Should you wish a copy of your medical file for your own use or to transfer to another physician the first copy will be free. For any subsequent requests there will be at a preparation fee of $20.00 for charts of 20 pages or less. Above 20 pages there will be an additional fee of 50 cents per page. Payment is to be made in advance and payable by Visa, Mastercard or debit card.

Exceptionally, you may be denied access to your medical record. The law states that you can be denied access when your physician/psychiatrist believes that it could be seriously harmful for your physical or mental health.

If a private clinic fails to reply to your request you can request that the Commission d’accès a l’information review the request.

The Commission will then review the dispute and decide whether the clinic was right to refuse you access to your record.  If the Commission rules in your favour, they can force the clinic to give you access to your record.

You must submit your request to the Commission within thirty days of the refusal by the clinic to grant you access.

The application must be made within 30 calendar days of the date of refusal to grant access where the decision was taken prior to the expiry of the response period (30 days for a private clinic). If there is no response to your request, the 30 day period is calculated as the expiry of the period within which the clinic had to reply

If a hospital fails to reply quickly (by law, in the shortest delay) or refuses to grant you access to your record or specific information therein, you may: