About Women & Diversity Health

Scope: 

Public health initiatives for women and diverse CAF members that:

• Align with WDH strategic goals and CF Health Services priorities; and
• Are feasible within WDH’s mandate, internal capacity, and identified priorities.

Values:

Culture

We foster a culture that promotes wellness, inclusion, and diversity as sources of strength and operational effectiveness.

Evidence-Informed Practice

Our work is grounded in the best available scientific and clinical evidence and is informed by the lived experiences of CAF members and veterans.

Collaboration and Communication

We engage openly and meaningfully with internal and external partners to strengthen integration, shared understanding, and impact.

Accountability and Transparency

We embed accountability, evaluation, and transparency into our work to ensure trust, learning, and continuous improvement.

Strategic Goals (2026-2030):

1. Strengthen Public Health Surveillance for CAF Women and Diverse Populations
   Improve diversity-informed public health surveillance by collecting timely, high quality data and conducting research and engagement of key internal and external partners to inform decision making, risk mitigation, and policy development.
2. Advance Public Health Protection and Health Promotion for CAF Women and Diverse Populations
   Design, implement, and evaluate targeted public health protection and health promotion initiatives that address the unique health risks, determinants, and resilience factors affecting women and diverse CAF members across the life course and career continuum.
3. Enable Inclusive Public Health Programs and Policies within the CAF
   Ensure that CAF public health programs, policies, and guidance are evidence informed, equity oriented, and responsive to the health needs of women and diverse populations, supporting an inclusive, respectful, and operationally effective force.
4. Optimize Occupational Health and Operational Readiness for Women and Diverse CAF Members
   Integrate sex, gender, and diversity informed approaches into occupational health and operational readiness practices to enhance force health protection, injury prevention, retention, and mission effectiveness.
5. Embed Evaluation, Learning, and Quality Improvement within the Women and Diversity Health Section
   Establish a culture of continuous evaluation and quality improvement to assess impact, drive innovation, demonstrate value, and ensure accountability of Women and Diversity Health initiatives across the CAF.

Prioritization framework: leads | collaborates | consults | supports | facilitate  | remains aware

Four lines of effort:

1. Research and Engagement​
2. Care Domestic and Deployed​
3. Quality and Performance​
4. Health Promotion and Prevention​

Background

Women and diverse populations have been historically under-researched in medicine. This has limited our knowledge and understanding of their unique health needs, including health risks, prevention and treatment options.

For these reasons, the Canadian Forces Health Services established the Women and Diversity Health Program (WDH). The WDH aims to optimize prevention and care for women and diverse members, using an intersectional lens to improve their physical, mental, and psychosocial wellbeing. This is aligned with governmental priorities and current shifts in research.

• The Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy
• Conduct, culture change and diversity (only accessible through DWAN)
• Women's Health Strategy
• Toolkit: Fundamentals of GBA Plus