Consent, privacy and communication
Open disclosure, sincere apology and apology legislation, documentation, two-stage disclosure and a culture of openness after harm
Physicians, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, optometrists and opticians, chiropractors and other regulated health professionals in every Canadian province and territory, including those responding to a college complaint, an ICRC or committee decision, an undertaking or a remediation program, and clinical leaders who support disclosure.
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a college inquiry.
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
When something goes wrong in a patient's care, how you respond in the first hours and days shapes the patient's trust, the outcome of any complaint and your own wellbeing. This course explains what candour, or disclosure of harm, means in Canada: an ethical, professional and legal obligation drawn from professional codes, college standards, provincial legislation in some jurisdictions, apology legislation and the national Canadian Disclosure Guidelines.
You will learn which patient-safety incidents call for disclosure, how to time it, and how to have an honest, compassionate conversation with a patient, family or caregiver: what to say, what language to avoid, how to offer a meaningful apology, and how to document the disclosure accurately. A worked case on a medication error and a practical checklist for the first 24 hours bring it together.
The course also separates individual candour, set by your code and college, from organizational candour, including critical-incident systems and two-stage disclosure, and covers looking after yourself and colleagues after an incident and building a just, open culture. It is valuable for clinicians and leaders, and for anyone whose college has raised a concern about how an error was handled.
7 sections · 20 lessons · 2 hours (estimated) · 10-question final assessment
Final assessment
10scenario-based questions
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
There is no single national statutory duty of candour. Disclosure of harm is an ethical, professional and legal obligation built from professional codes, college standards (for example the CPSO and CPSA disclosure standards), provincial legislation in some provinces, the Canadian Disclosure Guidelines and the common law. The course maps these layers.
Apology legislation in most provinces and territories means a sincere apology is generally not an admission of legal liability and cannot be used as such in civil proceedings. The course explains how to apologize meaningfully, and why you should still get advice from the CMPA, CNPS or your insurer on complex cases.
Section 2 explains patient-safety incident categories, including harmful incidents, no-harm incidents and near misses, and why candour also covers everyday events that matter to the patient. It also stresses that disclosure should start promptly, without waiting for an investigation to finish.
The course gives a starting map: Ontario's CPSO Disclosure of Harm policy and Regulation 965 under the Public Hospitals Act, Quebec's Act respecting health services and social services, Manitoba's 2005 patient-safety amendments, Alberta's CPSA standard, and the position in provinces without a disclosure statute.
A clear, factual note of what was explained, who was present, the apology, questions asked and the plan for follow-up, without speculation or blame. A worked case on a held anticoagulant on a medical unit shows the whole process.
Yes. Section 5 covers the 'second victim' experience, managing your own response, supporting colleagues involved in an incident and using reflection afterwards, and Section 6 covers just culture and leadership for openness.
There are knowledge checks throughout and a final assessment of 10 multiple-choice questions with an 80% pass mark, then a reflective account and a certificate of completion. It is 2 hours, online and CA$95.
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: provincial and territorial health professions statutes, the regulatory colleges' standards and codes, and federal and provincial privacy law. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
Clear, compassionate communication with patients, families and colleagues, from consent and hard conversations to SBAR and virtual visits.
How to rebuild trust with patients, the public and your college after a complaint or incident, through insight, honest disclosure and apology, cultural safety and sustained, evidenced change.
Honesty and integrity across records, communication, billing to provincial plans and professional claims, including self-reporting duties and remediation after a probity concern.
