What do Canadian accreditors expect of patient experience, and how do you make it world class?

Patients treated as partners, told what their care will cost, asked for consent and heard when they complain. The CPSBC's Person-centred Care standard asks for a rights charter and individual care plans, Quebec requires a CMS to tell patients the total foreseeable cost, and Ontario's ICHSCs review complaints for trends every quarter.

What the standards and the law ask

The CPSBC names four core principles for person-centred care in British Columbia, dignity and respect, information sharing, participation and collaboration. Its guidance says patients may accept or refuse any care, test or procedure, and the involvement of students.¹ In Quebec the operator of a non-participating centre must inform the patient of the total foreseeable cost of the services they must obtain.²

From compliant to world class

The standards set the floor. The clinics patients recommend answer the first enquiry the same hour, in the patient's own language, show the price before anyone commits, and follow up after the procedure without being chased. Each of those leaves a record, so the experience a patient remembers is also the evidence an assessor reads.

1. Publish your patient charter. Rights to privacy, dignity, respect, safety, access to their record, decisions and raising concerns, with the patient's responsibilities.
2. Show the full cost first. The price, the cancellation policy and any services the patient must arrange, before they commit.
3. Answer in the patient's language. French, English or the language they wrote in, within the hour.
4. Take consent as a conversation. Recorded at booking and discussed again in the consultation.
5. Plan care with the patient. An individual care plan, kept current in the notes.
6. Close the loop on feedback. Every complaint answered on time, and reviewed for trends every quarter.

1. You have the right to privacy, dignity and respect for your culture and beliefs.
2. You have the right to see your health record.
3. You have the right to make decisions about your care, and to refuse any treatment.
4. You have the right to raise a concern, and to a response by ______.
5. We ask you to give us accurate information about your health.
6. To raise a concern, contact ______.

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Questions

Is a patient rights charter mandatory for a BC facility?

It is a best practice criterion in the CPSBC Person-centred Care standard. Individual care plans are mandatory.

What must a Quebec CMS tell patients about cost?

In a non-participating centre, and for non-insured treatments in a participating one, the pre and post operative, rehabilitation and home support services they must obtain, and the total foreseeable cost.

Can wai reply to patients in French?

Yes. Replies are drafted in the language the patient writes in, and your team approves each one before it is sent.

Sources

1. 1College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, 2026Person-centred Care, accreditation standard, version 1.2, effective 1 May 2026Read source
2. 2LégisQuébec, Gouvernement du Québec, 2026Act respecting the governance of the health and social services system, chapter G-1.021, updated to 12 August 2026Read source
3. 3Accreditation Canada, 2026StandardsRead source
4. 4Government of Ontario, 2026O. Reg. 215/23 under the Integrated Community Health Services Centres Act, 2023Read source

Written by the wai team from Accreditation Canada, the CPSO, the CPSBC and Santé Québec guidance, checked on 16 October 2026. This is guidance, not legal advice. Neither Accreditation Canada, the CPSO, the CPSBC nor Santé Québec endorses wai or any software.