Hearing Openness

Public Access and Privacy in Hearings

Tribunal hearings must be open to the public, as required by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and section 45 of the Health Professions Procedural Code (the “Code”). This openness applies to both the hearing itself and the documents filed for the hearing. However, the privacy of sensitive information, especially personal health information, must also be protected.

Public and Non-public Documents

Certain documents, such as notices of hearing, statements of fact, and orders, become public after they are filed with the Tribunal. Anyone can ask to see these. However, personal health information, patient identities, and other sensitive details are protected and will not be made public. 

Filing and Redacting Documents

If you file documents containing sensitive details, you must decide whether these details are necessary for the Tribunal to see. If not, you should redact them before filing. If the information is important to your case, you must submit two versions: a public version with redactions and a non-public version without redactions. For more information, please see the Tribunal’s Practice Direction on Open Proceedings and Privacy. 

Publication Bans

In every Tribunal hearing there is an automatic publication ban prohibiting the publication or broadcast of patient names, medical information, and other identifying information. The Tribunal can order exceptions to the publication ban.

If you think the automatic publication is too broad or too narrow in your case, you can ask the Tribunal to change it (see Rules 2.2.8(c) and 2.2.10). 

Watching a Hearing

The Tribunal’s hearings are livestreamed, allowing the public to watch them in real time. Recording or taking screenshots of Tribunal hearings is generally prohibited. However, parties may make their own recording for personal use and to prepare for the hearing. They may also request a copy of the video recording with an AI-generated transcript at the end of each hearing day. Links to watch specific hearings are available on the Tribunal's website. For more information, please see the Tribunal’s Practice Direction on Open Proceedings and Privacy. 

We encourage you to watch another HPDT hearing before your own, to help you understand the process. You can sign up to watch a hearing here: Hearing Live Stream Sign-up