ontario regulation 153/26

made under the

Coroners Act

Made: May 14, 2026
Filed: May 25, 2026
Published on e-Laws: May 26, 2026
Published in The Ontario Gazette: June 13, 2026

Amending Reg. 180 of R.R.O. 1990

(GENERAL)

1. The definition of “tissue sample” in subsection 1 (1) of Regulation 180 of the Revised Regulations of Ontario, 1990 is amended by striking out “and” at the end of clause (d), by adding “and” at the end of clause (e) and by adding the following clause:

(f) an extracted DNA sample.

2. Section 6 of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

Policy re religious, conscientious beliefs and post mortems

6. The Chief Coroner and the Chief Forensic Pathologist shall jointly issue directions or guidelines on the accommodation of religious and conscientious beliefs in relation to the conduct of post mortem examinations and the collection and retention of tissue samples.

3. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section immediately after the heading “Retention, Storage and Disposal of Tissue Samples”:

Future genetic testing, mandatory collection, retention

6.1 (1) Subject to directions or guidelines issued under section 6, a pathologist who performs a post mortem examination of a body shall, if the pathologist is of the opinion that a genetic condition contributed to the person’s death, collect tissue samples from the body and retain them for the purpose of future genetic testing.

(2) Subject to directions or guidelines issued under section 6, a coroner who conducts or directs another person to conduct an examination or analysis under subsection 28 (2) of the Act shall, if the coroner is of the opinion that a genetic condition contributed to the person’s death, collect tissue samples from the body and retain them for the purpose of future genetic testing.

4. (1) Subsection 7 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “retain tissue samples obtained from the body” at the end and substituting “collect tissue samples from the body and retain them”.

(2) Subsection 7 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “retain tissue samples obtained from the body” and substituting “collect tissue samples from the body and retain them”.

(3) Subsection 7 (3) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(3) In deciding whether to collect or retain a tissue sample under subsection (1) or (2), including whether to collect or retain a tissue sample for the purpose of future genetic testing in circumstances other than those mentioned in section 6.1, a pathologist or coroner shall comply with any directions or guidelines issued by the Chief Forensic Pathologist or Chief Coroner, respectively, or jointly by the Chief Forensic Pathologist and Chief Coroner.

(4) Subsection 7 (4) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “may decide to retain” wherever it appears and substituting in each case “may decide to collect and retain”.

5. (1) Subsection 8 (1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “retain a tissue sample obtained from the body” and substituting “retain a tissue sample from the body”.

(2) Subsection 8 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “retain a tissue sample obtained from the body” and substituting “retain a tissue sample from the body”.

(3) Subsection 8 (3) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “retain a tissue sample” and substituting “retain a tissue sample from a body”.

6. (1) Subsections 9 (1.1) and (1.2) of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

(1.1) Subject to subsections (1.2), (1.3), (2) and (3), a tissue sample that is not a slide, paraffin block or dried blood sample may be retained for a maximum of two years.

(1.2) A tissue sample that is an extracted DNA sample or a sample collected for the purpose of future genetic testing must be retained for at least 50 years.

(2) Subsection 9 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “or (1.2)” at the end of the portion before clause (a).

(3) Subsection 9 (3) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “or (1.2)”.

(4) Subsection 9 (5) of the Regulation is amended by adding “(1.1) or (1.2)” after “(1)” and by striking out “regardless of whether the tissue sample is first retained on or after June 14, 2010, or was first retained before June 14, 2010 and is still retained on that day” at the end.

(5) Subsection 9 (6) of the Regulation is revoked and the following substituted:

(6) In the case of a tissue sample to which subsection (1.3) applies, the retention period begins on June 14, 2010.

(6) Subsection 9 (7) of the Regulation is amended by adding “or (1.1)” after “subsection (1)”.

(7) Subsections 9 (8) and (9) of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

(8) The retention period for a tissue sample to which subsection (1.2) applies ends in accordance with subsections (1.2) and (5).

(8) Subsection 9 (9.1) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “subsection (1.3) and clause (6) (a)” at the end and substituting “subsections (1.3) and (6)”.

(9) Subsection 9 (10) of the Regulation is revoked.

7. (1) Subsections 10 (1.1) and (1.2) of the Regulation are revoked and the following substituted:

(1.1) A tissue sample to which subsection 9 (1.1) applies must be disposed of promptly after the end of its retention period as determined under subsection 9 (7), unless it is an organ, in which case it must not be disposed of before the 90^th day after the body from which the organ was removed is or was made available for burial, cremation or other disposition without the organ.

(1.2) A tissue sample to which subsection 9 (1.2) applies must be disposed of promptly after the end of its retention period as determined under subsection 9 (8).

(2) Section 10 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsections:

(2.0.1) Subsection (2) does not apply to an extracted DNA sample or a tissue sample collected for the purpose of future genetic testing.

(2.0.2) The Chief Forensic Pathologist or the Chief Coroner shall dispose of a tissue sample that was collected for the purpose of future genetic testing if the deceased person’s personal representative so requests.

(3) Paragraph 1 of subsection 10 (3) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “paraffin blocks and dried blood samples” and substituting “paraffin blocks, dried blood samples, extracted DNA samples and tissue samples retained for the purpose of future genetic testing”.

(4) Paragraph 4 of subsection 10 (3) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “or (1.2)”.

8. (1) The English version of subsection 11 (2) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “an organ obtained from” and substituting “an organ collected from”.

(2) Subsection 11 (5) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “(1.2)” and substituting “(1.1)”.

9. The Regulation is amended by adding the following section:

Genetic testing of retained tissue samples

12. (1) A request that a deceased person’s retained tissue sample be subjected to genetic testing may be made for the purpose of informing health care decisions of a genetic relative of the deceased by,

(a) the deceased person’s parent, sibling or child; or

(b) a substitute decision-maker, within the meaning of Part II of the Health Care Consent Act, 1996, of the deceased person’s parent, sibling or child.

(2) The request shall be made in writing to the Chief Coroner or the Chief Forensic Pathologist.

(3) On receipt of a request, the Chief Coroner or the Chief Forensic Pathologist shall decide whether the genetic testing should be conducted, based on their determination as to whether they reasonably expect that the testing will provide information that could inform health care decisions of the genetic relatives of the deceased.

(4) The Chief Coroner or the Chief Forensic Pathologist shall, in writing, inform the person who made the request of the decision made under subsection (3).

(5) If the Chief Coroner or Chief Forensic Pathologist determines that the requested testing should be done, they shall cause the tissue sample to be tested.

(6) On receipt of the results of the testing, the Chief Coroner or Chief Forensic Pathologist shall share the results with the person who made the request.

(7) The Chief Coroner or Chief Forensic Pathologist may, on request, share the results of the testing with any person authorized to make a request under subsection (1) but shall not provide information about the request made under subsection (1), including any information about the identity of the requestor.

Commencement

10. This Regulation comes into force on January 1, 2027.