On September 25, 2026, the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) announced changes to the privacy and cybersecurity assistance they provide to members.
Physicians who handle personal health information in their practices should review their existing insurance arrangements and understand what protection they currently have for privacy and cybersecurity incidents.
In particular, physicians may wish to confirm whether their existing coverage addresses privacy liability and cyber liability, including damages and settlements, and costs associated with responding to and recovering from a breach.
Insurance options available to Doctors of BC members
In response to the evolving cyber-risk environment and recent changes to CMPA assistance, we have worked with Westland Insurance to introduce cyber insurance specifically designed for physicians and medical practices with preferred pricing. Provided through Westland Insurance (underwritten by CFC), the coverage helps protect against a broad range of cyber and privacy risks and associated costs.
Coverage includes up to $2 million for a broad range of cyber risks, including cyber incident response, IT security and forensic services, legal and regulatory costs, privacy breach management, crisis communications, cyber extortion, system damage and hardware replacement, business interruption, and network security and privacy liability.
The program also provides up to $250,000 for many types of cybercrime losses, including funds-transfer fraud, invoice manipulation, new-vendor fraud, corporate identity theft and telephone hacking. Coverage includes access to CFC's specialized cybersecurity and incident-response services, such as proactive cyber-attack prevention and 24/7 technical support via its response app.
Westland also offers additional cyber insurance solutions for physicians and clinics that require higher limits or different coverage. Members can contact Westland to discuss their needs, available coverage options, and pricing.
Protecting your practice
Health care organizations are particularly susceptible to cyber threats due to the sensitive personal information they handle and the rapid rise in AI-driven cybercrime. For physicians and medical practices, a cyber incident can have significant consequences, including disruption to clinic operations, loss of income, system restoration, and privacy breach response costs.
Insurance is only one component of managing cyber and privacy risk. Physicians should also continue to maintain appropriate privacy, cybersecurity, and information management practices within their clinics, including safeguards for patient information and processes for responding to suspected privacy or cybersecurity incidents.
Doctors of BC provides resources to help physicians strengthen clinic security and protect patient information: