Privacy — psychology, psychotherapy, counselling therapy and social work (Ontario)
An Ontario private-practice behavioural-health clinician is a health information custodian (HIC) under PHIPA, and therefore carries the Act’s full duties — not PIPEDA, which is displaced for activity within Ontario. But the ROUTE into custodian status differs by profession, and the difference matters: psychologists and Registered Psychotherapists qualify under the ‘health care practitioner’ definition at s. 2(a), by virtue of being members of a college under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991. Clinical social workers qualify under a SEPARATE paragraph, s. 2(c), which exists precisely because OCSWSSW is not an RHPA college. A practitioner using an unregulated title is captured only by the residual clause s. 2(d) — ‘any other person whose primary function is to provide health care for payment’ — which turns on facts about their practice rather than a college registry check, and is a materially weaker footing.
“‘health care practitioner’ means, (a) a person who is a member within the meaning of the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 and who provides health care, (b) Repealed, (c) a person who is a member of the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers and who provides health care, or (d) any other person whose primary function is to provide health care for payment;” — PHIPA, S.O. 2004, c. 3, Sched. A, s. 2 (e-Laws consolidation, currency date 2026-07-28)