Peoples-specific, self-determined care projects

Partner: Government of Yukon

This project establishes the Yukon First Nation Patient Navigation Program to improve cancer care experiences and outcomes for Yukon First Nations by:

• Piloting two Patient Navigator roles (within the First Nations Health Program at the Yukon Hospital Corporation and within the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation)
• Improving access to cancer care, ensuring culturally safe and supportive services for patients and their families
• Engaging Yukon communities to raise awareness of the Patient Navigation Program and strengthen local cancer care networks
• Facilitating ongoing collaboration between Patient Navigators, working groups, networks and committees to ensure coordinated care and shared learning
• Implementing continuous quality improvement by assessing the project and gathering lessons learned to inform sustainability planning and support future work.

Partner: Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority

Building on a previously funded project that led to the development of survivorship and navigation tools, this project aims to implement a nurse-led virtual model of care for medical oncology patients and will:

• Engage key territorial and community stakeholders to guide the implementation of nurse-based care options that support the needs of medical oncology patients, with a focus on First Nations, Inuit and Métis residents in rural and remote communities
• Collaborate on communication and engagement activities to embed community feedback and support continuous quality improvement in the delivery of the virtual model of care
• Undertake change management activities to ensure support is in place for stakeholders throughout the project planning and implementation phases
• The project received ongoing funding from the Government of Northwest Territories starting in April 2026

Partner: Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority

This project, in collaboration with territorial health system partners, aims to implement a virtual nurse-led patient education model for individuals awaiting colonoscopy or following a positive Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT). It will focus on:

• Developing a virtual education model to support pre-endoscopy care and coordination
• Strengthening partnerships to improve diagnostic pathways and navigation support
• Enhancing access to culturally safe, home-based education for rural and remote communities
• Co-creating system change through engagement, capacity building and change management with territorial care team

Partner: Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority

This project, in collaboration with territorial health authorities, regional partners and clinical experts, aims to implement an HPV primary self-sampling program in three pilot regions within the Northwest Territories and will focus on:

• Developing culturally safe cervical cancer screening approaches
• Strengthening partnerships to support local and regional implementation
• Enhancing access to screening and follow-up care for underserved populations
• Co-creating updated clinical guidelines, referral pathways and sustainability plans to support long-term scale-up across the territory

Partner: Nunatsiavut Government

This project aims to reduce tobacco and vaping use in five Nunatsiavut communities. By developing community-driven strategies, the project will center Inuit-specific perspectives on smoking and vaping to create a regional approach to prevention, reduction and cessation. This project will work towards:

• Engaging Inuit youth and adults to understand factors that influence smoking and vaping
• Identifying support, education and resources for tobacco/vaping reduction and cessation
• Developing a regional Nunatsiavut Inuit Tobacco and Vaping Reduction Strategy, informed by community input

Partner: Government of Nunavut

Building on a successful pilot initiative, this project aims to implement a population-based colorectal screening program across Nunavut. This initiative will support early detection, build local capacity for culturally safe care and establish a foundation for additional cancer screening programs in the territory. This work will be realized through:

• Engaging communities to promote screening and increase awareness of its benefits and how to access it
• Establishing clear screening and referral pathways
• Distributing Fecal Immunochemical Tests (FIT kits) through local health centres and ensuring follow-up care
• Ongoing collaboration with Nunavut communities and health partners

Partner: Métis Nation British Columbia

Métis Nation British Columbia will implement Métis-specific programs informed by community-identified needs. Focus areas for this work include:

• Increasing awareness of cancer prevention, screening and treatment options for Métis individuals and communities across British Columbia
• Reducing barriers—financial, geographic and systemic—to accessing cancer care
• Strengthening Métis participation in screening and prevention activities through culturally relevant programming
• Sustaining partnerships to ensure Métis ways of knowing and being are reflected in cancer care initiatives

Partner: Otipemisiwak Métis Government

Métis people in Alberta continue to face barriers to accessing cancer care that reflects their cultural values and community needs. This project, led by the Otipemisiwak Métis Government, responds to those challenges by moving the Alberta Métis Cancer Strategy into action. Through collaboration with community and cancer system partners across Alberta, the project will:

• Deliver on the development of culturally meaningful programming
• Strengthen partnerships for change
• Enhance access to culturally safe resources; and
• Co-create solutions to address data gaps.

Partner: Opaskwayak Health Authority

This project, led by a three-way partnership between Opaskwayak Health Authority, Shared Health and the Northern Regional Health Authority, builds on the success of the Paramedics Providing Palliative Care at Home initiative in the Interlake Eastern Regional Health Authority, and will develop a model of care tailored to the needs of First Nations families and caregivers in Northern and remote Manitoba. This will be achieved by:

• Engaging community partners, Knowledge Keepers and Elders to guide the planning and implementation of culturally appropriate end-of-life care
• Expanding the palliative paramedics training project by involving EMS workers, palliative care nurses, home care nurses, families and training unregulated healthcare workers, including community health workers, volunteers, and mental health counselors, in palliative care approaches
• Developing an information portal for health service providers to share patient information, communicate care goals and access devices to support patients and families in remote communities

Partner: Dakota Ojibway Health Services & Southern Health Santé Sud

This project focuses on enhancing palliative care in four Dakota Ojibway Health Services communities by:

• Strengthening community informed care through engagement sessions with communities to explore how individuals want to receive care, identify access barriers and gather lived experiences with the health system.
• Supporting care closer to home by improving hospital discharge planning, piloting provincial respite programs in First Nations communities and offering workshops for health professionals to help individuals remain at home longer.
• Advancing cultural safety by co-developing palliative care resources with First Nations health staff, delivering community-based workshops for non-Indigenous providers and launching a Lunch and Learn Indigenous Cultural Safety Series.
• Fostering reciprocal learning through the creation of an Education Council made up of community members and health staff, building sustainable relationships and integrating Traditional Medicine through a Two-Eyed Seeing approach.

Partner: Kenora Chiefs Advisory

This community-driven initiative supports culturally safe palliative care by centering knowledge and priorities for First Nations cancer patients and their families. Focus areas include:

• Strengthening provider capacity through First Nations-focused palliative care curricula and partnerships
• Delivering culturally safe education and training with frontline workers/providers and caregivers
• Developing protocols to support early and ongoing communication with patients, families and caregivers
• Publishing a report on the experience and impact of training/workshops across KCA and the communities serve

Partner: Pallium Canada

Building on the LEAP Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility courses, this project will accelerate regional adaptation and expansion of the course in Ontario, with a vision for national scale. In partnership with the Georgian Bay Native Friendship Centre and the Barrie Native Friendship Centre, this project will focus on:

• Refining the LEAP Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility course to meet the needs of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in Central and Southern Ontario
• Supporting healthcare providers in strengthening culturally safe practices when working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis clients in urban settings
• Ensuring educational content is informed by regional Peoples-specific voices, lived experience and community leadership

Partner: Canadian Virtual Hospice

This project will develop Peoples-specific and culturally informed grief resources and education by:

• Co-creating culturally grounded resources to support grief and loss among First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, families and communities
• Enhancing understanding of First Nations, Inuit and Métis perspectives on grief to improve patient and family engagement, satisfaction and care experiences
• Amplifying First Nations, Inuit and Métis voices and improving access to culturally safer, more respectful bereavement supports
• Contributing to improved mental wellness by supporting grief in ways that reduce long-term health impacts
• Providing community-based care providers in home care, palliative care and cancer control with access to evidence-informed tools through the expansion of LivingMyCulture.ca

Partner: CISSS de la Gaspesie

This project is a partnership between Santé Québec (CISSS) Gaspésie and the Listuguj Community Health Services to improve Mi’gmaq participation in cancer screening and diagnosis and improve navigation between community health services and diagnostic centers by:

• implementing a Mi’gmaq-led lung, cervical, breast and colorectal cancer screening and diagnosis pathway
• culturally adapting clinical guidelines and tools to meet Mi’gmaq patient needs
• developing a clinical coaching program and educational tools for Mi’gmaq community nurses.

This work will enable the synthesis of lessons learned in order to support the scaling up and dissemination of this model in other communities across Quebec.

Partner: Metis Settlements in Alberta

In collaboration with Elders, Knowledge Keepers and local health and community partners, this project addresses the cancer prevention needs of Métis youth residing on Métis settlements across Northern Alberta by:

• Strengthening cancer prevention knowledge among Métis youth through promoting awareness of healthy lifestyle choices
• Engaging Métis youth in interactive learning activities supported by Métis settlement Elders and Knowledge Keepers, focused on relevant health issues and concerns, such as HPV and HPV vaccination
• Supporting holistic well-being among youth through the sharing of Métis culture, teachings and traditions as a foundation for lifelong health
• Participating in collaborative activities with Métis Settlement Family Resource Centre partners to share project outcomes with community partners
• Hosting youth-healthcare provider dialogues to support knowledge sharing about culturally safe and appropriate health services delivery and programs for Métis/Indigenous youth

• Project description to follow