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.

Electronic Health Records Regulations

made under

Section 110 of the

Personal Health Information Act

S.N.S. 2010, c. 41

O.I.C. 2024-273 (effective July 2, 2024), N.S. Reg. 132/2024

amended by O.I.C. 2026-148 (effective April 28, 2026), N.S. Reg. 112/2026

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

Definitions

Application of regulations

Minister is custodian of personal health information in electronic health records

Individual has right to access personal health information

Collection, use and disclosure of information

Personal health information held in EHR covered by Act

Detecting and investigating privacy breaches

Complaints and mediation

Notice of amendments

Review of regulations by Minister

Citation

1 These regulations may be cited as the Electronic Health Records Regulations .

Definitions

2 In these regulations,

“Act” means the Personal Health Information Act ;

“agent” means an agent as defined in the Act and includes an EMR provider;

“Department” means the Department of Health and Wellness;

“EHR program or service” means a program, including research, or service that

uses information in the Provincial electronic health record;

“electronic health record” or “EHR” means an electronic health record as defined

in the Personal Health Information Regulations ;

“electronic medical record” or “EMR” means a practice-based computer

application that enables the longitudinal collection of patient information;

“EMR provider” means a vendor, individual or entity that provides to a provider

an electronic medical record service, which may include providing the secure

storage of a patient’s personal health information on the provider’s behalf;

“Minister” means the Minister of Health and Wellness;

“ Personal Health Information Regulations ” means the Personal Health

Information Regulations made under the Act;

“provider” means a regulated health professional who provides health care to an

individual in the Province;

“provider care team” means any of the following people who are authorized by the

provider to assist in providing and administering care to the provider’s patients:

(

i) a care provider,

(ii) a medical professional,

(iii) a clinic or medical office staff member;

“Provider registry” means a Provincial database that is a master index of providers;

“Provincial electronic health record” or “Provincial EHR” means an electronic

health record created and maintained by the Minister or an agent of the Minister

that consists of information collected by the Minister or an agent of the Minister

and used for the purposes of delivering EHR programs and services;

“regulated health professional” means a regulated health professional as defined in

the Act, and includes any member of a class of persons designated as regulated

health professionals for the purposes of these regulations.

Application of regulations

(1) Subject to subsection (2), these regulations apply to all providers in the Province.

(2) Despite subsection (1), a First Nation, First Nation community or representative

body may opt out of participating in an EHR created and managed under these

regulations and may designate First Nations providers to whom these regulations

and the Personal Health Information Regulations do not apply.

Minister is custodian of personal health information in electronic health records

4 The Minister is the custodian of all personal health information that, for the purpose of

creating and maintaining EHR programs and services and the planning and management

of the health system, is

(

a) disclosed to the Minister by providers in accordance with these regulations;

(

b) collected by the Minister under these regulations; and

(

c) accessed by authorized users of an EHR program or service.

Individual has right to access personal health information

5 An individual has the right to access their own personal health information, including

any information that is collected by the Minister or an agent of the Minister for the

purpose of an EHR program or service.

Collection, use and disclosure of information

(1) The Minister, or an agent of the Minister, may require a provider who is a

custodian under subclause 3(f)(

i) of the Act, or an agent of the provider, to disclose

the personal health information of the provider’s patients for the purpose of

creating and maintaining the Provincial EHR.

(2) The Minister must ensure that personal health information contained in the

Provincial EHR that identifies the patient who is the subject of the personal health

information is accessible to only the following people:

(

a) the patient who is the subject of the personal health information;

(

b) individuals who have the express consent of the patient who is the subject

of the personal health information;

(

c) either of the following who is bound by a confidentiality agreement

regarding the personal health information, for the purposes of either

maintaining the operational components of the Provincial EHR or creating

and maintaining an EHR program or service:

(

i) an agent of the Minister,

(ii) an agent of the Minister’s agent, approved by the Minister;

(

d) a regulated health professional in the course of providing care to the patient;

(

e) subject to subsection (5), any of the following for the purpose of research, in

accordance with Sections 52 to 60 of the Act:

(

i) a custodian,

(ii) an agent of the Minister,

(iii) a researcher.

(3) The Minister or their agent must limit the personal health information a patient

may access from the Provincial EHR by excluding information considered by the

Minister to belong to any of the following categories:

(

a) notes or documentation not intended for patient access that might, if

accessed by the patient, negatively affect the relationship between the

patient and the provider or provider care team;

(

b) information that might negatively affect the patient if accessed by the patient

without advice from the provider to explain or provide context for the

information.

(4) To determine which categories of information to exclude under subsection (3), the

Minister must consult with the regulatory authority, professional association or

union applicable to the provider.

(5) Information accessed and used under clause [(2)](

e) must be accessed and used in a

form that does not identify the individual who is the subject of the information.

(5A) An entity authorized under the Act to collect, use or disclose personal health

information for the purpose of planning and management of the health system may

access and use information contained in the Provincial EHR for the purposes of

planning and management of the health system if the information is accessed and

used in a form that does not identify the individual who is the subject of the

information.

(5B) Personal health information contained in the Common Client Registry and the

Provider registry may be accessed by an entity that has entered a written agreement

approved by the Minister that provides for safeguards for protection of the

information.

(6) If the personal health information of a provider’s patients referred to in subsection

(1) is in the possession of an EMR provider, the Minister may require the EMR

provider to disclose personal health information on behalf of a provider under

subsection (1).

(7) Despite subsection (5), the Minister must not aggregate personal health

information or permit the aggregation of personal health information contained in

the Provincial EHR in a manner that stratifies data or outcomes or permits analysis

based upon any of the following without the consent of the First Nation or the First

Nation’s designated representative:

(

a) Indigenous identity;

(

b) First Nation status;

(

c) First Nation community;

(

d) whether the personal health information was collected from a provider who

operates in a First Nation community.

Personal health information held in EHR covered by Act

(1) The Minister’s collection, use and disclosure of personal health information

collected from a provider or an EMR provider acting on behalf of a provider under

subsection 6(1) and held in the Provincial EHR for the purposes of EHR programs

and services is governed by the requirements of the Act.

(2) As the custodian of personal health information that is collected, used and

disclosed as part of EHR programs and services, the Minister must abide by the

requirements of the Act respecting practices to protect personal health information

and the privacy of the individual to whom that information relates.

(3) As the custodian of the Provincial EHR, the Minister must implement the

additional safeguards under

Section 65 of the Act for personal health information

held in an electronic information system as prescribed in

Section 10 of the

Personal Health Information Regulations .

Detecting and investigating privacy breaches

8 The Minister or their agent may audit information held in an EHR and records of EHR

user activity to detect and investigate privacy breaches in accordance with the Act, the

Personal Health Information Regulations or guidelines set by the Minister.

Complaints and mediation

(1) The Minister, or their agent for the purposes of administering and maintaining the

Provincial EHR, must implement a complaints policy in the manner set out in the

Personal Health Information Regulations .

(2) If a complaint is made against the Minister or their agent about actions taken under

these regulations, the Review Officer must proceed in the manner set out in

Sections 91 to 100 of the Act.

(3) The Review Officer may settle matters under review through mediation.

Notice of amendments

(1) The Minister or Department must notify providers of any amendments to these

regulations that may affect them.

(2) The Minister or Department must notify patient users of any amendments to these

regulations that may affect how patients access their information contained in the

Provincial EHR.

Review of regulations by Minister

11 The Minister may review these regulations to determine their effectiveness in governing

the implementation, administration and management of the Provincial EHR and EHR

programs and services.

Legislative History

Reference Tables

Electronic Health Records Regulations

N.S. Reg.

132/2024

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 Electronic Health Records 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

132/2024

Jul 2, 2024

date specified

Jul 12, 2024

187/2025

Sep 23, 2025

date specified

Oct 3, 2025

112/2026

Apr 28, 2026

date specified

May 15, 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, defn . of “EHR program or

service” ........................................................

ad. 187/2025 ; am. 112/2026

2, defn . of “Provider

registry” ..........

ad. 112/2026

2, defn . of “Provincial

electronic health record” or “Provincial EHR” .........

ad. 187/2025

2, defn . of “regulated health

professional” ..................................

ad. 187/2025

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

am. 187/2025

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

am. 187/2025

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

am. 187/2025; rs . 112/2026

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

ad. 187/2025 ; am. 112/2026

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

ad. 112/2026

6(3) ...................................................

am. 187/2025

6(5) ...................................................

am. 187/2025; rs . 112/2026

6(5 A)-( 5B) ........................................

ad. 112/2026

6(7) ...................................................

am. 187/2025

7(1)-(3) .............................................

am. 187/2025

9(1) ...................................................

am. 187/2025

10(2) .................................................

am. 187/2025

11 ......................................................

am. 187/2025

Note that changes to headings are not

included in the above table.

Editorial Notes and Corrections

Note

Effective

date

Repealed and Superseded

N.S.

Regulation

Title

In force

date

Repealed

date

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.