Fatality Inquiries Regulation

(Consolidated up to 291/2025) ALBERTA REGULATION 65/2000 Fatality Inquiries Act FATALITY INQUIRIES REGULATION Table of Contents 1 Definition 2 Fees 3 Form of required documents 4 Duties of medical examiner 5 Cause and manner of death 6 Specimens 7 Death of infant 7.1 Requirement to provide information 8 Confidentiality 9 Retention of tissue and fluid 10 Autopsy 11 Required notice 12 Provision of reports or forms 13 Repeal 14 Expiry Schedule Definition 1 In this Regulation, “Act” means the Fatality Inquiries Act . Fees 2 (1) The fees payable under the Act to the following are the fees prescribed in the Schedule: (a) to medical examiners, witnesses, reporters and interpreters; (b) to pathologists for autopsies performed pursuant to the Act; (c) to any other person for services provided under the Act. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a person who provides services under the Act pursuant to a contract with the Department of Justice of the Government of Alberta may be paid the fee authorized by the contract. AR 65/2000 s2;53/2009;170/2012;216/2022 Form of required documents 3 (1) A medical examiner who investigates a death must provide to the Chief Medical Examiner a certificate and an examination form, if an examination is conducted, completed by the medical examiner, in a form acceptable to the Chief Medical Examiner. (2) An autopsy report must be in a form acceptable to the Chief Medical Examiner. (3) A report referred to in section 30(2) of the Act must be in a form acceptable to and must be countersigned by the Chief Medical Examiner. AR 65/2000 s3;251/2001 Duties of medical examiner 4 (1) A medical examiner who investigates a death must, where practicable, view the body (a) at the earliest opportunity, and (b) at the scene of the death. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if the medical examiner does not view the body, the medical examiner must (a) inform the Chief Medical Examiner of the reason for not viewing the body, and (b) where the body is viewed by another medical examiner, turn over the investigation to the medical examiner who views the body. Cause and manner of death 5 A medical examiner who conducts an examination must, in addition to providing the certificate and form referred to in section 3(1), (a) determine the cause and manner of death at the conclusion of the examination, or (b) where the cause or manner of death or identity of the deceased remains uncertain, authorize an autopsy in accordance with section 25 of the Act. AR 65/2000 s5;251/2001 Specimens 6 A medical examiner who examines or authorizes the autopsy of the body of a person who was killed while a pedestrian as defined in the Traffic Safety Act or the operator of any vehicle or machine must take reasonable steps to ensure that blood, urine and vitreous humour specimens are collected during the course of the examination or autopsy. AR 65/2000 s6;221/2004 Death of infant 7 Where a medical examiner investigates the death of an infant under the age of 4 years, the medical examiner must ensure that a full X‑ray examination of the infant is carried out. Requirement to provide information 7.1 (1) In this section, (a) “diagnostic, treatment and care information” means information about any of the following: (i) the physical and mental health of an individual; (ii) a health service provided to an individual; (iii) the donation by an individual of a body part or bodily substance, including information derived from the testing or examination of a body part or bodily substance; (iv) a drug as defined in the Pharmacy and Drug Act provided to an individual; (v) a health care aid, device, product, equipment or other item provided to an individual pursuant to a prescription or other authorization; and includes any other information about an individual that is collected when a health service is provided to the individual but does not include information that is not written, photographed, recorded or stored in some manner; (b) “health service” means a service that is provided to an individual (i) for any of the following purposes: (A) protecting, promoting or maintaining physical and mental health; (B) preventing illness; (C) diagnosing and treating illness; (D) rehabilitation; (E) caring for the health needs of the ill, disabled, injured or dying, or (ii) by a pharmacist engaging in the practice of pharmacists as described in section 3(1) of Schedule 19 to the Health Professions Act , but does not include a service that is provided to an individual by a service provider as defined in the Persons with Developmental Disabilities Services Act ; (c) “health services provider” means an individual who provides health services; (d) “record” means a record of information in any form, and includes notes, images, audiovisual recordings, x‑rays, books, documents, maps, drawings, photographs, letters, vouchers and papers and any other information that is written, photographed, recorded or stored in any manner, but does not include software or any mechanism that produces records. (2) A record of any diagnostic, treatment and care information must be provided to the Chief Medical Examiner, medical examiners and the Board by the following: (a) a hospital operator under the Provincial Health Agencies Act ; (b) a continuing care home operator under the Continuing Care Act ; (b.1) a provincial health agency under the Provincial Health Agencies Act ; (c) a provincial health corporation under the Provincial Health Agencies Act ; (d) a regional health authority under the Provincial Health Agencies Act ; (e) repealed AR 18/2025 s2; (f) a health services provider who is paid under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan to provide health services; (g) a licensed pharmacy as defined in the Pharmacy and Drug Act ; (h) a regulated member of the Alberta College of Pharmacy under the Health Professions Act who (i) is registered on the (A) clinical pharmacist register, (B) provisional pharmacist register, (C) courtesy pharmacist register, or (D) student pharmacist register, and (ii) holds a practice permit issued under the Health Professions Act ; (i) a regulated member of the College of Dental Surgeons of Alberta under the Health Professions Act who holds a practice permit issued under that Act; (j) a regulated member of the College of Midwives of Alberta under the Health Professions Act who holds a practice permit issued under that Act; (k) an ambulance attendant or operator as defined in the Emergency Health Services Act ; (l) the Workers Compensation Board; (m) the Department of Hospital and Surgical Health Services or the Department of Primary and Preventative Health Services; (n) a regulated member of the College of Acupuncturists of Alberta under the Health Professions Act who holds a practice permit issued under that Act; (o) a regulated member of the College of Chiropractors of Alberta under the Health Professions Act who holds a practice permit issued under that Act; (p) a regulated member of the Alberta College of Social Workers under the Health Professions Act who holds a practice permit issued under that Act. AR 246/2000 s2;170/2012;22/2024;125/2024;216/2024; 18/2025;158/2025;199/2025 Confidentiality 8 A medical examiner who causes copies to be made of any record pursuant to Part 1 or 2 of the Alberta Health Care Insurance Act , the Provincial Health Agencies Act or the Mental Health Act or of any record provided under section 7.1(2) must keep those copies confidential and in a safe place and must forward them at the earliest opportunity to the Chief Medical Examiner. AR 65/2000 s8;246/2000;199/2025;291/2025 Retention of tissue and fluid 9 (1) A medical examiner or a pathologist who in the course of an examination or autopsy removes tissue or fluid from a body must retain the tissue or fluid for at least 3 months. (2) Tissue or fluid retained pursuant to subsection (1) must be (a) identified in such a manner, (b) kept in such a container, and (c) stored in such a facility, as in the opinion of the Chief Medical Examiner will preserve the tissue or fluid in a safe condition. (3) A medical examiner or pathologist may turn over any tissue or fluid to a police officer. (4) Notwithstanding subsection (1) or (2), where tissue is retained for purposes of histological investigation and paraffin blocks have been prepared from the tissue, the tissue may be destroyed by the pathologist who performed the autopsy or by any other person authorized by the Chief Medical Examiner to destroy it. (5) Where paraffin blocks are prepared pursuant to subsection (4), slide preparations of the tissue for microscopic examination must be made and retained for at least 6 years in a safe place. (6) Slide preparations that have been made pursuant to subsection (5) may be destroyed by the pathologist who performed the autopsy or by any other person authorized by the Chief Medical Examiner to destroy them. Autopsy 10 (1) A pathologist who performs an autopsy under the Act must as soon as practicable notify the medical examiner who authorized the autopsy of the cause of death so that the medical examiner can complete the medical certificate of death pursuant to the Vital Statistics Act . (2) Where the pathologist who performs an autopsy under the Act is unable to determine the cause of death upon the completion of dissection, the pathologist must as soon as practicable notify the medical examiner as to the reason that the cause of death has not been determined. (3) Where the pathologist who performs an autopsy and notifies the medical examiner under subsection (2) is unable to determine the cause of death within 90 days of the dissection, the pathologist must notify the medical examiner as to the reason that the cause of death still has not been determined. Required notice 11 A pathologist must not perform an autopsy under the Act unless (a) a notice signed by a medical examiner pursuant to section 22(2) of the Act is affixed to the body or the shroud, garment or container holding the body, or (b) the form prescribed by the Chief Medical Examiner is signed by a medical examiner and accompanies the body. AR 65/2000 s11; 251/2001 Provision of reports or forms 12 (1) The Chief Medical Examiner must provide a true copy of the autopsy summary report or a true copy of the examination form, whichever is available, to any of the following persons who request the copy and pay the fee of $15: (a) any adult next of kin or the personal representative of the deceased; (b) any person authorized in writing by any of the next of kin to receive a copy of the report or form; (c) any person who requests the report or form in writing if the Chief Medical Examiner considers that person to be an interested party. (2) The Chief Medical Examiner must provide a true copy of the certificate referred to in section 3(1) to any of the following persons who request the copy and pay the fee of $15: (a) any adult next of kin or the personal representative of the deceased; (b) any person authorized in writing by any of the next of kin to receive a copy of the certificate. (3) The Chief Medical Examiner must provide a true copy of the complete autopsy report or a true copy of the examination form, whichever is available, to any of the following persons who request the copy: (a) the administrator of the health services sector in the approved hospital under the Provincial Health Agencies Act in which the deceased died; (b) the attending physician; (c) any department or agency of the Government of Canada or of a province if the Chief Medical Examiner considers the department or agency to be an interested party. (4) The Chief Medical Examiner must provide a true copy of the complete autopsy report, including the report of laboratory investigations, to any of the persons referred to in subsection (1) who request the copy and pay the fee of $40. (5) The cost of providing a true copy of a report of laboratory analysis exclusive of histopathology, commissioned or performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, where the report is not part of an autopsy report, is $20. AR 65/2000 12;199/2025 Repeal 13 The Fatality Inquiries Regulation (AR 120/77) is repealed. Expiry 14 For the purpose of ensuring that this Regulation is reviewed for ongoing relevancy and necessity, with the option that it may be repassed in its present or an amended form following a review, this Regulation expires on April 30, 2030. AR 65/2000 s14;354/2003;53/2009;73/2017;113/2019;18/2025 Schedule Fees 1 (1) The fees payable to a medical examiner are as follows: (a) for viewing each body (i) not at the scene of death, or (ii) where the scene of death is a hospital, at the hospital and preparing a report $167; (b) for viewing each body at the scene of death other than at a hospital and preparing a report $230; (c) for performing an examination on a body and preparing a report $115; (d) for completion of a certificate in accordance with section 15 of the Act $70; (e) for completion of a certificate in accordance with section 15 of the Act if the body is inspected by the medical examiner $80; (f) for recording information in accordance with section 19(6) of the Act $75. (2) In addition to the fees payable under subsection (1), a medical examiner is to be paid travel expenses (a) for every kilometre necessarily travelled in the medical examiner’s own car at the rates prescribed by the Travel, Meal and Hospitality Expenses Policy established by Treasury Board Directive 1/2015, as amended or replaced from time to time, and (b) for other expenses necessarily incurred when an investigation takes place other than at the place where the medical examiner ordinarily resides, in the actual amount of the expenses as shown in receipts. 2 The fee payable to a pathologist for a complete autopsy including the taking of fluids or tissue for toxicological examination and microscopic examination and report is $640. 3 (1) The fee payable to a person who transports a body is up to $300 per vehicle for the first 20 kilometres and up to $1.13 a kilometre thereafter for transportation and attendant services. (2) In addition to the fees payable under subsection (1), a person who transports a body that is in an infested, putrid or dismembered state may be paid up to $26 in respect of that body. (3) Where authorized in writing by a medical examiner or an investigator, a fee for waiting time in excess of one hour may be paid at a rate of up to $41 per hour for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th hours to a person who transports a body. (4) No fee is payable with respect to waiting time in excess of 4 hours. (5) A person who transports more than one body in a vehicle must, in addition to the fees prescribed in subsection (1), be paid a fee of $41 for each additional body transported in the vehicle, but in that case the person may not be paid any fees under subsections (2) and (3) for each additional body transported. (6) If the autopsy or examination is performed at a place other than where the death occurred, payment per kilometre for transporting the body may only be made in respect of transporting the body (a) from the place where the death occurred to the place where the autopsy or examination is performed, and (b) from the place where the autopsy or examination is performed back to the place where the death occurred. 4 (1) The following fees are payable for the use of morgue facilities: (a) for use of a morgue, including refrigeration for the purposes of an autopsy, not more than $78; (b) for use of a morgue for the purposes of an examination by a medical examiner or identification of a body, not more than $70; (c) for storage of a body for any period in excess of 24 hours in a morgue refrigerator where no other fees are payable, not more than $26. (2) In addition to the fees payable under subsection (1), a sum of not more than $26 may be paid for the use of morgue facilities in respect of a body that contains putrid soft tissue. 5 The fees payable to a dentist for identification services or opinions under the Act is an amount prescribed in the latest Suggested Fee Guide of the Alberta Dental Association. 6 (1) Laboratory and radiological services are to be paid for in accordance with the regulations under Part 1 of the Alberta Health Care Insurance Act . (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the fee for a full X‑ray examination of an infant who is 4 years of age or less, including interpretation, is $70. 7 Witnesses, court reporters and interpreters are to be paid the same amount as they would receive as witnesses, court reporters or interpreters, as the case may be, in the Alberta Court of Justice. 8 Repealed AR 53/2009 s4. AR 65/2000 Sched.;251/2001;211/2005;192/2007;122/2008; 53/2009;191/2009;288/2009;76/2023;18/2025;291/2025