Design and improvement of preventive and primary care processes

人口老龄化、劳动力流失、新兴技术的采用、医疗设施的拥挤以及及时获得医疗服务是医疗服务提供者和政策制定者面临的主要挑战。认识到这些问题的紧迫性和重要性，联邦政府将“健康及相关生命科学和技术”确定为新科技战略的四个优先领域之一。在过去十年中，联邦和省政府在卫生政策方面投入了大量精力。联邦政府委托编写了两份主要报告（1997年的国家卫生论坛和罗曼诺报告），而魁北克、安大略、阿尔伯塔、萨斯喀彻温和不列颠哥伦比亚省至少发表了一份卫生保健委员会报告。在这些努力的推动下，大多数省份都出台了具体的立法，联邦政府也给予了一定的关注。第一部长于2004年宣布的“加强保健十年计划”确认，向所有加拿大人及时提供优质保健服务是最优先事项。

Aging population, attrition in the workforce, adoption of emerging technologies, congestion at healthcare facilities and timely access to health services constitute major challenges facing healthcare providers and policy makers. Recognizing the urgency and significance of these problems the federal government identified "health and related life sciences and technologies" as one of the four priority areas in its new science & technology strategy. The federal and provincial governments have spent considerable effort on health policies during the past decade. The federal government commissioned two major reports (the National Forum on Health in 1997 and the Romanow report, while Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia published at least one healthcare commission report. Specific legislation has emerged in most provinces emanating from these efforts and the federal government has also taken some heed. The "10-year plan to strengthen healthcare", announced by the First Ministers in 2004, recognized providing all Canadians with timely access to quality care as the foremost priority.