Who Sees the Results? Privacy and Confidentiality in Psychological Testing

The short answer is you do—or, if the client is a minor, their legal parent or guardian does. Under Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), a psychological assessment report is a confidential medical record. No one can look at it, receive a copy of it, or even know you had an evaluation without your explicit, written consent.

Here is exactly how privacy boundaries work in practice, along with the strict legal exceptions.

The “No Consent, No Access” Rule

Unless you sign a formal release form, the following people and organizations have zero access to your testing results:

• Schools and Universities: A child’s principal, teachers, or a university accessibility office will never see the report unless you choose to share it to secure academic accommodations.

• Employers: Workplace HR departments have no legal right to view your diagnostic data or psychometric profiles.

• Insurance Companies: Insurers only receive billing details (dates and service types) to process claims. They cannot access the full report unless you explicitly authorize the release of clinical data for extended coverage disputes.

• Your Family Doctor or Medical Team: While sharing results with your primary care physician supports continuity of care, it is entirely optional and requires your sign-off.

Who You Might Want to Share Your Results With—and Why

While your results are entirely private, sharing them with a targeted circle of professionals can maximize the value of the assessment and unlock vital support systems.

• School Boards or Campus Accessibility Offices: Sharing the report (or an accommodation letter) with your child’s school or your university is what triggers formal accommodations. For children, this is an important step to build an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or initiate an IPRC. For post-secondary students, it opens access to extra testing time, technological aids, and specialized grants.

• Your Family Doctor, Psychiatrist, or Pediatrician: If you or your child are considering medication or specialized medical care for conditions like ADHD or anxiety, your physician will need more than a simple symptom checklist. Providing them with a comprehensive psychological evaluation gives them the gold-standard diagnostic evidence they require to manage your medical care safely and effectively.

• Therapists and Allied Health Professionals: If you or your child work with a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, social worker, or psychotherapist, sharing the report can fast-track their progress. When a therapist understands the exact neurodevelopmental and cognitive architecture of your brain, they can drop the trial-and-error approach and tailor their therapeutic strategies directly to your specific strengths and processing style.

About the Author: