How to see your lab results online in your province

In Canada, each province and territory organizes its own health care, so where your results appear depends on where you live. The larger provinces each have a government website or app that shows lab results. Here is what each one offers, in plain words.

Ontario: My Health Record

Ontario Health runs My Health Record, a secure website that shows lab results and publicly funded medication records from the provincial electronic health record. You sign in with My Ontario Account for Health, which uses your Ontario health card to confirm who you are.

It works in a web browser on a phone, tablet or computer. You do not need to download an app, and there is no fee.

You must be at least 16 years old.
You need a photo Ontario health card that has not expired.
You need a smartphone with a working camera to help confirm your identity.
If you cannot or do not want to use it, Ontario Health explains how to request a printed copy of your records.

British Columbia: Health Gateway

Health Gateway is the B.C. government's website and mobile app for your health records. It shows results for blood tests and other lab tests done in B.C., going back to 2020.

Most lab results show up about 2 to 3 days after your test. Pathology tests, such as a tissue biopsy, take a few weeks.

When you first set up your account, it can take up to 4 business days for your records to appear.
Records are listed from newest to oldest, and you can filter them to find a test.
You can add your own notes to a record. No one else can see them.
Lab results are not available for children aged 11 or younger who are added to a parent's account.

Alberta: MyHealth Alberta Account

In Alberta, lab results from the provincial electronic health record appear in My Personal Records, part of your MyHealth Alberta Account. There is a website and a mobile app.

When you start using it, you will see your lab results from the last 18 months. Tests are grouped the way your doctor ordered them, so a blood count appears under a heading like CBC-Differential.

Each result shows its status, the reference range where there is one, and whether it is flagged as abnormal.
New results appear when you log in.
You can click a test name to see its history, sometimes as a graph.
The province suggests talking to your health care provider if you have questions about a result.

Quebec: Québec Health Booklet

The Québec Health Booklet (Carnet santé Québec) is the Quebec government's online service for your health information. It shows your lab test results, medical imaging reports and the medications you get from the pharmacy.

To log in, you use the Government Authentication Service or create an account.

You need a health insurance card.
You must be 14 or older. Information for children under 14 is in a parent's record.
People under guardianship or trusteeship, or who have a representative acting for them, are not eligible to log in.

Other provinces and territories

Services and rules differ across the rest of Canada. Your provincial or territorial health ministry website is the place to check what is available where you live. Your family doctor or clinic can also tell you how they share results.

When a result is marked out of range

Each lab sets its own reference ranges, so the range on your report is the one to use. A result outside the range can still be normal for you. Your health care provider looks at it alongside your history, your symptoms and any other tests.

Call 911 in an emergency. For health advice that is not an emergency, call 811 in most provinces and territories. For questions about your results, contact your family doctor, nurse practitioner or the clinic that ordered the test.

Keep your reports in one place

Take a photo or screenshot of your lab report, or upload the PDF, and Vita explains each number in plain words, suggests what to ask your doctor, and keeps it with your past results. Vita does not connect to any Canadian health record system. Hospital connections are for US hospitals, not Canadian ones.

Vita Health Coach on the App Store

Questions

How soon will my results show up online?

It depends on the province. In B.C., most lab results appear in Health Gateway about 2 to 3 days after the test, and pathology results take a few weeks. In Alberta, new results show when you log in. Other provinces set their own timing.

Do I need to download an app?

Not always. Ontario's My Health Record works in a web browser with no app to install. B.C.'s Health Gateway has both a website and a mobile app, and Alberta also has a mobile app.

Why can't I find a result I was expecting?

Not every record reaches every portal, and in B.C. a new Health Gateway account can take up to 4 business days to fill in. If something is still missing, ask the clinic that ordered the test.

Who should I ask about what a result means?

The health care provider who ordered the test is the right person to explain it for you, because they look at your history and symptoms too. In B.C., you can also call HealthLink BC at 811 for general health information and advice.

More for Canada

Sources

General information, not medical advice. VitaMedas is not connected with any government health service. Vita Health Coach explains; it never diagnoses. In an emergency, call 911. Read the medical disclaimer.