New Liability Risks in 2025: What Every Canadian Clinic Should Know
If you think liability issues only concern hospitals or individual physicians, think again. In 2025, Canadian walk-in, primary care, and specialty clinics are facing a rising tide of risk—and the legal system is shifting to hold entire clinics accountable, not just individual practitioners.
The Liability Landscape Is Changing Fast
Malpractice claims are rising, and so are their payouts. The amount of compensation paid across the country has increased from $223 million in 2019 to $308 million in 2023. This represents a very significant increase of 38% over a 5 year period. This surge, alongside physician shortages and increasing patient loads, has created a perfect storm of vulnerability for clinics.
Worse? Insurance premiums are rising, too. Clinics that employ or contract multiple providers, especially in team-care models, are seeing 5% to 15% higher liability coverage costs in 2025.
Why it matters: Even if you’re not the one treating the patient, you can still be named in a lawsuit if the incident occurs within your walls or your team.
You Can Be Liable for Your Team’s Mistakes—Even Contractors
In recent years, the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) has issued new bulletins advising physicians and clinics on the complexities of collaborative care. One key warning? Clinics and supervising physicians are often co-defendants when:
- The care involves multiple professionals (RNs, NPs, locums, allied health, etc.)
- Clinic systems fail (e.g., miscommunication, outdated notes, missing test results)
- Patients don’t understand who’s accountable
This means that even if a provider is technically a contractor, courts may still hold your clinic liable if your operational structure contributed to the harm.
Most Common Claims Clinics Are Facing in 2025
The CMPA analyzed 276 medico-legal cases from 2012 to 2021 involving care outside hospitals. Here’s what they found:
- 9% of cases involved serious surgical or procedural errors in outpatient settings (e.g., retained instruments, wrong-site procedures)
- 95% of these cases resulted in unfavorable outcomes for the provider and/or clinic
- Documentation failures and ambiguous communication were top contributing factors
And while surgical errors make headlines, more common risks include:
- Missed follow-ups on lab/imaging results
Delays in referral or triage - Electronic record miscommunication (between staff or across platforms)
- Poor documentation of patient instructions
Proactively Reduce Your Legal Exposure
Top-performing clinics in 2025 are no longer passive about legal risk—they’re building in safeguards at every level of care. These are the proactive steps leading clinics are taking to protect themselves, their teams, and their patients:
1. Start With a Legal Risk Audit
Don’t wait for an incident to uncover gaps. Conduct an annual risk review that includes patient handoffs, documentation habits, escalation protocols, and patient communication workflows. Critically, make sure contractors and part-time providers are also included—many clinics overlook this group, despite their growing presence in team-based models.
2. Clarify Accountability in Team-Based Care
Collaborative care is now the norm, but it can create confusion over who’s responsible when something goes wrong. Clinics should clearly define each team member’s role and make escalation paths explicit in policies and documentation. Patients should always be told who their “most responsible provider” is so that there’s no ambiguity during treatment or follow-up.
3. Strengthen Follow-Up Systems
Test results, imaging, and referrals are where many clinics stumble—and where lawsuits often start. Implement systems to ensure no result falls through the cracks, whether that’s through EMR-integrated alerts, centralized inbox workflows, or automated recall tools. Remember: timely follow-up isn’t just good medicine—it’s legal protection.
4. Prioritize Documentation Excellence
One of the CMPA’s top commonly cited complaint issues is poor or missing documentation. Every clinic should be training staff on how to properly record consent, capture clinical decisions, and document discharge instructions. Regular refresher training can significantly reduce the risk of liability and improve continuity of care across shifts and providers.
5. Improve Wait Time Transparency
Delayed care is one of the fastest-growing sources of risk—especially when patients are unsure how to access timely help. Tools like Medimap can help you increase visibility for same-day availability, reduce front desk bottlenecks, and get lower-acuity patients seen faster. This can prevent complications that might otherwise result in missed diagnoses or escalation.
Insurance Isn’t Enough—Risk-Proof Your Operations
Having malpractice insurance is essential—but it won’t shield you from the operational cracks that lead to lawsuits in the first place. Coverage may handle the financial fallout, but the reputational damage starts the moment a complaint is filed.
Top clinics understand that the best legal defense is prevention. That means building airtight workflows, documenting care thoroughly, and reducing friction points where errors or delays are most likely to occur. Legal claims often stem from system failures—not individual negligence.
Your goal isn’t just to be covered when things go wrong. It’s to design a practice where things are far less likely to go wrong in the first place.
Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late
The clinic liability environment in Canada isn’t just shifting, it’s accelerating. What used to be a physician’s burden is now a clinic-wide responsibility. If your systems, people, or policies leave room for error, now’s the time to fix it.
Small changes in how you communicate, schedule, and follow up can prevent the kinds of mistakes that lead to big legal trouble.
Because in 2025, clinics aren’t just delivering care, they’re defending it.
Discover a streamlined way to manage appointments and increase visibility. Join our network of healthcare professionals today at medimap.ca.