Cultural Safety Design Collaborative
Racism experienced by First Nations, Inuit and Métis in the healthcare system is a significant patient safety and quality issue, and healthcare organizations are increasingly recognizing the need to address systemic racism and improve cultural safety.
The Cultural Safety Design Collaborative supports non-Indigenous health service delivery organizations across Canada to work alongside First Nations, Inuit and Métis to address systemic racism and improve cultural safety and quality healthcare.
About the collaborative
This collaborative aims to help organizations start to address systemic racism and improve cultural safety and quality of care. It runs from Spring 2023 to Winter 2025 and convenes organization-based teams across Canada.
Through this collaborative, HEC works with organization-based teams and their patients, families, communities to:
- Identify, develop and implement improvement projects to improve cultural safety and address racism experienced by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis in the healthcare system.
- Foster a shared learning network designed to help teams draw from existing evidence, tools and resources.
Organization-based teams will:
- Develop relationships with the First Nations, Inuit and Métis patients, families and communities who access care within their organizations.
- Through these relationships, collaboratively identify a priority area for change.
- Participate in learning and networking opportunities with program coaches, experienced faculty and peers.
- Receive up to $50,000 in seed funding from HEC and up to $83,000 from Indigenous Services Canada to support co-creating an improvement project to address racism and improve cultural safety according to an identified priority.
Current participating teams
We continue to engage in discussions with additional sites to have teams from across the country. More teams will be added as information becomes available.
- The Government of Nunavut (Iqaluit, Nunavut)
- Labrador-Grenfell Health (Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador)
- The Ottawa Hospital (Ottawa, Ontario)
- Thompson General Hospital, Northern Region Health Authority (Thompson, Manitoba)
- Women’s Health Clinic (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
- Watson Lake Community Hospital, Government of Yukon (Watson Lake, YT)
In early 2024, more information regarding the teams and their improvement projects will be available.
