Our Impact
We work to help proven approaches travel further and faster — so more people benefit from safer, higher-quality care.
Across Canada, our work supports people and organizations to advance safe, high-quality care, strengthen leadership and create the conditions for lasting change.
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Impact By the Numbers
80,000+
engagements with healthcare leaders across Canada
Over the past five years, our programs and activities have resulted in more than 80,000 engagements with healthcare leaders across the country.
83%
of teams spread their project beyond the original site
Over the past five years, 83% of improvement teams expanded their projects beyond their original site.
4 million+
people within our potential reach
Over the past five years, our collective efforts have had the potential to reach more than 4 million people across the country.
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Our Paths to Impact
Our impact is driven through three interconnected paths:
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We help what works reach more people and more places.
We do this through various programs and initiatives, including collaboratives, challenges and awards. They support shared learning and spread effective approaches across the system.
Sustaining change takes more than good ideas — it takes people with the skills, confidence and support to lead it.
Enabling teams to have the skills, confidence and support to lead and sustain change. We do this through leadership development programs, online and in-person learning programs, and practical tools and frameworks.
We convene people, evidence and lived experience to inform policies and practices that enable better care.
By bringing people, evidence and lived experience together we help shape systems that enable safer, higher-quality care. We do this by creating spaces where evidence, lived experience and system leadership come together. This happens through national and regional networks, collaboratives and policy-focused activities.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Our impact shows up in many ways — from faster improvement on the ground across care settings, to stronger leadership and learning across systems.
Teams improve faster with HEC’s support, helping proven quality and safety solutions reach more people.
Care providers, leaders, patients and caregivers learn together and apply what works in their local context.
Insights from across the system inform policies and practices that support better care.
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Moving Care Forward
In spring of 2025, HEC launched a pan-Canadian movement of people sharing knowledge and applying proven approaches to improve healthcare quality and safety for at least one million people across the country.
Today, Care Forward is how we bring our strategy to life with partners across the country.
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Measuring Real Impact
We track progress using four key measures that show how our strategy is working in practice to move Care Forward:
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Expanding access to care and easing pressure on emergency departments
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Helping more people age where they call home
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Advancing safe, person-centred long-term care
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Supporting the health workforce
Expanding access to care and easing pressure on emergency departments
Everyone in Canada deserves timely access to healthcare — including care closer to home and in their communities. When people can connect to the right care, at the right time, in the right place, they’re less likely to turn to emergency departments for issues that can be managed elsewhere.
Building on the success of other initiatives
We've gained valuable insights from programs focused on strengthening primary care, expanding virtual care and improving equitable access to palliative care. Each initiative has generated actionable guidance and case studies, supporting healthcare professionals to apply proven approaches that expand care and drive meaningful impact.
Learn how one team in Huntsville, Ontario is improving access to care for unattached patients and reducing emergency department visits, supported by HEC.
The evidence guiding this work
These programs are guided by four key policy pathways for reducing avoidable emergency department visits:
Supporting community-based health promotion and disease prevention
Expanding access to primary care
Enhancing appropriate care through service integration
Enabling role substitution, health workforce improvements and changing advanced practice roles
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Helping more people age where they call home
Teams across Canada are helping more people age safely and comfortably in their homes and communities.
Many older adults want to age at home and in their communities, but lack the support they need to stay mobile, access services and remain independent. Aging in place programs are improving access to home and community care, strengthening caregiver support, and easing pressure on hospitals and long-term care.
The results are clear — fewer hospital visits, reduced strain on long-term care, better quality of life for older adults and caregivers, and more efficient use of health and social care resources.
HEC provides funding and learning opportunities to help health and social service organizations plan and implement proven approaches that make aging in place possible. To scale this impact, we share resources, promising practices, and insights to help others apply these approaches in their own communities.
86%
of teams engaged differently with community members
Eighty-six percent of phase one teams engaged with community members in their program planning efforts differently because of knowledge gained in the collaborative.
89%
of older adults feel the program helped them stay at home
Eighty-nine percent of older adults surveyed feel Nursing Home Without Walls helped them stay at home, fostering stronger community connections.
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Advancing safe, person-centred long-term care
Person-centred care has been shown to improve quality of life and reduce symptoms of dementia. Long-term care homes across Canada are using these approaches to better understand and support residents. This leads to safer, more personalized care and better outcomes for residents, care partners and staff.
Long-term care homes across Canada have made progress in reducing the use of antipsychotics when they are not needed, thanks to efforts focused on addressing the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia through person-centred care. But challenges like staffing shortages and the impacts of COVID-19 have made it harder to maintain this progress. In some homes, antipsychotic use is rising again.
Person-centred care offers a safer, proven way to respond to behaviours without relying on medication. It helps residents feel seen and supported, benefits care partners and improves the work environment for staff.
Did you know?
Between 2014 and 2020, antipsychotic use steadily decreased from 27.2% to 20.2%, thanks to significant efforts to address the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia by other means.
The overall percentage of LTC residents on antipsychotics without a diagnosis of psychosis increased from 20.2% in 2019-2020 to 24.5% in 2022-2023. The rate held steady at 24.5 in 2023-2024.
A review of 19 clinical trials with nearly 4,000 participants showed that person-centred care improves quality of life and reduces symptoms of dementia.
Building on the success of other initiatives
We've gained valuable insights from programs focused on applying a person-centred approach to care in long-term care. Each initiative has generated actionable guidance and case studies, supporting healthcare professionals to apply proven approaches that reduce potentially inappropriate antipsychotic use, builds staff skills and puts residents’ needs first.
Since 2014, HEC has supported hundreds of long-term care homes to implement the Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics (AUA) Approach.
Learn how one team in Vancouver, British Columbia is using safer, person-centred approaches to care for people living with dementia, supported by HEC.
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Supporting the health workforce
Supporting meaningful solutions to address workforce challenges, building a stronger and more sustainable healthcare system for all.
Whether they’re working in a rural or remote setting, in community and primary care, in a long-term care home, in a regional health authority or in a provincial, territorial, or federal health department, members of Canada’s health workforce should feel safe, secure and empowered to do their best work every single day.
However, challenges facing healthcare workers have intensified in recent years, driven in part by the demands of the pandemic. Those responsible for delivering safe, high-quality care are experiencing stress and burnout, leading to increased turnover and critical staffing shortages. This in turn impacts the safety and quality of care received by patients, residents and clients across the care continuum in Canada.
Solutions centred on enhancing sustainable staffing levels, fostering safe and inclusive workplaces, developing flexible workplace structures and providing equitable compensation and career advancement opportunities can improve conditions for Canada’s health workforce and ensure that access to safe and high-quality healthcare is a reality for all.
How is Healthcare Excellence Canada supporting the retention of health workers?
Those working in Canada’s healthcare sector have proven to be creative and resourceful in the face of unprecedented challenges. Many dedicated teams, organizations and individuals are using innovative approaches to support and retain health workers. At HEC, we are committed to helping healthcare teams across Canada improve the retention of their health workers so that everyone in Canada can have full access to safe and high-quality healthcare, including by:
Helping support and scale the impactful solutions emerging in healthcare organizations across the country
Collaborating with the Canadian Institute for Health Information to better understand workforce retention best practices in northern, rural and remote communities
Developing policy considerations for retaining internationally educated healthcare workers in Canada
Working with the Canadian Medical Association to address administrative burden in healthcare
Nova Scotia Health's NICHE program (Nova Scotia’s International Community of Healthcare Workers Engagement) participated in the Health Workforce Innovation Challenge, delivered by Healthcare Excellence Canada in collaboration with 18 supporting organizations.
Explore All Impact Reports
2024-2025 Impact Report: Care that Counts
Explore the report2023-2024 Impact Report: Building Momentum, Sustaining Impact
PDF (10 MB)2022-2023 Impact Report: With and For
PDF (10 MB)2021-2022 Impact Report: Partnering Meaningfully
PDF (4 MB)2020-2021 Healthcare Excellence Canada Annual Report
PDF (619 KB)