Schedule

More details coming soon

• Meals

Across Canada, provincial and territorial health systems are being reorganized. Governance structures are shifting, funding is being redirected, and accountability lines are changing in response to workforce shortages, fiscal pressure, and public demand for faster access to care. In these moments of transition, priorities are reset — and children are not always at the centre of those decisions. This keynote explores how large-scale health reforms can unintentionally affect children and youth when their needs are not built directly into system design. Drawing on examples from across the country, Dr. Alika Lafontaine examines how funding models, data systems, workforce planning, and political incentives shape pediatric access during periods of upheaval. He identifies the patterns that push systems to focus on short-term crisis management while overlooking early intervention and long-term health outcomes. Participants will leave with clear tools to spot risks to child health during reform and practical guardrails to ensure new systems deliberately protect and prioritize children. In the space between old structures and new ones, this session challenges leaders to design health reform that does not leave children behind. Keynote Presenter: Alika Lafontaine, MD, Indigenous Physician | Healthcare Leader and Changemaker

• Plenary Session
• Recorded Session

This study aimed to examine how healthcare professionals experience and navigate coverage-related barriers when caring for uninsured and underinsured children. We conducted an interpretive qualitative study. Professionals from two tertiary, university-affiliated pediatric hospitals participated in semi-structured interviews. Some clinicians relied on informal strategies, including bypassing standard procedures, reducing or waiving fees, and personally securing medications. These practices were unevenly distributed across professionals. Clinicians’ accounts highlight the fragility of relying on discretionary practices to address systemic barriers. Standardized public healthcare coverage procedures may reduce inequities in access to pediatric care and alleviate clinicians’ organizational burden by shifting from individual to collective responsibility. Presenter: Annie Liv, Université de Montréal and Centre de recherche Azrieli du CHU Sainte Justine

CHEO is working to improve culturally safe care for Indigenous youth and youth. A pilot project will introduce the Aaniish Naa Gegii (ACHWM), an (w)holistic measure of spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental well-being co-created with and for Indigenous youth, within Inpatient Mental Health units. Guided by Indigenous partners, staff will receive training in culturally safe, strengths-based approaches. Indigenous patients will be given an opportunity to complete the ACHWM at admission, with results used to tailor care plans. The pilot will evaluate youth participation, staff experiences, and impacts on care quality. Findings will inform future refinement, expansion, and community shared reporting. Presenter: Nancy Young, PhD, CHEO Research Institute and Professor at UOttawa

• Concurrent Session

Many transition-aged youth (16-24) experience the ‘Missing Middle’: when they are deemed “too well” for hospital-based mental health and substance use (MHSU) care, but “too unwell” for community-based, primary mental health care services alone. The Missing Middle Program at BC Children’s Hospital is leading partnership, education, and mentorship initiatives to transform MHSU systems, such that all youth and young adults receive appropriate and timely supports. This session integrates practice and research findings centering youth and caregiver lived experience to examine the Missing Middle and its impacts, while encouraging attendees to explore practice and systems-level opportunities and solutions. Presenters: Sarah Patrick, BC Children's Hospital Shivinder Dhari, University of British Columbia Ava Leas, Youth Action and Change Circle, Missing Middle Program

• Concurrent Session

In 2020, Canada’s economic and public health crises intensified systemic challenges in pediatric care, particularly for neurodiverse children and youth. Three leading children’s hospitals responded by designing a first-of-its-kind model of care, jointly funded by two Ontario ministries. Through cross‑sector collaboration, the program harmonizes institutional mandates to address health system performance while supporting acute care, social services, and educational needs. By convening partners and taking program development ownership, Ontario’s three children’s hospitals created a blueprint for future cross‑sector initiatives. Attendees will gain insights into navigating political systems, pooling resources, unpacking system-wide challenges, building trust and focusing efforts to maximize collective impact. Presenters: Karen Margallo, Director, Child and Youth Ambulatory Services at McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences Taylor Johansen, Director, Neurodevelopmental Health at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Kathryn Decker, Senior Director, Neurodevelopmental Health and Inclusion Services at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

• Concurrent Session

Discover how the Pediatric Perioperative Quality Lead (PQL) is transforming surgical care at IWK Health. This session will explore the journey from building a strong business case to recruiting the ideal candidate, and how the role integrates with QI methodology and data analytics. Learn how the PQL formalized the Pediatric Perioperative QI Committee and drove impactful initiatives, including triple-discipline briefings, temperature monitoring and surgical pre-warming, LEAN 5S optimization, and sustainability efforts. We’ll conclude with a look ahead, plans to advance perioperative quality, and why this leadership role remains essential to improving outcomes. Presenter: Kristin Taylor, Perioperative Manager, Children’s Health, IWK Health

The Infant and Early Mental Health Care Pathways initiative responds to Canada’s longstanding gap in mental health support for children ages 0-6. Despite strong evidence for early intervention, practitioners receive limited training, and families face fragmented, inequitable systems. The initiative builds local capacity through co‑developed, culturally responsive pathways that improve early identification and access to services. Using a five‑phase process, it partners with diverse communities, including Indigenous groups. Early results show stronger collaboration, greater practitioner awareness, and improved ability to address early mental health concerns. The model offers an equity‑focused approach that is adoptable across broader child health systems. Presenter 1: Hadir Ashry, Senior Project Manager, Infant and Early Mental Health Promotion Presenter 2: Karys Peterson-Katz, Data and Evaluation Specialist, Infant and Early Mental Health Promotion

• Concurrent Session

• Meals

This session explores how Nova Scotia is building an inclusive, evidence-based model of gender-affirming care for young people through coordinated, system-level design. Delegates will learn how regional Gender-Affirming Care Clinics were developed using multidisciplinary teams, community engagement, and alignment with national and international standards of care. The presentation will highlight early outcomes, practical lessons, and challenges encountered in expanding access across diverse regions. Attendees will gain insights into scalable approaches that strengthen collaboration, build physician confidence and capacity, and promote culturally safe, trauma-informed care within children’s and youth health systems. Presenters: Jennifer Wheeldon, Director of Mental Health & Addictions, Nova Scotia Health Dr. Jennifer Hilliard, Pediatrician, Kentville Pediatrics / Nova Scotia Health

This presentation will share qualitative findings from a study exploring perceived barriers and facilitators related to accessing rural emergency department care for autistic children and their caregivers. Results will include findings from interviews with both children and caregivers supplemented with drawings created by child participants. Recommendations for direct healthcare practice garnered from participants will be discussed, along with broader systemic implications interpreted via Critical Disability Theory. Novel methods using dyadic interviewing and an arts-based approach will be highlighted. This research elevates the desired changes as voiced by this vulnerable population to promote and advocate for equitable and inclusive healthcare delivery. Presenter: Jade Campbell, RN, MSN, University of British Columbia Okanagan

• Concurrent Session

Families face incredible mental and emotional challenges when a child requires healthcare away from home. Although research shows that improving caregiver mental health enhances pediatric outcomes, this is often overlooked in traditional pediatric healthcare models. Ronald McDonald House Alberta fills this critical gap by delivering family-centred mental health support through an innovative Art and Music Therapy program. This session will share how Ronald McDonald House Alberta secured multi-year funding; review preliminary findings showing reduced caregiver stress, greater emotional safety, and improved recovery; and explore why Ronald McDonald House Alberta is an essential extension of Alberta’s pediatric healthcare system. Presenter 1: Caitlin Riddoch, General Manager, Ronald McDonald House Alberta Presenter 2: Natasha Tiemstra, Chief Operations Officer, Ronald McDonald House Alberta

• Concurrent Session

This session offers a practical overview of how we overcame barriers to systematically collecting health equity data (i.e. sociodemographic and social needs screening) from clinical encounters to ensure equity guides our entire learning health system cycle. We will outline both the data infrastructure (dashboards, scorecards, analytics) and clinical pathways and resources (Family Navigation Hub) built to drive meaningful improvements across care, programs, and the organization - with a commitment to provide care that’s socially accountable. We will also share use cases that demonstrate how this data informs efforts to reduce inequities in care outcomes and support practice change implementation. Presenters: Joanne Maxwell, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Jessica Reid, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Lyndsay Tchegus-Veiga, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Stephanie McFarland, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.

This session will give a practical overview of ThinkRare, a rule-based AI algorithm built to help frontline clinicians recognize when a patient may have an undiagnosed rare disease and prompt referral to Genetics. We will summarize how the algorithm uses structured EMR data to flag patients and, more recently, how it runs live in our EMR to trigger real-time Best Practice Advisories. Attendees will hear early results from real-world implementation, including referral outcomes and a high diagnostic yield. The session will focus on what has worked, what we are learning, and how we plan to scale ThinkRare across Canada to reduce diagnostic delays for rare disease patients. Presenters: Alexandre White-Brown, Genetic Counsellor, CHEO Research Institute Ivan Terekhov, Director Research Informatics, AI & Technology, CHEO Research Institute

Youth with disabilities in Canada face uneven access to supports due to fragmented provincial and territorial disability policies. This presentation shares findings from a comparative analysis of disability programs across all jurisdictions, examining access and waitlists, eligibility and program design, service delivery and cross-ministerial coordination, and who is and is not being reached. Core findings draw from the work of fellows within the ADVANCE Network, a pan-Canadian initiative focused on strengthening disability policy and systems through collaborative research. The session will also feature lived experience perspectives, grounding policy insights in real-world experiences and highlighting opportunities to improve equity, coordination, and access to disability supports nationwide. Presenter 1: Brittany Finlay, Senior Research Associate, Disability Policy Research Program, UCalgary Presenter 2: Genevieve Currie, Family Partner and Associate Professor, Mount Royal University Presenter 3: Stephanie Paravan, Family Partner and Co-Chair, Pediatric Pain Management Practice & Policy Network

Grab your lunch and join us for the closing session!

• Meals

As we close Tomorrow’s Promise, Today’s Plan: Transforming Children’s Healthcare in Canada, this facilitated workshop is where ideas become action—translating collective insight into a shared national path forward. Building on the bold ideas, persistent challenges, and diverse perspectives explored throughout the conference, this session will harness that momentum to define what comes next. Grounded in foundational work led by Children's Healthcare Canada—including the Beyond Band-Aids report, the THRIVE report, and economic analysis conducted with The Conference Board of Canada—this session focuses on moving from evidence to execution. Through a structured, interactive process, delegates will help shape the core elements of a national child healthcare strategy, action plan, and accountability framework, grounded in what we’ve learned and focused on what must happen next. Participants will: Clarify what will change with a national strategy Validate and refine priority areas for action, informed by evidence and conference insights Translate strategic directions into concrete actions across policy, care delivery, workforce, research, and family partnership Prioritize high-impact actions and key enablers to accelerate system transformation This is not a traditional closing—it is a working session with purpose. Delegates will actively contribute to shaping a coordinated, pan-Canadian approach to improving outcomes for children, youth, and families. Participants will leave not only inspired, but having helped define a clear, collective mandate for change—and how we move it forward, together.

• Plenary Session
• Recorded Session

More details coming soon

• Plenary Session
• Recorded Session