Object Identifier (OID)

Pan-Canadian Standards use Object Identifiers (OIDs) to distinguish between objects by assigning a numeric string that enables other systems to understand the unique information that is being shared between various systems.

Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) has an arrangement in place with HL7 International that allows Infoway to submit OIDs to HL7 International on behalf of Canadian Implementers free of charge. There is a $250 USD fee per OID request if done directly with HL7 International.

To submit an OID, download the registration form that corresponds to your OID request.

• For all non-jurisdictional and Infoway owned subsets, email the completed form to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• All other requests must be sent to the Jurisdictional Representatives for OIDs

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OID submission guidelines

1. Jurisdictional Teams require 5-7 business days to process each request. It will be incumbent on the requestor to reply within this time frame to any questions and follow up as required. Any failure to do so will result in an automatic rejection and require resubmitting the request.
2. The Requestor must post the OID requests on the following forums ONLY after consulting with the Jurisdiction/Infoway SME:
   • For jurisdictional/non-jurisdictional OID Requests: HL7 International and FHIR Implementation WG
   • For Subset OID Requests: Public Health Surveillance and Health Terminologies.
   
   TIP How to upload and link a document to an InfoCentral Forum
   
   
3. Forum posts shall have the following format:
   
   Subject: New Namespace/CodeSystem/Subset OID Request
   • OID Description: “A description of the OID”
   • OID Symbolic name: Symbolic name guidelines
   • Responsible Body & Contact Information
   • Proposed FHIR URI: URI as per URI Guidelines
   • To be published: Canadian URI Registry/Terminology Gateway
     
     
4. There will be a wait period of 5 business days for the communities to react to the forum post with comments, questions or requests for clarification.
5. FHIR URIs must be proposed for all jurisdictional and non-jurisdictional OID requests according to the URI Guidelines and must be published in the Canadian URI Registry. Publishing the URI is an optional but highly recommended step. The Requestor will submit a validated FHIR® NamingSystem resource object based on the NamingSystem profile to their jurisdictional representative who will then upload it.
6. FHIR URIs must not be proposed for Subsets to be published on the Terminology Gateway as they will be generated automatically.
7. The Forum post will be updated with the new OID.