Centralized Access to Quebec Health Data

Quebec Has an Agile and Robust System for Accessing Population Health Data

Through its universal public health care system, Quebec collects large-scale health data covering medical procedures, hospitalizations, drugs, and laboratory or MRI results. Some health data are accessible to the public, while others require an access request.

The Act respecting health and social services information allows private sector researchers to access health data in two ways:

by partnering with a researcher affiliated with a Quebec public health organization;
by submitting an access request to the Centre d'accès à la recherche (CAR).

In addition, much of the data and statistics generated in Quebec are publicly available without access request.