Privacy impact assessment: Vaccine Impact Assistance Program (VIAP)
Description
The Vaccine Impact Assistance Program (VIAP) was created to provide financial support to people who experience a serious and permanent injury as a result of receiving a Health Canada-authorized vaccine. This includes financial supports, in the form of lump-sum payments, income supports (including ongoing payments), and reimbursement of some medical expenses, as well as providing a death benefit to a beneficiary(ies) if the vaccine injury resulted in death.
The program was first announced in 2020 and began accepting applications in 2021 under its former name, the Vaccine Injury Support Program. As of April 1, 2026, the Government of Canada administers the Vaccine Impact Assistance Program under direction of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
PHAC is supported by Employment and Social Development Canada/Service Canada (ESDC/SC) to deliver the program. With the consent of the claimants, PHAC may receive certain information from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), to allow PHAC to calculate income support amounts.
Why a privacy impact assessment was completed
A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is necessary in accordance with section C.2.2.9 of the Treasury Board Directive on Privacy Practices. The Directive requires federal institutions to complete a PIA:
- when making substantial changes to an existing program that uses personal information for an administrative purpose.
Additional information
This PIA focused on the program functions launched on April 1, 2026. This included:
- continuing payments for claimants already receiving income support payments;
- beginning to process claims originally received by the third party which administered the program under its previous name (Vaccine Injury Support Program); and
- accepting new claims, assessing those claims for administrative admissibility, and beginning to conduct medical assessments.
PHAC will conduct further privacy analyses before collecting and processing additional personal information to deliver the VIAP. ESDC is completing a PIA to assess its handling of personal information for the VIAP.
The PIA identified several opportunities for PHAC to strengthen its privacy practices and protections related to the VIAP:
- Improve information sharing and disclosure management:
- Develop an information sharing arrangement with ESDC (Completed: March 2026)
- Develop an information sharing arrangement with the CRA (Ongoing)
- Minimize data collection:
- Explore alternatives for validating claimants’ identities, which reduces the collection of personal information (Ongoing)
- Ensure all newly developed forms and processes only collect the minimum necessary personal information (Ongoing)
- Improve transparency:
- Update the PIA and Personal Information Bank as new processes are developed (Ongoing)
In addition, the PIA identified a number of procedures and processes which PHAC must complete and document as it further develops the VIAP, related to how PHAC uses, protects, corrects, discloses and disposes of personal information (Ongoing).
Related personal information banks
Info Source describes how PHAC manages your personal information. Refer to the personal information bank, Vaccine Impact Assistance Program - PHAC PPU 318.
For more information about this privacy impact assessment
If you would like more information about this PIA, contact the Vaccine Impact Assistance Program in one of the following ways:
Telephone (toll-free): 1-833-489-0839
TTY: 1-833-803-8698
Hours of operation: Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, local time
Mail:
Vaccine Impact Assistance Program
PO Box 5000
Bathurst NB
E2A 5B8