FIPPA has two purposes:

  1. To provide a right to access information under the control or in custody of institutions 
  2. To protect the privacy and personal information of individuals that is under control or in custody of institutions.

  • Records that came into custody or control of CMH on or after January 1, 2007
  • The record is existing
  • The right of access is limited by exclusions and exemptions as determined by FIPPA guidelines. Those parts of the record that are exempt from disclosure need to be removed from the document before they are disclosed to the person making the FOI request

Anyone can make an FOI request. The requestor does not even have to live in Ontario, or Canada.

The requestor does not need to be a Canadian citizen. The requestor is treated as anonymous.

All FOI requests must be submitted with the following:

  • Be made in writing (e.g., a simple letter or form)
  • Signature of the requestor 
  • Be made to the attention of Cambridge Memorial Hospital
  • Provide sufficient detail to allow an experienced employee of the hospital to identify the records being requested 
  • Be accompanied with the mandatory $5 application fee a cheque or money order made payable to Cambridge Memorial Hospital. 

If the request is missing any of these elements, the hospital must clarify the request with the person submitting the FOI request. If the request is properly submitted, FIPPA legislation requires the hospital to respond within 30 days.

  • The FIPPA request is sent to CMH's FOI Officer along with a confirmation of initial payment of the FIPPA fee.
  • The FOI Officer sends a message or contacts the person that made the request to confirm receipt of request.
  • The FOI Officer opens a case to track the request.
  • The FOI Officer reviews the request with the Chief Privacy Officer, Communications and the Chair of the Board of Governors to determine the appropriate actions and information to gather.
  • The FOI Officer contacts the appropriate department to discuss the request, outline the information that needs to be compiled and estimate cost.
  • The FOI Officer contacts the person making the request to outline the time needed to get the information and to discuss the estimated cost. The requestor must decide whether to proceed with the request.
  • For estimates over $100 and if the requestor wants to proceed, the FOI Officer gets a 50% deposit of the full cost estimate from the requestor.
  • The FOI Officer reviews the compiled information to ensure compliance with the request and FIPPA guidelines before releasing the material to the individual or body that made the FIPPA request.
  • The FOI Officer will close the case once it is confirmed the person who made the FOI request receives their information.
  • The FOI Officer summarizes the case for reporting to the Board of Governors at year end.

The requestor can do what they want with the information.

Please click on the following link for more information from the Government of Ontario:


https://www.ontario.ca/search/search-results/?query=FIPPA&op=Search