The Cancer in Young People in Canada program
About CYP-C
The Cancer in Young People in Canada (CYP-C) program is a national, population-based surveillance system studying all children and youth diagnosed with cancer in Canada. CYP-C collects information on children and youth with cancer including treatments, complications, and outcomes.
CYP-C aims to help us to better understand risk factors, improve outcomes, enhance the quality and accessibility of care, and reduce late effects.
The CYP-C surveillance system operates through a collaboration between the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, and the C17 Council, a network of all seventeen children's cancer hospitals across the country.
Childhood cancer surveillance in Canada
Each year, between 925 and 1,025 children under the age of fifteen are diagnosed with cancer in Canada. Over 86% of children survive a cancer diagnosis after five years, and this survival rate is expected to improve with new and better treatments.
We monitor childhood cancer in Canada:
- To learn why children get cancer
- To understand the disease
- To inform policies and develop better treatments
Get the latest data
The Cancer in Young People in Canada Data Tool is updated regularly to provide pan-Canadian surveillance data on children and youth with cancer. The tool includes indicators for incidence, prevalence, survival, relapse risk, mortality and potential years of life lost.
Make your mark on childhood cancer
Are you a researcher interested in childhood cancer? Researchers can apply to access anonymized, person-level data or aggregate data derived from as many as 200 variables. Learn more about the application process.
Data collection
The CYP-C program collects health and treatment information on each child/youth under the age of 19 diagnosed with cancer and presenting at 1 of the 17 pediatric oncology centres in Canada.
Designated staff at these hospitals send information without individuals' names by private, secured data channels to a national, electronic database. The database stores this information for ongoing research and monitoring.
Information collected includes:
Demographics
- Sex
- Date of birth
- Age at diagnosis
- Postal code
- Province
- Ethnicity
Diagnostic details
- Date of diagnosis
- Diagnosis type
- ICDO-M, ICDO-T and ICCC codes
- Stage at diagnosis
- Risk
- Grade
- Chromosomal testing
- Metastases and site(s)
- Predisposing and genetic conditions
Time to treatment
- First health care professional contacted
- Date first health care professional contacted
- Dates first seen by: oncologist, surgeon, and/or specialist
Treatment
- Treatment plan and start date
- Treatment completion details
- Chemotherapy and dose (agent(s) and dose)
- Surgery details
- Radiation (intent, type, site)
- Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
Outcomes
- Organ transplant (type and date)
- Complications
- Hospitalizations
- Relapse
- Vital status
- Height and weight
Learn more
Read the Government of Canada's publications about cancer in children and youth:
Infographics & Fact Sheets
- Childhood Cancer Counts in Canada (2022)
- Make your impact on childhood cancer (2019)
- Cancer in Children in Canada (0-14 years) (2012)
- Cancer in Adolescents in Canada (15-19 years) (2012)
Reports & Studies
- Second malignant neoplasms within 5 years from first primary diagnosis in pediatric oncology patients in Canada: a population-based retrospective cohort study (2024)
- Incidence of childhood cancer in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021)
- Trends in paediatric cancer survival in Canada, 1992 to 2017 (2021)
- Childhood cancer incidence in Canada: demographic and geographic variation of temporal trends (1992–2010) (2019)
- Domestic radon exposure and childhood leukaemia and lymphoma: a population-based study in Canada (2019)
- Risk of a second cancer in Canadians diagnosed with a first cancer in childhood or adolescence (2019)
- Cancer in Young People in Canada: A Report from the Enhanced Childhood Cancer Surveillance System (2017)
Contact us
Please contact the Cancer in Young People in Canada team by email at cypc-ccjc@phac-aspc.gc.ca.
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