ARCHIVED - Chronology of Key National Palliative and End-of-Life Care Developments in Canada

June 1995
The Special Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide released its report Of Life and Death after hearing testimonials from Canadians over a 15-month period. The committee discovered that one of the most pressing reasons for people to consider ending their life was the fear of a painful, lonely and degrading death. The committee made many recommendations to improve access to, standards for, and education regarding palliative and end-of-life care.

June 2000
The Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology reviewed progress since Of Life and Death was published and released its report Quality End-of-Life Care: The Right of Every Canadian. This report strongly recommended the development of a national strategy to improve palliative and end-of-life care.

March 2001
Senator Sharon Carstairs was appointed Minister with Special Responsibility for Palliative Care.

June 2001
The Secretariat on Palliative and End-of-Life Care (now known as the Palliative and End-of Life Care Unit) was established as the first step in Health Canada's work to coordinate the development of a national strategy on palliative and end-of-life care.

March 2002
Health Canada's Secretariat on Palliative and End-of-Life Care brought together over 150 national, provincial, territorial and regional practitioners, researchers and decision makers in palliative and end-of-life care for a three-day National Action Planning Workshop on End-of-Life Care held in Winnipeg. Participants from across Canada considered priority end-of-life theme areas and reached a consensus on five key areas, resulting in the establishment of five Working Groups to address these. The five Working Groups led the primary initiatives of the Canadian Strategy on Palliative and End-of-Life Care.

October 2002
The Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology released its report The Health of Canadians - The Federal Role (often referred to as the Kirby Report). The report made several recommendations in relation to palliative and end-of-life care.

November 2002
The Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada produced the report Building on Values: The Future of Health Care in Canada (often referred to as the Romanow Report). This report also made several recommendations in relation to palliative and end-of-life care.

June 2003
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research and partners launched a palliative and end-of-life care initiative.

February 2003
Included in the 2003 First Ministers' Accord on Health Care Renewal was the agreement of First Ministers that access to a defined set of end-of-life home care services would be based on assessed need. First Ministers directed Health Ministers to determine by September 30, 2003 the minimum services to be provided.

January 2004
Employment Insurance (EI) Compassionate Care Benefits were implemented.

September 2004
The 2004 First Minister's Meeting on the Future of Health Care resulted in A 10-year Plan to Strengthen Health Care. This included the agreement of First Ministers to provide first-dollar coverage for certain home care services, based on assessed need, by 2006. These home care services included end-of-life care for case management, nursing, palliative-specific pharmaceuticals and personal care at the end of life. Each jurisdiction agreed to develop a plan for the staged implementation of these services, and report annually to citizens on progress.

June 2006
Regulatory changes were implemented to increase the number of people with access to Employment Insurance (EI) Compassionate Care Benefits.

March 2007
The Canadian Strategy on Palliative and End-of-Life Care (2002-2007) ended. This strategy primarily supported numerous initiatives through five Working Groups.

February 2008
Health Canada brought together stakeholders from across Canada to draft an Implementation Guide to Advance Care Planning in Canada: A Case Study of Two Health Authorities, building on the experiences of the Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia and the former Calgary Health Region, now Alberta Health Services, which have implemented their own advance care planning initiatives. The purpose of the guide is to help other health authorities develop or enhance their own advance care planning initiatives.

Additional Information

• Canadian Strategy on Palliative and End-of-Life Care