Matthew Chung

The self-represented applicant sought judicial review of decisions by two medical clinics and the Ministry of Health regarding patient transfer policies and his dismissal as a patient.

The respondent clinics brought a motion to quash the application, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction as they were not exercising statutory powers, and that the application was premature and an abuse of process given parallel proceedings before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

The applicant also brought a motion to add several hospitals as respondents.

The Divisional Court granted the motion to quash, finding the clinics were private entities not exercising state authority, and dismissed the motion to add respondents on similar jurisdictional grounds and as an abuse of process.

The applicant, an American web-based videoconference provider, sought judicial review of Ontario Health's refusal to verify its platform as a 'Verified Virtual Visit Solution', which prevented Ontario physicians from billing OHIP for services rendered using the platform.

Ontario Health required the applicant to store data in Canada, asserting the platform collected personal health information.

The Divisional Court held that the data residency requirement and the related OHIP payment rule were not ultra vires.

While the court found Ontario Health's conclusion that the applicant collected personal health information to be unreasonable, it ultimately dismissed the application because the applicant failed to meet other mandatory technical and privacy assessment requirements.