The Centre for Global Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto has collaborated on the development of a draft discussion paper regarding the creation of a Global Health Strategy for Canada. The intention of this discussion paper is to propose a national global health strategy for Canada to drive global equitable and sustainable action.

“Canada has the potential as a facilitative leader in equitable global health action. We believe now is the time to do so.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has further underscored that health is a global phenomenon, reiterating the need for a continuous strategic commitment to global health by all countries. However, Canada does not yet have such a strategy in place. To drive forward global, equitable and sustainable action in a post-pandemic era, a national global health strategy is proposed. Now is the right time for Canada to develop, adopt and resource a global health strategy to emerge as a strong voice to advance global health equity.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, as well the SDGs, and the climate change crisis all demonstrate that no country can tackle global challenges on their own.”

Towards A Global Health Strategy for Canada was developed to advance the discussion on the design and implementation of a global health strategy for Canada by the Centre for Global Health at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, with contributions from Garry Aslanyan, Erica Di Ruggiero, Ilona Kickbusch, Divya Kuruvila, Ophelia Michaelides, Nicole Robertson, and Breanna K. Wodnik.

The intention of this discussion paper is to inform the development of a national global health strategy for Canada to drive forward global, equitable, and sustainable action. COVID-19 has facilitated the opening of a window of opportunity. If we fail to act while this window is open, other priorities may take precedence.

The first iteration of this paper was informed by consultations with 11 Canadian global health experts across different disciplines, and a review of academic and grey literature—which included the global health strategies of other high-income countries.

Towards a Global Health Strategy May 2023

Following the publishing of the first draft of this discussion paper, a stakeholder survey was completed by 43 individuals who provided additional feedback. The purpose of the stakeholder survey was to:

  • To seek input on, and inform changes to, the paper
  • To assess the quality of the content, structure, key points, & examples used to support the arguments of the paper
  • To collect input on the resources and enabling conditions needed to support a Canadian Global Health Strategy

The discussion paper and stakeholder results were then presented at the 2022 Canadian Conference on Global Health and feedback was collected. Below is the presentation slide deck:

Canada GH Strategy_CCGH Presentation_final

An updated version of the paper that considers all the aforesaid inputs has now been prepared. Below is the list of inputs:

  • 11 Canadian global health experts
  • Academic literature review
  • Open survey results

Participant feedback from 2022 CCGH

Next Steps…

  1. An engagement strategy for implementation is under development.

Ways to get involved

If you wish to provide feedback, find opportunities to engage or have any questions about developing the global health strategy for Canada please contact globalhealth.dlsph@utoronto.ca