In committee (Senate), as of March 26, 2026
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This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament has also written a full legislative summary of the bill.
This enactment aims, among other things, to ensure that health information technology that is licensed, sold or supplied as a service by a vendor is interoperable and to prohibit data blocking by the vendor in order to promote a connected, secure and person-centered health system.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other S-5s:
Maggie Chi LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, as I have said, PrescribeIT was introduced in the last Parliament, under the last government, at the request of provinces and territories. Unfortunately, the uptake was not high. There were a lot of lessons learned.
We continue to collaborate with the provinces and territories on a path forward. At the same time, we will support provinces and territories on their digital solutions with Bill S-5.
Maggie Chi LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend and colleague from Kitchener South—Hespeler for his question. Although he has temporarily crossed the floor, I hope it is more permanent than this. It is nice to have a friend sitting right beside us during adjournment debate. As members know, sometimes it can be a bit lonely during adjournment debate, so I appreciate the companionship.
I think my colleague mentioned that, as a physician, he has seen first-hand how digitization has shaped and transformed Canadian health care over the past decades in Kitchener, and rightfully so. It is a capital, with a lot of digital transformations and innovations coming out of the city and the university. I think he is also very proud of that.
The world is rapidly changing, and Canadians rightfully expect that our health care system will change with it. That is why successive governments, both Liberal and Conservative, have invested in Canada Health Infoway since 2001, with the goal of accessible information for patients and their doctors. That is also why we introduced Bill S-5, the connected care for Canadians act, in the Senate, so that Canadians can securely access their health care data anywhere and any time in Canada. Just as importantly, we need to reduce the administrative burden on doctors so they can spend less time on filling out paperwork and more time doing what they love, which is caring for their patients.
This has been at the heart of the work by our government and previous governments to develop a pan-Canadian interoperability road map, one that drives the adoption and use of electronic medical records by doctors across the country and helps them share data safely and securely. Part of this work included PrescribeIT. As the member knows from his time as a doctor, many physicians are still using fax machines. It is almost impossible to find fax machines anywhere else in a world with emails and secure online messages. However, if one goes to some doctors' offices, one feels like they have been transported to a different time. That was why the previous government worked with the provinces and territories to develop PrescribeIT. The goal was to move our health system toward safe, secure and efficient e-prescribing that could deliver real benefits to Canadians and to the health care providers who serve them every single day. I think the member would agree that this was an understandably worthwhile goal, as he mentioned in his remarks.
No matter the intention, the facts have been very clear. The previous government's intention for PrescribeIT was for it to become self-sustaining. However, by any measure, it was clear that the program was not achieving that goal. Rather than simply continuing to invest in a program that was not delivering the intended results, we undertook a comprehensive review and consultation process that included engaging with provinces and territories and with the people who actually use the program. Based on these findings, we decided to end PrescribeIT.
However, the work to promote a more connected health care system for Canadians needs to continue and will continue. We continue to support organizations like Canada Health Infoway, as well as provinces and territories, to develop innovative new digital solutions. Not only that, we are backstopping this work with Bill S-5, the connected care for Canadians act, which would help Canadians move their health data with them anywhere they go.
Canadians deserve a modern health system. I look forward to working with my friend and colleague to deliver that.
Marjorie Michel LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. The time that patients spend waiting for their medical records to be transferred instead of receiving care can be fatal. At the same time, health care professionals spend far too much time printing documents and not enough time helping people.
Bill S‑5, the connected care for Canadians act, which we tabled last week in the Senate, will break down silos and build health data infrastructure for all Canadians. I look forward to working with members of the House and the Senate to get this bill passed once it is introduced.