Government of Canada launches the National Women’s Health Research Initiative
News release
This partnership between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Women and Gender Equality Canada will support research to improve health care and enhance health outcomes for women, trans women, girls, and gender-diverse people
October 25, 2022 – Ottawa, Ontario – Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadians are among the healthiest people in the world. Nonetheless, our health system has not always understood the factors which influence the health status of women, trans women, girls, and gender-diverse communities, nor has it addressed their issues in relation to research, education, leadership, and health interventions.
Today, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, officially launched the National Women’s Health Research Initiative (NWHRI), which is supported by an investment of $20 million over five years provided in Budget 2021. This initiative will confront persistent inequities in Canada’s health research community and health system. It will drive research to enhance health outcomes, eliminate gaps in access to care, and improve the quality of care for women, trans women, girls, and gender-diverse communities. This research will help ensure that everyone has access to evidence-based, gender-sensitive, culturally safe, and high-quality care and services across their lifespan.
The NWHRI is being delivered through a partnership between the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE). As a first step, CIHR and WAGE are investing in a Pan-Canadian Women’s Health Coalition. The Coalition will be composed of Canadian non-governmental organizations such as community organizations and regional health authorities, health care professionals, early career researchers and trainees, as well as Indigenous, Black, and racialized women, women with disabilities, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community, and people with lived and living experience of navigating health issues affecting women, trans women, girls, and gender-diverse communities. This inclusive and intersectional approach will provide critical insights and guide actions to tackle persistent gaps in health status and health care delivery and improve the health of the diversity of women in this country.
The Coalition will leverage the strengths of researchers across Canada. It will also benefit from the work that CIHR’s Institute of Gender and Health has done to build capacity for research on sex and gender and to implement GBA+ policies in research and health policy.
Quotes
“Everyone deserves access to inclusive, safe, and high-quality care. This national initiative will help improve health care in Canada by addressing gaps in access to care that continue to exist for women, trans women, girls, and gender diverse communities.”
The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Health
“To achieve better health outcomes for women and gender diverse people, we first need to understand the barriers they face. Today’s investment gives the Government of Canada, and governments at every level, more data to craft inclusive and intersectional policies. Projects like this champion gender equality by improving women’s health care across Canada.”
The Honourable Marci Ien
Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
“When it comes to health, sex and gender matter. Experiences differ in areas of patterns of illness, disease and mortality, interactions with the health system – and research. With this investment we can build a community of researchers and knowledge users who are integrating sex and gender in their work for broad and sustained health impact.”
Dr. Tammy Clifford
Vice-President, Research, Learning Health Systems, CIHR
Quick facts
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In Canada, significant differences exist between women and girls aged 12 years and older living in more accessible areas and those living in more remote areas in terms of perceived health. Absence of services was reported as one of main reasons for not having a regular health care provider, regardless of remoteness category.
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Canada is the first country to collect and publish data on gender diversity from a national census. Of the nearly 30.5 million people in Canada aged 15 and older living in a private household in May 2021, 100,815 were transgender (59,460) or non-binary (41,355), accounting for 0.33% of the population in this age group.
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Through a partnership between CIHR and WAGE, the Government of Canada has launched the National Women’s Health Research Initiative to support research that will improve health care and enhance health outcomes for women, girls, and gender-diverse people in Canada, with the support of $20 million in funding provided in Budget 2021.
Associated links
Contacts
Marie-France Proulx
Office of the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
Minister of Health
613-957-0200
Johise Namwira
Press Secretary and Issues Manager
Office of the Honourable Marci Ien
Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
873-353-0985
Johise.Namwira@fegc-wage.gc.ca
Media Relations
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
613-941-4563
mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) we know that research has the power to change lives. As Canada's health research investment agency, we collaborate with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health care system.
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