How to encrypt Gmail for your therapy practice
The steps to encrypt Gmail for your therapy practice: the settings to check in your Google Admin console, what each one protects, and where each one stops.
Gabriel Borges
Blog
Practical guides on PHIPA and PIPA compliance, email security, and privacy for Canadian therapists.
Which privacy law applies to your practice?
Ontario, Alberta, BC or federal: which privacy law governs your therapy practice, what changes when your client is elsewhere, and where the regimes differ.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA compliance checklist for therapists (2026)
A private practice PHIPA checklist for Ontario therapists: what the safeguards duty asks of your email and records, and how to check your own setup today.
Gabriel Borges
Email encryption for BC therapists under PIPA
What BC PIPA requires of therapist email, why breach notification works differently in BC, and what changes when psychotherapy is a regulated title in 2027.
Gabriel Borges
Alberta therapist email encryption: PIPA, CAP, HIA
Alberta private practice therapists are not HIA custodians. What Alberta PIPA and CAP standards actually require of your client email, and what to do about it.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA compliant email options for therapists
PHIPA, PIPA and PIPEDA don't require encryption by name, though privacy commissioners' guidance asks for it in some cases. So what do you actually need? An honest comparison of the four email options open to a Canadian therapist in 2026.
Gabriel Borges
AI and client health data under PHIPA in Ontario
Ontario's IPC issued AI scribes guidance in January 2026. What PHIPA requires before an AI tool processes client health data, and how to get consent.
Gabriel Borges
Google Workspace BAA: what it covers and does not
A Google Workspace BAA is not PHIPA compliance. What the BAA actually covers for Canadian therapists, what it leaves to you, and where the real gaps are.
Gabriel Borges
Google Workspace PHIPA setup for Canadian therapists
Setting up Google Workspace for PHIPA as a Canadian therapist: the admin settings to change, the AI features to turn off, and where Workspace alone falls short.
Gabriel Borges
Google Workspace data residency for therapists
Where does Google Workspace store your client email, and does PHIPA require it to stay in Canada? The honest answer for therapists, and what to do about it.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA vs PIPEDA in telehealth: which law applies
Which privacy law governs your telehealth email, provincial PHIPA or federal PIPEDA? A decision-tree guide for Canadian therapists across provinces.
Gabriel Borges
Alberta HIA privacy impact assessment walkthrough
HIA s.64 requires custodians to submit a PIA to the OIPC before a new system handles health information. Who that duty reaches, and how to complete one.
Gabriel Borges
Is your client portal PHIPA compliant? 12 checks
A neutral, PHIPA-specific scored checklist for evaluating a client portal: encryption, consent, audit trail, residency, and breach handling, point by point.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA breach notification: the first 24 hours
A therapist's PHIPA breach response guide: the real notification standard, what to do in the first 24 hours, and when you must report to the IPC of Ontario.
Gabriel Borges
CHCPBC email standards: BC counsellors before 2027
BC psychotherapy becomes a regulated title on November 29, 2027. What already applies to counsellor email now, and the steps to prepare before regulation.
Gabriel Borges
Ontario therapist, Alberta client: which law applies
A CRPO therapist's client moves to Alberta. PHIPA still binds you, not HIA. Here's what changes about consent, email, and CAP registration, and what doesn't.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA and CRPO therapist consent form template
What PHIPA s.18 and CRPO Standard 3.4 require in a therapist consent form. Walk through each field with the free template.
Gabriel Borges
Cross provincial telehealth privacy for therapists
Which privacy law applies when your client is in another province? A therapist guide to cross provincial telehealth compliance: PHIPA, HIA, BC PIPA.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA vs HIA vs BC PIPA: which law applies to you?
Compare PHIPA, Alberta PIPA (and HIA for custodians), and BC PIPA: encryption, consent, residency, breach notification, and college rules for Canadian therapists by province.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA administrative monetary penalties explained
IPC Decision 298 created PHIPA's first administrative monetary penalties. What the ruling means for Ontario therapists and your email practices.
Gabriel Borges
CAP expansion to counselling therapists in Alberta
CAP has announced plans to regulate counselling therapists in Alberta, not only psychologists. What the change would mean for email compliance.
Gabriel Borges
BC psychotherapy regulation 2027: CHCPBC timeline
Psychotherapist becomes a protected title in BC on November 29, 2027 under CHCPBC. The timeline, expected practice standards, and what to prepare now.
Gabriel Borges
CRPO vs CAP vs CHCPBC: college email requirements
Side by side comparison of CRPO, CAP, and CHCPBC email and digital communication requirements. What each college expects and how privacy law layers on top.
Gabriel Borges
BC protected title 2027: what changes for email
Starting November 29, 2027, BC psychotherapy is a protected title. What changes for your email under CHCPBC, and how to prepare ahead of the deadline.
Gabriel Borges
Is Paubox PHIPA compliant for Canadian therapists?
Paubox is a strong HIPAA product, built for HIPAA rather than PHIPA. Its documentation names no Canadian region and no Canadian statute. What Canadian therapists should know.
Gabriel Borges
CAP standards of practice: Alberta therapist email
How CAP standards of practice apply to email and digital communication in Alberta, which ones govern client messaging, and where Alberta PIPA and HIA fit.
Gabriel Borges
Hushmail vs Gmail for Canadian therapists
Hushmail moves your secure mail out of Gmail. There is another way. An honest comparison of the two for Canadian therapists, evaluated against PHIPA and Alberta and BC PIPA.
Gabriel Borges
Email privacy laws in Ontario, Alberta, and BC
Ontario has PHIPA. Alberta and BC have PIPA, with HIA reserved for Alberta custodians. What each law requires for therapist email, and where they differ.
Gabriel Borges
CRPO electronic practice standards for email
CRPO Standard 3.4 sets email requirements for Ontario registered psychotherapists. What secure electronic communication means, and six steps to comply.
Gabriel Borges
Can therapists email clients? PHIPA consent rules
Yes, with consent. PHIPA's four consent elements under s.18(1), what the IPC expects before an unencrypted email, and copy paste consent form templates.
Gabriel Borges
BC PIPA and therapist email: privacy obligations
BC therapists must comply with PIPA for email containing personal information. What the law requires and how to prepare for CHCPBC regulation in 2027.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA email requirements for therapists in 2026
PHIPA never names encryption. It sets a safeguards duty. What that means for your email, plus consent, audit trails, and how Alberta and BC differ.
Gabriel Borges
Is Gmail PHIPA compliant in Canada?
No email product is PHIPA compliant on its own, Gmail included. Learn what Canadian therapists need to change and where the gaps remain. Updated for 2026.
Gabriel Borges
Alberta HIA and therapist email: who it covers
Most Alberta therapists fall under Alberta PIPA, not the HIA. Learn which law governs your practice email, what it expects, and where HIA still reaches you.
Gabriel Borges
Client record access requests under PHIPA s.52-54
How Ontario therapists handle client record access requests under PHIPA sections 52 to 54. Includes response letter templates and statutory timelines.
Gabriel Borges
How to disable AI features in Google Workspace
The IPC's January 2026 guidance covers AI scribes, not Gmail autocomplete. Here's how to turn off Smart Compose, Gemini and the other Workspace AI features.
Gabriel Borges
Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 vs ProtonMail
A comparison of Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and ProtonMail for Canadian therapists: the PHIPA gaps, pricing, data residency, and encryption.
Gabriel Borges
Google Workspace admin console security settings
A setting by setting walkthrough of the security configuration Canadian therapists should check in the Google Workspace admin console. Covers 2FA and the BAA.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA client communication templates
Copy paste email disclaimers, consent forms for electronic communication, and intake language written for PHIPA. Built for Canadian therapists.
Gabriel Borges
Email retention policies for Ontario therapists
How long must Ontario therapists keep client emails? PHIPA and CRPO retention requirements, and how to configure Google Vault retention rules to match.
Gabriel Borges
PHIPA privacy impact assessment template
The IPC recommends privacy impact assessments for health information systems. A section by section template and walkthrough, with Google Workspace guidance.
Gabriel Borges
How to build a manual audit log in Google Workspace
Build a Google Sheets log of who opened which client record and when. CRPO Standard 5.6 doesn't prescribe one, but it's a practical way to show how you protect records.
Gabriel Borges