Therapy clinic regulations in Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut

Therapy clinic regulations in the territories at a glance

The three territories share this page because the official pages we read show few rules aimed specifically at private therapy clinics, and those that exist differ. The table compares what we found. The blocks that follow give each territory in turn.

Professional regulators in the territories

Where a profession is not regulated in a territory, a “registered” claim in advertising should name the province or national body that actually registered the clinician. Ask that body, and a lawyer, what it permits. A clinic that sends clinicians north should also check each clinician’s home regulator and the territory’s rules above.

Therapy clinic regulations in Yukon

Yukon is the only territory where we found a health information Act that reaches private therapy practices. HIPMA applies to custodians. The Information and Privacy Commissioner’s guide for small custodians lists physiotherapists and psychologists operating a private practice, and the operator of a health facility, as custodians [YT-1]. The guide’s list does not mention occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists or behaviour analysts. The Commissioner’s office says it can help identify the custodian when there is uncertainty, and its resources page carries a request for advice form under HIPMA [YT-1, YT-2].

• PIPEDA: the guide says most Yukon custodians are also subject to PIPEDA [YT-1]. The OPC’s list of substantially similar provincial laws does not name HIPMA [TR-5].
• Consent and records: the guide says the consent notice must be in writing, in plain language, and describe the custodian’s record retention schedule. We found no minimum retention period on the pages we read [YT-1].
• Agents and vendors: agents sign a pledge of confidentiality, and a custodian that retains an information manager, such as an electronic medical record provider, must have a written agreement with it (section 51) [YT-1].
• Audit: the Health Information General Regulation requires an audit of security safeguards at least every two years, and the Commissioner publishes an audit tool for small custodians [YT-1, YT-3].
• Breaches: the guide’s worked example has the custodian assess whether a breach creates a risk of significant harm and notify individuals under section 30(2) if it does. The Government of Yukon publishes a sample HIPMA breach reporting form, last updated 25 June 2016, which says it may not suit your circumstances and is not legal advice [YT-1, YT-4].
• Children: the Government of Yukon says that if you believe a child or youth under 19 is or is likely to be harmed you have a legal responsibility to report it. The Family and Children’s Services intake line is (867) 667-3002, toll-free 1-800-661-0408 extension 6, and the page says to call 9-1-1 if a child is in immediate danger [YT-5].
• Professional corporations: yukon.ca says corporations providing dental, physiotherapy, psychiatric nursing or pharmacy services must register, hold a Yukon permit and renew it every year. The permit requires every director and voting shareholder to be licensed in Yukon in the profession. Psychology is not listed on that page [YT-9].
• Business registry: the Yukon Corporate Online Registry provides public registry services for business corporations, partnerships, societies, cooperative associations, sole proprietors and other businesses [YT-10].
• Workers’ compensation: notify the board within 10 calendar days of starting operations. A contractor or subcontractor who hires workers must register as an employer. Proprietors and partners are not automatically covered and may apply for optional coverage, which ends automatically on December 31 or on the date they specify [YT-11, YT-12].
• Health care providers who treat injured workers must enter into a service agreement with the board and report treatment of a work-related injury within 2 days [YT-15].
• Workplace safety: the board says all employers need a written violence and harassment prevention policy and procedures. A workplace with 20 or more regularly employed workers must set up a health and safety committee with at least four members, half chosen by workers [YT-13, YT-14].
• Employment standards: yukon.ca says the Employment Standards Act and Regulation set minimum standards, cover most employers and employees, and deal with hours of work, minimum wage, vacations, general holidays and leaves. We did not read the Act’s text, so the hours and overtime thresholds are not stated here [YT-16].

Therapy clinic regulations in the Northwest Territories

The Health Information Act (in force 1 October 2015) defines a health information custodian as the Department, a medical practitioner or a pharmacist who is not acting as an agent, a prescribed organization responsible for facilities, or a prescribed person or class. The Health Information Regulations prescribe the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority and the Tłı̨chǫ Community Services Agency [NT-1, NT-2]. We found no provision naming a private occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, behaviour analysis, physiotherapy or psychology clinic as a custodian. The OPC says organizations in the territories are covered by PIPEDA [TR-4]. Ask the Information and Privacy Commissioner, whose site is oipc-nt.ca, or a lawyer which law applies to your clinic [NT-3].

• Psychologists: the licence application package asks for a criminal record check and vulnerable sector search dated within 6 months of the application, and proof of professional liability insurance or employer coverage of no less than $5 million [NT-6].
• Children: section 8 of the Child and Family Services Act says a person who has information of the need of protection of a child shall, without delay, report it to a Child Protection Worker or, if none is available, a peace officer or authorized person. The duty applies despite confidentiality, cannot be delegated, and carries a fine of up to $5,000, up to six months in prison, or both. The Act defines a child as a person under 16. We did not find a reporting phone number on the pages we read [NT-7].
• Business name and licence: a private business operating under a name other than the owner’s own must register the business name with Corporate Registries, and corporations register under the Business Corporations Act [NT-8]. The Business Licence Act says no person shall carry on a business unless registered or holding a licence under that Act, and defines business to include a profession. We did not confirm how to apply or how that Act relates to municipal licences [NT-9].
• Workers’ compensation: employers who operate or establish a business in the Northwest Territories or Nunavut must register with the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission unless the temporary employer criteria are met. Independent operators who employ no workers need not register but may, for a $200 annual administrative fee that does not cover the owner or director. Owners and directors can apply for Personal Optional Coverage. If a contractor is not registered, the hiring business is liable for assessments the contractor owes on work done for it until it receives a letter of good standing or release [NT-10, NT-11]. The Commission also publishes injury reporting requirements and medical forms for health care providers [NT-12].
• Employment standards: the standard hours of work are 8 a day and 40 a week (section 7). An employee is entitled to overtime pay of at least 1.5 times the regular rate for work beyond the standard hours (section 9). Annual vacation is two weeks after each of the first five years with the same employer and three weeks after the sixth and later years (section 24) [NT-13].
• Workplace safety: the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations require a written harassment policy (section 34(4)) and, where violence has occurred or could reasonably be expected to occur, a written violence policy (section 35(3)). An employer must establish a committee at a work site where 20 or more workers work or are likely to work for more than 90 days (section 37), and with fewer than 20 workers and no committee must designate at least one worker as the occupational health and safety representative (section 39) [NT-14].
• Payroll tax: under the Payroll Tax Act every employee is liable to pay a tax equal to 2% of the remuneration paid to the employee in the year (section 3(1)). We did not read the employer’s collection duties [NT-15].
• Not found: no accessibility Act appears in the Acts index we read [NT-4].

Therapy clinic regulations in Nunavut

Nunavut is the territory where we found the least on official pages we could read. In the current consolidated statutes index, the letters A, H and P list an Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and a Psychologists Act, and no health information Act [NU-1, NU-2, NU-3]. The OPC says organizations in Nunavut are considered federally regulated and covered by PIPEDA [TR-4].

The index notice says not all Nunavut legislation is available as an up-to-date consolidation and that a consolidation not marked official is an unofficial consolidation prepared for convenience only [NU-1]. We re-opened only three letters, so a health information statute could exist outside them. Ask the territory.

• Children: the Family Services duty-to-report sheet quotes section 8(1) of the Child and Family Services Act, which requires a person who has information of the need of protection of a child to report without delay to a Child Protection Worker or, if none is available, a peace officer or authorized person. It describes a child as 0 to 16 years of age. Failure to report is an offence liable on summary conviction to a fine of up to $5,000, up to six months in prison, or both. The sheet says the duty applies even if the information is confidential or privileged, that a profession’s own protocol does not override the Act, and that if you are unsure you should call Family Services to consult [NU-5].
• Workers’ compensation: the same Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission serves Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Its employer support line for Nunavut is 1-877-404-4407 [NT-10].
• Professional regulation: see the regulators table above. We could not read the text of the Psychologists Act, so we make no statement about registration practice [NU-4].
• Not read: we did not read Nunavut’s labour standards, safety, business licence or payroll tax statutes, or any Government of Nunavut registry, licensing, funding or consent page. Ask the territory directly.

Funding programs and insurers in the territories

Yukon’s Children’s Disability Services is available in all Yukon communities to a Yukon resident whose child is under 19, has been diagnosed or identified as possibly having autism spectrum disorder by a qualified health care professional, and who has accessed other resources such as private insurance or employee benefits first. Its services include a behaviour consultant and applied behaviour analysis therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy, and speech-language pathology. The page says funding may take 4 to 6 weeks to set up once the family is eligible [YT-17].

Disability Services policy D.2 says it funds behaviour interventionists hired by the caregiver to deliver an ABA program created by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and that a caregiver who administers the program is not eligible to be paid as an interventionist. Policy D.7 says Disability Services does not provide funding to clients or caregivers to fund private speech-language pathology services. Policy D.1 describes the behaviour analysis services Disability Services provides. The stated review dates of all three policies have passed, and we do not know whether they have been replaced. The policies do not say whether a private clinic can invoice Disability Services [YT-18, YT-19, YT-20].

We found no territorial program reimbursing private ABA, speech-language or occupational therapy clinics in the Northwest Territories or Nunavut on the official pages we read. The workers’ compensation boards have their own rules for health care providers who treat injured workers; see the Yukon and Northwest Territories blocks above. Federal programs such as Jordan’s Principle, the Inuit Child First Initiative, the Interim Federal Health Program and Veterans Affairs Canada are summarized on the federal page.

TherapyCRM’s funding tracking is built around the Ontario Autism Program; it does not support Yukon’s Children’s Disability Services funding, Jordan’s Principle or the Inuit Child First Initiative.

Dated changes and what to re-check in the territories

The table lists dated items on the official pages we read. Re-check the sources in the last column before relying on this page, and re-check the Yukon policies, the Northwest Territories Act and the Nunavut Psychologists Act in particular.

Official sources directory for the territories

Each source below is a page we read on 2026-10-08, with its own date where the page shows one. Page addresses on territorial sites can change, so re-open the page from the territory’s home page if a link fails.

Where TherapyCRM fits in the territories

TherapyCRM is practice management software with a clinical record for English-language clinics in Canada outside Quebec. Nothing on this page says that TherapyCRM meets any rule listed here, and a clinic remains responsible for its own policies, its regulators’ standards and its legal advice.

Frequently asked questions