Lung cancer screening progress in Canada
Canada’s progress on lung cancer screening
Key takeaway
With the Partnership’s leadership and funding support for provincial partners, lung cancer screening is being implemented faster than any previous cancer screening program.
Organized lung cancer screening
Through leadership, coordination and strategic investment, the Partnership helped achieve in eight years what took decades for other cancer screening programs: the rapid implementation of lung cancer screening across most of Canada, which targets individuals at high-risk. (3)
Current lung cancer screening activities
Hover over each province and territory for the status of organized lung cancer screening across Canada and the provincial and territorial integrated smoking cessation programs. (3)
- National Lung Screening Trial Research Team; Aberle DR, Adams AM, Berg CD, Black WC, Clapp JD, Fagerstrom RM, et al. Reduced lung-cancer mortality with low-dose computed tomographic screening. N Engl J Med. 2011 Aug ;365(5):395-409. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1102873. PMID: 21714641
- de Koning HJ, van der Aalst CM, de Jong PA, Scholten ET, Nackaerts K, Heuvelmans MA, et al. Reduced lung-cancer mortality with volume CT screening in a randomized trial. N Engl J Med. 2020 Feb ;382(6):503-513. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1911793. PMID: 31995683
- Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. Lung cancer screening in Canada, 2026: Summary [Internet]. Toronto (ON): Canadian Partnership Against Cancer; 2026 [cited 2026 Aug 10]. Available from: https://www.partnershipagainstcancer.ca/topics/lung-cancer-screening-canada/summary/