The Santis team shares its insights on the key sectors and factors driving decisions and change in the health care and life sciences sector across Canada.
Council of the Federation Meeting, Summer 2026 - Wrap Memo
July 24, 2026 - As Chair of the Council of the Federation (COF) this year, Premier of Prince Edward Island (PEI), Rob Lantz, hosted the Summer Meetings of the Premiers and First Ministers in Charlottetown. The meetings were set against the threat of a deepening recession, a stalled renewal of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), and fresh tariffs from the United States (U.S.) — economic pressures that certainly helped shape every conversation throughout the past couple days.
Read MoreNavigating the Shifting Women’s Health Landscape
At Santis Health, we help organizations and companies navigate policy shifts and anticipate changing government funding priorities across Canada’s health ecosystem. Women’s health, in particular, is undergoing transformative changes and attracting unprecedented attention. Canada is moving towards introducing a national framework for women’s health, intended to fix inequities in systemic access to care and knowledge to improve health outcomes. There are plenty of stats that illustrate why Canada has been in dire need of a women’s national health strategy.
Read MoreICYMI: FAO Report on 2025-26 Q4 Spending
The Financial Accountability Office (FAO) released its year-end Expenditure Monitor for 2025 to 2026, and the numbers show where the province is actually prioritizing its dollars. In the 2025-26 fiscal year, health spending reached $97.2 billion, up 6.1% from the prior year and $1.2 billion more than the government originally planned to spend.
Read MoreRapid Recap: Ontario Launches Provincial Primary Care Record Procurement
Thursday, July 16, 2026 - Yesterday, the Ontario government formally launched the procurement for its provincewide Primary Care Medical Record (PCMR) system after closing out its marketing sounding exercise earlier this month. The province is moving forward with an open competitive process to establish a Vendor of Record arrangement, led by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with Ontario Health and Supply Ontario.
Read MoreGovernment Affairs Team Bolsters Expertise with Two New Staff Members
Ottawa, ON - June 30, 2026 - Santis Health is pleased to welcome two accomplished professionals to our Government Affairs team: Ophelia John, who joins as Senior Consultant, and Maryam Mughal, who joins as Consultant. Both bring deep federal government experience and a strong grounding in health and social policy that will further strengthen the strategic counsel Santis provides to clients across the health care and life sciences sectors.
Read MoreAI for All: A Santis Health Response to Canada's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy
Canada's new national AI strategy, AI for All, names health and life sciences as its first priority sector, committing $200 million to an AI Missions Program, $100 million to a new Health Sector Data Space with the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), and $100 million to expand the VITAL health data platform out of St. Michael's Hospital. In this thought piece, Santis Health assesses what the federal strategy gets right for health care and where it falls short.
Read MoreReconciliation and the Future of Indigenous Health Care in Canada
June 21, 2026 - June is National Indigenous History Month and National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21) in Canada. This presents an opportune moment to reflect on the state of Indigenous health care in Canada and how innovation is necessary to make fundamental changes to Canadian health care as a whole. A systematic review published earlier this year in BMJ Open asked what First Nations, Inuit, and Métis patients actually experience when they navigate Canada's mainstream health system, and what they believe must change. This review is a first of its kind to connect with Canada’s Indigenous communities. For decades, the system has measured access to health care through a Western lens: distance to a provider, availability of services, and cost. What has been consistently overlooked is the missing layer of trust, how patients are treated, and the fundamental question of what Indigenous communities need to feel safe.
Read MoreAlexander Rotman Joins Santis Health’s Ontario Government Affairs Team
Santis Health is pleased to welcome Alexander Rotman as Senior Consultant, Ontario Government Affairs. Bringing more than a decade of experience across public policy, campaign strategy, stakeholder engagement, and community advocacy, Alexander strengthens Santis’ ability to support clients navigating Ontario’s evolving health and life sciences landscape.
Read MoreNational AI Strategy
Today, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched Canada’s updated National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy, entitled “AI for All”. The Strategy encourages trust in AI, addresses sovereign digital infrastructure, outlines support for Canadian companies and international co-ordination, and details plans for training and education for Canadians. Under the Strategy, the Government of Canada targets $200 billion in economic growth, which they estimate will create 250,000 new AI-related jobs over the next five years.
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