

a) an assessment under the Adult Protection Act ;

(

b) the taking of a donation of blood or blood products, bodily parts or other

bodily substances from an individual.

Designation of prevailing provisions

5 The provisions set out in the following table are designated for the purposes of

subsection 7(3) of the Act:

Act or Regulations

Designated Provision

Any enactment governing a regulated health-profession body

any provision that grants a person the

powers, privileges and immunities of

a commissioner under the Public

Inquiries Act

Adoption Information Act

Section 5

Adult Protection Act

Section 5

Auditor General Act

Section 14

Child Pornography Reporting Act

Section 3

Children and Family Services Act

Sections 23, 24, 25, 26, and 61

Day Care Regulations under the Day Care

Act

subsections 30(1), (2), (3) and

(4) Fatality Investigations Act

Sections 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, subsection

13(3), subsection 14(2), and

Section

Gunshot Wounds Mandatory Reporting Act

Section 3

Health Act

Section 101

Health Authorities Act

clause 19(1)(

i) Health Protection Act

Section 15, subsection 16(2),

Section

31, subsections 32(1) and (2), clause

32(3)(g), Sections 40, 42 and 50,

clause 58(1)(

e) and Sections 62 and

Homes for Special Care Act

Sections 10 and 11

Homes for Special Care Regulations

under the Homes for Special Care Act

subsections 25(1), (2), and

(3) Juries Act

Section 8

Juries Regulations under the Juries Act

Section 4

Mandatory Testing and Disclosure Act

clause 9(1)(

b) and

Section 10

Missing Persons Act

clause 6(2)(

f) Prescription Monitoring Act

Sections 18, 20 and 23

Protection for Persons in Care Act

Sections 4, 5, and 6

Sharing of Health Information Regulations

under the Correctional Services Act and the

Court Houses and Lockup Houses Act

Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4

Victims’ Rights and Services Act

Section 11A

Criminal Injuries Compensation

Regulations under the Victims’ Rights

and Services Act

Section 3

Designation of health authority

5A A health authority as defined in the Health Authorities Act is prescribed as being

authorized to collect, use and disclose personal health information for the purpose of

planning and management of health services as defined in the Health Authorities Act .

Designation of Ministers

5B The following Ministers are prescribed as being authorized to collect, use and disclose

personal health information for the purpose of planning and management of the health

system:

(

a) the Minister of Seniors and Long Term Care;

(

b) the Minister responsible for the Office of Addictions and Mental Health;

(

c) the Minister of Health and Wellness as the Minister responsible for the

Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment.

Collecting and Using Health-card Numbers

Authorization for specified non-custodians and purposes

(1) For the purposes of clause 27(

b) of the Act, each of the following non-custodian

individuals and organizations is authorized to collect and use an individual’s

health-card number for the purpose or purposes specified:

(

a) the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia, to assess an injured

worker’s entitlement to benefits;

(

b) the Minister of Community Services, for any of the following purposes:

(

i) to facilitate health care for children in the Child Welfare or Children

in Care program,

(ii) to indicate eligibility for a pharmacare program established under the

Fair Drug Pricing Act ,

(iii) to facilitate health care for clients of the Services for Persons with

Disabilities program,

(iv) to determine benefits under the Employment Support and Income

Assistance Act ,

(

v) to facilitate the operation of the Child Abuse Register established

under the Children and Family Services Act ;

(

c) the Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations, Vital

Statistics Division, for identification purposes in registering births and

deaths;

(

d) the Office of the Public Trustee, to facilitate health care decisions for its

clients and for the financial management of its clients’ estates;

(

e) each of the following Mi’kmaw First Nation bands in the Province, to

contribute to and maintain the Nova Scotia First Nations Client Linkage

Registry:

(

i) Acadia First Nation,

(ii) Bear River First Nation,

(iii) Paq’tnkek First Nation;

(

f) an Administrator appointed by the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board

under subsection 21(1) of the Non-resident Deed Transfer Tax Act or a

person delegated by the Administrator, to verify an individual’s proof of

Nova Scotia residence.

(2) In clause (1)(e), “Nova Scotia First Nations Client Linkage Registry” means a

registry of First Nations health care clients that is used as a tool to access, manage

and use health information for use in the First Nations’ health planning and

evaluation.

Authorization for non-custodian facilitating provision of Provincially funded insured

health services

7 For the purposes of clause 27(

b) of the Act, a non-custodian is authorized to collect and

use an individual’s health-card number for the purposes of facilitating the provision of

insured services.

Complaints

Complaints policy

(1) A complaints policy implemented by a custodian under subsection 62(2) of the Act

must include the following:

(

a) a requirement that an individual submit a complaint to the custodian in

writing; and

(

b) a statement of the time period following receipt of a written complaint

during which the custodian must process, investigate and make a decision

on the complaint and reply to the complainant.

(2) Subject to subsection (3), the time period referred to in clause (1)(

b) must be no

longer than 60 days.

(3) A custodian who receives a complaint may, by written notice to the complainant

before the end of the time period specified in the custodian’s complaints policy,

extend the time period

(

a) by no more than 30 days; or

(

b) with the Review Officer’s permission, by a period longer than 30 days, if

either of the following apply [applies]:

(

i) replying to the complaint within the 30-day extension period would

unreasonably interfere with the activities of the custodian,

(ii) the time required to undertake the consultations necessary to reply to

the request within the 30-day extension period would make it not

reasonably practical to reply within that time.

Mediation

(1) Mediation under subsection 96(1) of the Act must be agreed to by both the

individual whose personal health information is the subject of the review and the

custodian.

(2) The 30-day period referred to in subsection 96(2) of the Act begins on the date on

which the Review Officer contacts the applicant and the custodian to initiate

mediation.

(3) The Review Officer must remain neutral and impartial during the mediation

process.

(4) If mediation is not successful, the documents that were produced and discussions

that took place during the mediation process must not form part of the records of

any ongoing review.

Electronic Information Systems

Additional safeguards

(1) The following are prescribed as additional safeguards that a custodian must

implement under

Section 65 of the Act for personal health information held in an

electronic information system maintained by the custodian:

(

a) protection of network infrastructure, including physical and wireless

networks, to ensure secure access;

(

b) protection of hardware and its supporting operating systems to ensure that

the system functions consistently and only those authorized to access the

system have access; and

(

c) protection of the system’s software, including the way it authenticates a

user’s identity before allowing access.

(2) A custodian must create and maintain written policies to support and enforce the

implementation of the safeguards required by subsection (1).

(3) A custodian must create and maintain a record of every security breach of the

custodian’s electronic information system that the custodian determines on a

reasonable basis is likely to pose a risk to an individual’s personal health

information.

(4) A record of security breaches must include details of all corrective procedures

taken by the custodian to diminish the likelihood of future security breaches.

Record of user activity

(1) In subsection 63(3) of the Act and in this Section, “record of user activity related to

an individual’s personal health information” means a report produced at the request

of an individual for a list of users who accessed the individual’s personal health

information on an electronic information system for a time period specified by the

individual.

(2) A record of user activity related to an individual’s personal health information

must include at least all of the following information:

(

a) the name of the individual whose personal health information was accessed;

(

b) a unique identification number for the individual whose personal health

information was accessed, including their health-card number or a number

assigned by the custodian to uniquely identify the individual;

(

c) the name of the person who accessed the personal health information;

(

d) any additional identification of the person who accessed the personal health

information, including an electronic information system user identification

name or number;

(

e) a description of the personal health information accessed or, if the specific

personal health information accessed cannot be determined, all possible

personal health information that could have been accessed;

(

f) the date and time the personal health information was accessed or, if

specific dates and times cannot be determined, a range of dates when the

information could have been accessed by the person.

(3) A custodian must retain the information that was used to update a record of user

activity related to an individual’s personal health information for at least 1 year

after each date of access.

Fees for Accessing Personal Health Information Records

Fee exceptions

12 The fees prescribed in these regulations do not apply to any of the following:

(

a) a request made by a solicitor representing a legal aid client;

(

b) a request from an individual for the purposes of appearing before the

Review Board under

Section 68 of the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment

Act ;

(

c) a search warrant presented by a police officer under

section 487 of the

Criminal Code (Canada) or a production order presented by a police officer

under

section 278.7 of the Criminal Code (Canada);

(

d) a request by a police officer or probation officer who is entitled to personal

health information in accordance with clause 11(

a) of the Act under a

consent given by the individual whose personal health information is the

subject of the request;

(

e) a request from a regulated health-profession body that is permitted to access

personal health information under clause 38(1)(

c) of the Act and that is

using the information for the purposes of regulating the health profession;

(

f) a request from a regulated health professional who is entitled to personal

health information in accordance with clause 11(

a) of the Act under a

consent given by the individual whose personal health information is the

subject of the request;

(

g) a request from the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia.

Fees prescribed do not include applicable tax

13 The fees prescribed in these regulations do not include any applicable tax.

General fee for access to record

14 A custodian who makes a record, or part of a record, of personal health information

available to an individual or provides a copy of it to an individual may charge a general

fee, not to exceed $30.00 per request, as compensation for all of the following:

(

a) receiving and clarifying the request;

(

b) locating and retrieving the record, including any record held electronically;

(

c) providing an estimate of the access fee to the requester as required by

subsection 82(1) of the Act;

(

d) review of the record for no longer than 15 minutes by the custodian or an

agent of the custodian to determine whether the record contains personal

health information to which access may be refused under subsection 72(1)

of the Act;

(

e) severing of the record if access to part of the record is refused under

subsection 72(1) of the Act;

(

f) preparing the record for photocopying, printing or electronic transmission

for no longer than 30 minutes;

(

g) preparing a response letter to the requester;

(

h) supervising an individual’s examination of original records for no longer

than 30 minutes;

(

i) the cost of mailing a record by regular mail to an address in Canada.

Specific fees

15 In addition to the general fee provided for in

Section 14 and any direct costs provided for

Section 16, a custodian may charge up to the maximum fee set out in the following

table for the activity specified:

Activity

Maximum Fee

Making photocopies of a record

$.20 per page

Preparing a record for photocopying, printing or

electronic transmission

$12.00 for every 30 minutes after

the initial 30 minutes covered by

the general fee under clause 14(

f) Faxing a record

$.20 per page

Making a compact disk containing a copy of a

record stored in electronic form

$10.00 per request

Making a microfiche copy of a record stored on

microfiche

$.50 per sheet

Making a paper copy of a record from

microfilm or microfiche

$.50 per page

Making a copy of an audio cassette recording

$5.00 per cassette

Making and providing a copy of a ¼ʺ, ½ʺ or

8 mm video cassette recording that is

1 hour long or less

$20.00

more than 1 hour long

$25.00

Making and providing a copy of a ¾ʺ video

cassette recording that is

1 hour long or less

$18.00

more than 1 hour long

$23.00

Producing a record stored on medical film,

including x-ray, CT and MRI films

$5.00 per film

Printing a photograph from a negative or from a

photograph stored in electronic form,

per 4ʺ × 6ʺ print

$10.00

per 5ʺ × 7ʺ print

$13.00

per 8ʺ × 10ʺ print

$19.00

per 11ʺ × 14ʺ print

$26.00

per 18ʺ × 20ʺ print

$32.00

Review of the record by a custodian or an agent

of the custodian to determine whether the

record contains personal health information to

which access may be refused under subsection

72(1) of the Act

$25.00 for every 15 minutes after

the first 15 minutes covered by the

general fee under clause 14(

d) Supervising an individual’s examination of

original records

$6.00 for every 30 minutes after the

first 30 minutes covered by the

general fee under clause 14(

h) Direct costs

16 In addition to the general fee provided for in

Section 14 and the specific fees provided

for in

Section 15, a custodian may charge for the following direct costs incurred by the

custodian, including any applicable tax:

(

a) charges to retrieve a record from and return the record to off-site storage, if

an individual requests expedited access to a record for which additional

retrieval costs are charged to the custodian;

(

b) courier costs, if courier delivery is requested by the individual;

(

c) the cost of mailing a record to an address outside Canada;

(

d) taxes payable on the services provided.

Visit history

(1) In this Section, “visit history” means a record that

(

a) can be produced by a custodian’s administrative staff from the custodian’s

health records; and

(

b) consists of a computerized printout of an individual’s visits.

(2) If a custodian has the ability to produce a visit history for an individual, the

custodian may provide a copy of the visit history to the individual at the

individual’s request.

(3) A custodian may charge a fee of no more than $10.00 to produce a visit history

and may not charge the general fee provided for in

Section 14 or a specific fee

provided for in

Section 15 to an individual who requests only a visit history.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Personal Health Information Regulations

N.S. Reg.

217/2012

Personal Health Information Act

Note: The

information in these tables does not form part of the regulations and is

compiled by the Office of the Registrar of Regulations for reference only.

Source Law

The current consolidation of the Personal Health Information Regulations made

under the Personal Health Information Act includes all of the following regulations:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

217/2012

Jun 1,

date specified

Dec

14, 2012

249/2013

Jul 9,

date specified

Jul

26, 2013

81/2014

Jun 3,

date specified

Jun

13, 2014

203/2015

Apr

21, 2015

date specified

May

15, 2015

159/2017

Oct

31, 2017

date specified

Nov 10, 2017

132/2018

Nov 1,

date specified

Aug 3, 2018

133/2018

Feb 1, 2019

date specified

Aug 3, 2018

175/2019

Oct 29, 2019

date specified

Nov 22, 2019

186/2022

Jul 19, 2022

date specified

Jul 29, 2022

168/2023

Sep 26, 2023

date specified

Oct 6, 2022

63/2026

Mar 3, 2026

date specified

Mar 20, 2026

The following regulations are not yet in force and are

not included in the current consolidation:

N.S.

Regulation

In force

date*

How in force

Royal Gazette

Part II Issue

*See subsection 3(6) of the Regulations Act for

rules about in force dates of regulations.

Amendments by Provision

ad. = added

am. = amended

fc. = fee change

ra. = reassigned

rep. = repealed

rs . = repealed and substituted

Provision affected

How affected

2(1), defn . of “health

information” ..

am.

186/2022

2(1), defn . of “Minister” ...................

ad. 186/2022

3 ........................................................

am.

186/2022

. 3(d) .................................................

ad. 132/2018

. 3(d)(x) ............................................

ad. 1

33/2018

. 3(e) .................................................

ad. 175/2019 ; am.

186/2022

. 3(f)-(h) ............................................

ad. 186/2022

5 ........................................................

am. 249/2013, 203/2015, 63/2026

5A .....................................................

ad. 159/2017

5B .....................................................

ad. 186/2022

6 ........................................................

ra. as 6(1) 249/2013

.. 6(1) ...............................................

ra. from 6 249/2013

.. 6(1)(d) ...........................................

am. 249/2013

.. 6(1)(e) ...........................................

ad. 249/2013 ; rs . 81/2014, 132/2018

.. 6(1)(e)(iv) .....................................

rep. 133/2018

.. 6(1)(f) ...........................................

ad. 168/2023

.. 6(2) ...............................................

ad. 249/2013 ; am. 81/2014

12(f)-(g) ............................................

am. 249/2013

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections:

Note

Effective

date

The reference in s. 6(1)(

c) to the Minister of Service

Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations should be read as a reference to the

Minister of Service Nova Scotia in accordance with O.I.C. 2014-71 under the Public Service Act , R.S.N.S. 1989, c.

Apr 1, 2014

The reference in s. 6(1)(

c) to the Minister of Service

Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations should be read as a reference to the

Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services in accordance with O.I.C.

2019-149 under the Public Service Act ,

R.S.N.S. 1989, c. 376.

June 3, 2019

The reference to the Day Care Regulations made

under the Day Care Act in s. 5 should be read as a reference to the Early

Learning and Child Care Regulations made under the Early Learning and

Child Care Act in accordance with an amendment to the title of the Act

made by S.N.S. 2018, c. 33, s. 2, as proclaimed in force by N.S. Reg.

163/2020, and a corresponding amendment made to the regulations by N.S. Reg.

164/2020.

Oct 27, 2020

The reference in s. 6(1)(

c) to the Minister of Service

Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations should be read as a reference to the

Minister of Service Nova Scotia in accordance with O.I.C. 2023-148 under the Public Service Act , R.S.N.S. 1989, c.

May 23, 2023

The reference in

Section 5 to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Regulations should be read as a reference to the Criminal Injuries Counselling

Regulations in accordance with an amendment to the title of the regulations

made by N.S. Reg. 212/2024.

Oct 22, 2024

The reference in s. 6(1)(

b) to the Minister of Community

Services should be read as a reference to the Minister of Opportunities and

Social Development in accordance with O.I.C. 2024-425 under the Public Service Act , R.S.N.S. 1989, c.

Dec 12, 2024

Repealed and Superseded:

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

28/2004

Release of Patient Information Fees Regulations

Mar 12, 2004

Jun 1, 2013

Note: Only

regulations that are specifically repealed and replaced appear in this

table. It may not reflect the entire

history of regulations on this subject matter.