Government of Canada introduces legislation to build a more connected health care system

The Government of Canada recently introduced Bill S-5, the Connected Care for Canadians Act. This Act is part of Canada's plan to build up and protect the health care system, and empower Canadians to have more control over their health.

The Act is about:

• enabling different systems to connect
• patient safety
• keeping pace with emerging international standards in digital health care to remain competitive globally.

The legislation would require all information technology (IT) companies providing digital health services in Canada to adopt common standards to support protected and secure information exchange across various systems. 

The health care sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in Canada's economy. This legislation will establish the foundation needed for the health sector to benefit from AI innovations that can improve patient care, system efficiency and create economic opportunity for Canadian companies.

The Government of Canada is collaborating with its provincial and territorial partners in the development of the regulations to ensure the protection and secure sharing of Canadians' own health data and to improve patient outcomes, while ensuring existing strict privacy legislation is respected.