The Canadian Atlas of Palliative Care: Ontario Edition – Mapping the Present to Meet Future Palliative Care Needs, a study funded by the PSI Foundation, has officially launched.
Held on June 9th at Vantage Venues in Toronto, the launch event featured a presentation by Pallium Canada CEO Jeff Moat and Lead Researcher Dr. Leonie Herx, who provided an overview of the newly released Ontario edition. PSI Past Chair Dr. Robin Walker and PSI CEO Samuel Moore were also in attendance and led opening remarks.
What a great evening in Toronto! We celebrated the Canadian Atlas of Palliative Care: Ontario Edition earlier this week with our partners and leaders. Thank you to all who joined us, and to our donors and partners for bringing this milestone to life: https://t.co/HdLbpHJYi1 pic.twitter.com/h5ymM3WRGw
— Pallium Canada (@palliumcanada) June 11, 2025
Reflecting on the funded research grant, Dr. Robin Walker remarked: “this is a wonderful project that has the opportunity to change palliative care and change the system. The Atlas is a wonderful example of increasing knowledge and putting it into practice.”
In 2021, Dr. Jose Pereira of McMaster University’s Family Medicine Department was the recipient of the PSI Health Systems Research award that funded $96,500 towards the Ontario Atlas. This study used a multi-phased mixed-method approach to collect data. In partnership with the Ontario Palliative Care Network, Ontario Health, Hospice Palliative Care Ontario (HPCO), and McMaster University, this edition of the Atlas provides a snapshot of the state of palliative care in Ontario.
Dr. Leonie Herx highlighted that the Atlas presents data across nine key domains:
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- Demographics
- Policy
- Services
- System performance
- Education
- Professional activities
- Focused populations
- Community engagement
- Other activities
She emphasized that the Atlas was designed to reflect and amplify what stakeholders across the province shared with the research team, ensuring the report stays grounded in the lived realities of those delivering and receiving care. Stakeholders are already using data from the Atlas to inform their work.
Looking ahead, Dr. Herx noted the end goal is to create an Atlas that spans all of Canada, with particular attention to addressing the needs of Indigenous peoples. “We not only have the data on the state of palliative care,” she added, “but we also have the data to press for action.”
Thanks to PSI’s support, the study revealed some of the following key findings:
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- Ontario benefits from strong provincial frameworks guiding palliative care.
- Incomplete data and undefined standards limit effective care planning.
- There is a significant shortage of acute palliative care beds.
- In many sub-regions, primary-level palliative care is predominantly delivered by specialist teams.
- Equitable access remains a critical issue for pediatric patients and underserved populations.
- A vibrant research community exists, with several university-affiliated centres actively contributing to palliative care research.
- Rural and remote areas lack formal strategies and often have only partial government funding.
- There is an inadequate number of hospice and inpatient palliative care unit (PCU) beds across the province.
We’re excited to share the Ontario Edition of the Canadian Atlas of Palliative Care, developed with support from @McMasterU! This first-of-its-kind resource in the province maps #PalliativeCare access, gaps, and equity challenges across Ontario. 🔗https://t.co/Bcms6KL7BA pic.twitter.com/nkWdsWJ1dT
— Pallium Canada (@palliumcanada) June 10, 2025
Funded Research Summary
“Palliative care is a human right. Multiple reports have called for better palliative care access across Canada. Significant gains have been made, but often piecemeal. Access to palliative care still varies considerably across and within provinces/territories. Many hospitals and communities have sub-optimal coverage, and palliative care education is often absent or inadequate in medical and nursing schools. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed strengths and gaps across settings, including in long-term care. Atlases have been developed for Europe, Africa and Latin America to systematically map the status of palliative care across jurisdictions and domains (e.g., governmental and regional policies, resources, specialist palliative care services in hospitals and the community, in-patient palliative care beds (such as units and hospices), education, volunteerism and palliative care for vulnerable populations). This Atlas will describe the current state of palliative care in Ontario regions across such domains and indicators and compare and contrast between (health) regions. Atlases have been effective change agents, identifying excellence ready to spread and highlighting areas for (further) improvement. Canada needs such an Atlas, and this Ontario-based work provides a starting point, harnessing existing data and the insights of clinicians, educators, policymakers and leaders across the province via surveys and key informant interviews.”
As noted by Dr. Herx, atlases serve as powerful tools for change, help identify best practices that can be scaled, and expose areas in need of investment or reform. This Ontario edition offers a valuable foundation for a future Canadian-wide Atlas initiative to improve the health of all.
For more information on the Canadian Atlas of Palliative Care: Ontario Edition, visit pallium.ca/ontarioatlas.
