Alberta doctors raise concerns over expanded parental access to children’s health records
By Elaine Liang, March 2 2026—
As of Feb. 2, 2026, parents and guardians can access their child’s health records online up until they turn 18.
Previously, parents and guardians were only able to gain proxy access for their children aged 12 and under through a healthcare provider.
The Government of Alberta stated that having access to their child’s personal health information helps parents/guardians to make informed decisions when seeking care.
However, many physicians have expressed concern over trust between adolescents and physicians.
“For me and a few of my colleagues, as paediatricians, the main concern is that we don’t want this to impede adolescents coming in to seek care,” said Dr. Tania Principi, the section head of the Alberta Children’s Hospital emergency department, in an interview with the Gauntlet.
“The proxy right now continues on without any checks and balances to age 18,” said Principi. “It’s important when you have a young child, as they transition out to teenagers and young adults, that they are provided with an opportunity where we can have checks and balances to either block or prevent certain sensitive information from being freely released or to have some safeguards in place that reassess regularly whether or not that proxy access should continue.”
According to Principi, an important part of care to ensure a proper diagnosis is for physicians to spend time with adolescents alone — whether or not the adolescent has come in alone or with a parent/guardian.
She noted that incomplete information, such as being sexually active and using drugs, can lead to a misdiagnosis.
“In the past, [we] have said that the information was confidential to allow that conversation,” said Principi. “Now, if parents or guardians have proxy access, then it is very hard for physicians to guarantee that the information will be confidential. So, we worry that teenagers may not come to seek care. When they do come and seek care, we worry that we may not get all the information that we need to make a correct diagnosis.”
Principi said that working in a fast-paced space like the emergency department adds an additional challenge for physicians when building rapport with adolescent patients.
Principi also addressed what she wants policymakers to know:
“What I’d like [policymakers] to understand is to really balance the risk of parents and caregivers…being able to help their teenager as they go through life but also allowing teenagers to gain independence,” said Principi.
“I also want policymakers to know that it’s important to get consultation from front-line staff as well as parents…[and] the voice of the patient and teenagers,” said Principi. “We need to have the flexibility in our [electronic health records] or in these policies to think about the individual high risk.”
Principi encouraged parents to get proxy access to be aware of appointments and encouraged teens to continue to have conversations with healthcare providers. If teenagers are concerned about confidentiality, they should discuss with their healthcare provider, she said.
For more information on the changes to parental access to children’s health records, see the Government of Alberta’s document or visit alberta.ca/myhealthrecords.