How must a Canadian clinic report incidents and handle complaints?

Report on your body's clock, then analyse the incident and act on what you learn. An Ontario OHP reports an adverse event to the CPSO within 5 business days, a BC facility emails the CPSBC within one business day of a critical incident, and an Ontario ICHSC answers a complaint within 10 business days.

The reporting deadlines

The CPSO defines an adverse event as an incident that harmed a patient as a result of care in the premises, and asks the Medical Director to review every adverse event over a 12 month period and give staff feedback on patterns.¹ The CPSBC lists its critical and high-risk incidents in full, and the medical director keeps a written log of every reportable one.²

What the incident analysis must hold

The CPSBC Patient Safety Incident Management standard, in effect since 1 July 2026, asks for an incident management plan and a reporting form for each incident with the patient's name, the type, date and time of the incident, the procedure, a detailed description, the actions taken and the contributing factors. A comprehensive analysis includes a detailed timeline of events, how and why it happened, the findings and recommended actions.³

Complaints, the Ontario rule and the national one

An Ontario ICHSC keeps a complaints record, analyses it for trends at least every quarter against the Patient, Family and Caregiver Declaration of Values, and keeps each complaint for at least three years. Every response gives the Patient Ombudsman's contact details.⁴ Accreditation Canada does not mediate or investigate complaints. It checks that the organization has a complaints policy and procedure and acts on it.⁵

1. Make the patient safe. Then tell the patient what happened, as your college's disclosure rules require.
2. Report on the clock. To the medical director, the body and, where a patient died, the Coroner, inside each deadline.
3. Secure the record. Freeze the facts while they are fresh, with times and names.
4. Analyse with a team. What happened, how and why, with a timeline of events.
5. Act and tell staff. Recommended actions with owners and dates, and feedback to everyone involved.
6. Review the year. Every incident and complaint over 12 months, for patterns.

1. Patient ______ Completed by ______ On ______
2. Type of incident ______ Date and time ______
3. Procedure or service ______ Date ______
4. What happened ______
5. Actions taken ______
6. Contributing factors ______
7. Leader notified ______ Body notified on ______

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Questions

How does wai support an incident review?

wai gives each review the exact timeline from the audit trail and the signed note, with the patient's conversation beside it.

Does the CPSBC want near misses reported?

Yes. A near miss that could have caused a critical or high-risk incident is reportable within 30 business days.

How long must an Ontario ICHSC keep complaint records?

At least three years after the complaints process ends.

Sources

1. 1College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, 2026Adverse Events StandardRead source
2. 2College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, 2026Patient Safety Incidents Reporting, policy, version 5.0, effective 1 April 2026Read source
3. 3College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, 2026Patient Safety Incident Management, accreditation standard, effective 1 July 2026Read source
4. 4Government of Ontario, 2026O. Reg. 215/23 under the Integrated Community Health Services Centres Act, 2023Read source
5. 5Accreditation Canada, 2026Feedback and questions from the publicRead source
6. 6Government of Ontario, 2023Bulletin 230907, changes to the Independent Health Facilities sectorRead 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.