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A Framework for Palliative Care


This consultation is now closed. 

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Health Canada has initiated a public consultation to collect input and ideas for the purpose of developing a framework on palliative care. This consultation will run for three months from May to July, 2018. During this time we will engage Canadians on themes like: advance care planning, person and family-centred care, access issues, special populations, health care provider training and supports, caregiver needs, and community engagement. Please bookmark this page and join us regularly. We hope that you join the discussion here, and then take it to your circle of family and friends. Palliative care will impact all of us at some point in our lives, so let’s start the conversation now.

“Access to palliative care is an important issue for many Canadians and these consultations are an important step in helping to improve Canadians’ access to services. We look forward to hearing views from across the country to help us develop a framework for palliative care in Canada.”

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor
Minister of Health

Prior to participating in this consultation, please review the Privacy Notice for more information on your privacy rights.

Health Canada has initiated a public consultation to collect input and ideas for the purpose of developing a framework on palliative care. This consultation will run for three months from May to July, 2018. During this time we will engage Canadians on themes like: advance care planning, person and family-centred care, access issues, special populations, health care provider training and supports, caregiver needs, and community engagement. Please bookmark this page and join us regularly. We hope that you join the discussion here, and then take it to your circle of family and friends. Palliative care will impact all of us at some point in our lives, so let’s start the conversation now.

“Access to palliative care is an important issue for many Canadians and these consultations are an important step in helping to improve Canadians’ access to services. We look forward to hearing views from across the country to help us develop a framework for palliative care in Canada.”

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor
Minister of Health

Prior to participating in this consultation, please review the Privacy Notice for more information on your privacy rights.

Tell your story

Share your palliative care story.

What went well and what could have improved the experience?

We are interested in hearing from everyone, including health care providers, people living with life-threatening illness, caregivers, family and friends, and others interested in this area.


Thank you for sharing your story, it will help to inform the development of a Framework for Palliative Care in Canada.

CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

  • A clinician's perspective from both sides

    by drhealth, over 6 years ago

    I have been working in palliative care for many years and am fortunate to live in a community where access to palliative care for the most part is fantastic.  That being said, and despite being a palliative care clinician, I was never able to access palliative care services for my mother in-law as she was followed by a liver specialist who didn't believe she was an appropriate candidate.  I never was able to advocate for this before she died.  We need to get beyond the debate and stigma and ensure that every individual is automatically connected with a palliative approach... Continue reading

  • My husband's story

    by sandralynn, over 6 years ago

    My husband, age 58, was recently hospitalized out of home community with an acute life-threatening condition that he succumbed to after 5 weeks of complex and invasive treatment.

    He was initially cared for on a unit where there was essentially one-to-one nursing as his condition required constant monitoring and intervention by both nursing staff and physicians.

    He was transferred to a "step down" unit placed at the end of a long hall and left on his own to await the nursing staff and physicians' visits. His condition was not initially deemed "palliative"; however after 3 weeks it became apparent that... Continue reading

  • The need for understanding and triggering a palliative approach to care

    by cklondon, over 6 years ago

    As a palliative nurse, I understood how to initiate access to palliative care, but if I had not done so this story would have been very different.  This story is about my father.  He had end-stage prostate cancer, and was seeing an oncologist, a radiation oncologist, and a cardiologist as he was also having issues with his heart. (damage from the chemo and ongoing afib)  He also had a family doctor who he saw regularly.  He eventually developed vascular issues in his foot, with some gangerene noted in one toe and increased pain in the foot.  He then was referred... Continue reading

  • Navigating Palliative Care: A Caregiver's Perspective on What Went Wrong

    by baby, over 6 years ago

    As the wife of a man with a long history of heart failure, navigating the health care system was often confusing and foreign.  This is my story, and I apologize ahead of time if it is hard to read, because it is a painful story. My husband was a good and loving man, father and grandfather, and a hard worker. I watched the illness take its toll over two decades and wondered how we would all manage his care, given his increasing hospitalizations and medical appointments. My husband and I would ask each involved doctor and specialist what we... Continue reading