In an attempt to inform the debate over how to respect peoples' right to have their personal information protected while also allowing health researchers reasonable access to such information in order to better the health of Canadians, improve health services and strengthen the Canadian health system, CIHR's Ethics Office has published a number of publications designed to provide users a view of the legislative landscape across the country:

• Compendium of Canadian Legislation Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in Health Research, Updated June 2005 [ HTML | PDF (1,68 MB) | Help ]
• Compendium of Canadian Legislation Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in Health Research (April 2000) 
• Appendix A-7 - Tables of Concordance with Privacy Legislation. CIHR Best Practices for Protecting Privacy in Health Research (September 2005)
• Selected International Legal Norms on the Protection of Personal Information in Health Research (December 2001) [ PDF (431 KB) | Help ]
• Background Legal Research and Analysis in Support of CIHR's Recommendations with Respect to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) (S.C. 2000, c.5) (November 2001) [ PDF (166 KB) | Help ]
• Ontario Bill 159: An Act respecting personal health information and related matters (February 2001)

For information on the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), visit the Ethics PIPEDA-related initiatives section the CIHR Website.

All Privacy and Confidentiality of Data in Health Research documents are available at the Ethics Resources and Publications section of the CIHR Website.