1) On November 19, 2013, Health Canada mailed letters to 41,514 clients of the Marihuana Medical Access Program across Canada to advise of changes to the Program commencing on April 1, 2014. The windowed envelope containing the letter explicitly identified the Marihuana Medical Access Program in the return address on the outside along with the name and address of the client recipient.
2) On Thursday, November 21, 2013, George Da Pont, deputy minister at Health Canada issued an apology on Health Canada's website describing the mailing as an administrative error. The apology stated: I have been advised that as the result of an administrative error the envelopes were labelled to indicate that they were sent by the Program. This is not standard Health Canada practice. The apology went on to state: We are in discussion with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
3) On March 3, 2015, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada ('OPC') released a report of findings from its investigation into Health Canada's November 2013 mailing. In the report, the OPC concluded that complaints of a privacy breach were well founded and that Health Canada violated the federal Privacy Act by referencing the Marihuana Medical Access Program on the envelope in combination with the name of the addressee. The OPC's investigation is concluded. Affected individuals do not need to file complaints to the OPC.
4)In November 2013, the law firms of Strosberg Wingfield Sasso LLP Charney Lawyers PC, Branch MacMaster LLP and McInnes Cooper agreed to work together and commenced a proposed class action against the Government of Canada on behalf of all persons who were sent a letter from Health Canada in an envelope that referred explicitly to the Marihuana Medical Access Program. On August 29, 2017, the law firms filed a Fifth Amended Statement of Claim in the Federal Court of Canada.
5) The proposed representative plaintiffs in the class action are J'ohn Doe' and 'Suzie Jones' (who wished to use pseudonyms to protect their privacy) and Penny Kozmenski. On February 25, 2014, the Court granted an order permitting the use of pseudonyms for two of the plaintiffs, and on July 24, 2014 the Government of Canada's appeal of this order was dismissed.
6) On July 27, 2015, the Federal Court of Canada granted the plaintiffs motion for certification of the action as a class proceeding. The Government of Canada appealed the July 27, 2015 certification order. On June 24, 2016, the Federal Court of Appeal allowed the appeal in part, but upheld the certification order with respect to causes of action in negligence and breach of confidence. Some terms of the certification order remained in dispute requiring further determination by the Court on March 14, 2018. On January 9, 2019, the Government of Canada's appeal of the March 14, 2018 order was dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal.
7) On April 22, 2022, the Federal Court of Canada issued the Certification Order. The Order of Justice Phelan may be viewed here: English and French.
8) The Notice of Certification may be viewed here: English and French.
9) The Class is defined as: all persons who were sent a letter from Health Canada in November 2013 that had the phrase Marihuana Medical Access Program or Programme déAccés des Fins Médicales visible on the front of the envelope.
10) If you fall within the class definition, you are automatically included in this class action. The deadline to opt-out of this class action has passed.
11) The plaintiffs made a motion for summary judgment. The summary judgment application was heard in October, 2023.
12) On December 6, 2023, the Federal Court released its reasons for decision granting the Plaintiffs summary judgment application. The decision can be found here. The Court dismissed the Plaintiffs claim for breach of confidence but found that Health Canada owed the Class Members a duty of care and that the duty owed in the circumstances was breached. The Court determined that the Class Members damages claims for negligence may be pursued by individual trials or assessments, the process for which will be determined at an upcoming case management conference.
13) Please revisit the site often for updates. We will continue to update this website as developments occur.
14)If you would like to know more about how a class action works, please click here.