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- OPEN ACCESS
- H.H. Wagner,
- C. Boyd, and
- R. Napper
This paper starts a two-part series on graduate advising that integrates concepts from adult learning, leadership, and psychology into a conceptual framework for graduate advising. A companion paper provides guidance on how to communicate effectively in graduate advising. Here, we present concepts and tools that enable advisors and graduate students to collaborate effectively and share the responsibility for the student’s learning. We specifically discuss (1) how to promote learning about learning to help students make sense of their experience and identify their supervision needs; (2) how to clarify roles and address conflicts of interest between different roles; and (3) how to establish an effective, learning-centered working relationship. By making the advising process explicit, using the concepts and worksheets presented here, advisors will contribute to the training of the next generation of graduate advisors. - OPEN ACCESS
- H.H. Wagner,
- S. Temple,
- I. Dankert, and
- R. Napper
This paper completes a two-part series on graduate advising that integrates concepts from adult learning, leadership, and psychology into a conceptual framework for graduate advising. The companion paper discussed how to establish a learning-centered working relationship where advisor and graduate student collaborate in different roles to develop the student’s competence and confidence in all aspects of becoming a scientist. To put these ideas into practice, an advisor and a student need to communicate effectively. Here, we focus on the dynamics of day-to-day interactions and discuss (1) how to provide feedback that builds students’ competence and confidence, (2) how to choose the way we communicate and avoid a mismatch between verbal and nonverbal communication, and (3) how to prevent and resolve conflict. Miscommunication may happen out of a lack of understanding of the psychological aspects of human interactions. Therefore, we draw on concepts from Educational Transactional Analysis to provide advisors and students with an understanding of the psychological aspects of graduate advising as a basis for effective communication. Case studies illustrate the relevance of the concepts presented, and four worksheets (Supplementary Material) support their practical implementation. - OPEN ACCESSIn setting up a data access policy to share controlled access data from the McGill Epigenomics Mapping Centre (EMC), an International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) partner project, we encountered ethical and legal challenges that are likely to be relevant to other researchers sharing data, especially from Canadian projects. We discuss our solutions to the following data-sharing challenges, based on comparative legal and policy analysis: (1) providing access to data to a growing number of researchers; (2) maintaining Canadian privacy standards while sharing controlled access data internationally; (3) freedom of information requests; and (4) providing more incentives for researchers to share pre-publication data.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Michael R. Donaldson,
- Nicholas J. Burnett,
- Douglas C. Braun,
- Cory D. Suski,
- Scott G. Hinch,
- Steven J. Cooke, and
- Jeremy T. Kerr
While greater research on threatened species alone cannot ensure their protection, understanding taxonomic bias may be helpful to address knowledge gaps in order to identify research directions and inform policy. Using data for over 10 000 animal species listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we investigated taxonomic and geographic biodiversity conservation research trends worldwide. We found extreme bias in conservation research effort on threatened vertebrates compared with lesser-studied invertebrates in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats at a global scale. Based on an analysis of common threats affecting vertebrates and invertebrates, we suggest a path forward for narrowing the research gap between threatened vertebrates and invertebrates. - OPEN ACCESSFor science communication to be effective, scientists must understand which sources of information their target audiences most frequently use and trust. We surveyed academic and non-academic scientists, natural resource managers, policymakers, students, and the general public about how they access, trust, and communicate scientific information. We found trust and use of information sources was related to participant age and group identity, but all groups had high levels of use and trust of personal experience and colleagues. Academic journals were the most trusted source by all groups, and social media the least trusted by most groups. The level of communication between target groups was not always bilateral, with the public generally perceiving their interaction with all other groups as low. These results provide remarkable insight into the flow of scientific information. We present these findings in the context of facilitating information flow between scientists and other stakeholders of scientific information.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Steven J. Cooke,
- Austin J. Gallagher,
- Natalie M. Sopinka,
- Vivian M. Nguyen,
- Rachel A. Skubel,
- Neil Hammerschlag,
- Sarah Boon,
- Nathan Young, and
- Andy J. Danylchuk
It is increasingly common for scientists to engage in sharing science-related knowledge with diverse knowledge users—an activity called science communication. Given that many scientists now seek information on how to communicate effectively, we have generated a list of 16 important considerations for those interested in science communication: (1) Define what science communication means to you and your research; (2) Know—and listen to—your target audience; (3) Consider a diverse but coordinated communication portfolio; (4) Draft skilled players and build a network; (5) Create and seize opportunities; (6) Be creative when you communicate; (7) Focus on the science in science communication; (8) Be an honest broker; (9) Understand the science of science communication; (10) Think like an entrepreneur; (11) Don’t let your colleagues stop you; (12) Integrate science communication into your research program; (13) Recognize how science communication enhances your science; (14) Request science communication funds from grants; (15) Strive for bidirectional communication; and (16) Evaluate, reflect, and be prepared to adapt. It is our ambition that the ideas shared here will encourage readers to engage in science communication and increase the effectiveness of those already active in science communication, stimulating them to share their experiences with others. - OPEN ACCESSScience helps us identify problems, understand their extent, and begin to find solutions; it helps us understand future directions for our society. Scientists bear witness to scenes of change and discovery that most people will never experience. Yet the vividness of these experiences is often left out when scientists talk and write about their work. A growing community of practice is showing that scientists can share their message in an engaging way using a strategy that most are already familiar with: storytelling. Here we draw on our experiences leading scientist communication training and hosting science storytelling events at the International Marine Conservation Congress to share basic techniques, tips, and resources for incorporating storytelling into any scientist’s communication toolbox.
- OPEN ACCESSThere has been a significant increase in the rate of felt earthquakes in western Alberta and eastern British Columbia, which has been associated with hydraulic fracturing and wastewater disposal. The increased rate of seismicity and the potential for localized strong ground motions from very shallow events poses an increased hazard to critical infrastructure such as major dams—particularly for older high-consequence structures. This paper overviews the factors that affect the likelihood of damaging ground motions and examines their implications for hazard assessment and mitigation. A strategy aimed at reducing the likelihood of potentially damaging ground motions to achieve probabilistic targets for critical facilities is developed, comprising elements of both mitigation and avoidance. For critical facilities, an effective strategy includes (i) an exclusion zone having a radius of ∼5 km; and (ii) a monitoring-and-response protocol to track the rate of events at the M > 2 level within 25 km, with adjustment of operational practices if required. An exclusion zone provides a deterministic safety margin to ensure the integrity of those few facilities for which failure consequences are unacceptable. Real-time monitoring tied to a response protocol can be used to control the rate of significant events and thereby limit the hazard more broadly.
- OPEN ACCESSWe reviewed the strategy for Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) adopted by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The objective was to examine ICRISAT’s research strategy related to the twin challenges of resilience and profitability in developing technologies aimed at improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the drylands of Africa. To do this, we examined the expected impact on resilience and profitability of its present program and the realized impact of ICRISAT’s previous research. We argue that the current CGIAR Research Programs led by ICRISAT envisage separate product lines for resilience and profitability, targeted at two groups, i.e., subsistence- and market-oriented smallholders. This approach, expected to make technology more appropriate for farmers’ needs, risks overlooking the interconnectedness of the two targets if they are too rigorously separated. Although our review of ICRISAT’s previous research program suggests that success stories have taken numerous forms—some increasing resilience, others profitability—our review also suggests that it is possible to develop win–win technologies that improve both targets. Finding ways to replicate win–win technologies will require that ICRISAT tests the resulting technologies and their implementation in specific contexts to improve and replace them as the research programs evolve.
- OPEN ACCESSCities are under pressure to operate their services effectively and project costs of operations across various timeframes. In high-latitude and high-altitude urban centers, snow management is one of the larger unknowns and has both operational and budgetary limitations. Snowfall and snow depth observations within urban environments are important to plan snow clearing and prepare for the effects of spring runoff on cities’ drainage systems. In-house research functions are expensive, but one way to overcome that expense and still produce effective data is through citizen science. In this paper, we examine the potential to use citizen science for snowfall data collection in urban environments. A group of volunteers measured daily snowfall and snow depth at an urban site in Saskatoon (Canada) during two winters. Reliability was assessed with a statistical consistency analysis and a comparison with other data sets collected around Saskatoon. We found that citizen-science-derived data were more reliable and relevant for many urban management stakeholders. Feedback from the participants demonstrated reflexivity about social learning and a renewed sense of community built around generating reliable and useful data. We conclude that citizen science holds great potential to improve data provision for effective and sustainable city planning and greater social learning benefits overall.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Katrine Turgeon,
- Sarah C.F. Hawkshaw,
- Kristin M. Dinning,
- Brady K. Quinn,
- Danielle N. Edwards,
- Catarina Wor,
- Courtenay E. Parlee,
- Allan Debertin,
- Mike Hawkshaw,
- Benjamin W. Nelson,
- Fan Zhang,
- Laura Benestan,
- Eric Angel,
- Bryan L. Morse, and
- Daniel Mombourquette
Fisheries involve complex problems not easily addressed by a single discipline, methodology, or set of stakeholders. In 2010, the Canadian Fisheries Research Network (CFRN) was initiated to increase fisheries research capacity in Canada through interdisciplinary and inclusive research collaborations. As post-graduate students in the network, we reflected on the type of training necessary to tackle fisheries problems and reviewed opportunities available at Canadian universities to receive such training. This paper presents an overview of fisheries education currently available in Canada, reflects on our training within the CFRN, and proposes improvements to fisheries education and research. Our review of the subject revealed few dedicated fisheries programs, limited interdisciplinary programs, few specialized fisheries training programs, and a heavy reliance on academic supervisors to secure research opportunities in fisheries. In contrast, the CFRN enhanced our training by deliberately focusing on tools and techniques to address fisheries issues, providing venues to foster interdisciplinary and inclusive research collaborations, and exposing the realities of stakeholder collaborations. We call for post-graduate-level fisheries education and research that is interdisciplinary, collaborative, and inclusive to produce well-rounded scientists and managers, and we suggest ways that universities, researchers, and funding agencies can incorporate these themes into fisheries education and research. - OPEN ACCESS
- Laura E. Coristine,
- Aerin L. Jacob,
- Richard Schuster,
- Sarah P. Otto,
- Nancy E. Baron,
- Nathan J. Bennett,
- Sarah Joy Bittick,
- Cody Dey,
- Brett Favaro,
- Adam Ford,
- Linda Nowlan,
- Diane Orihel,
- Wendy J. Palen,
- Jean L. Polfus,
- David S. Shiffman,
- Oscar Venter, and
- Stephen Woodley
Biodiversity is intrinsically linked to the health of our planet—and its people. Yet, increasingly, human activities are causing the extinction of species, degrading ecosystems, and reducing nature’s resilience to climate change and other threats. As a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity, Canada has a legal responsibility to protect 17% of land and freshwater by 2020. Currently, Canada has protected ∼10% of its terrestrial lands, requiring a marked increase in the pace and focus of protection over the next three years.Given the distribution, extent, and geography of Canada’s current protected areas, systematic conservation planning would provide decision-makers with a ranking of the potential for new protected area sites to stem biodiversity loss and preserve functioning ecosystems. Here, we identify five key principles for identifying lands that are likely to make the greatest contribution to reversing biodiversity declines and ensuring biodiversity persistence into the future. We identify current gaps and integrate principles of protecting (i) species at risk, (ii) representative ecosystems, (iii) intact wilderness, (iv) connectivity, and (v) climate refugia. This spatially explicit assessment is intended as an ecological foundation that, when integrated with social, economic and governance considerations, would support evidence-based protected area decision-making in Canada. - OPEN ACCESS
- Aerin L. Jacob,
- Jonathan W. Moore,
- Caroline H. Fox,
- Emily J. Sunter,
- Danielle Gauthier,
- Alana R. Westwood, and
- Adam T. Ford
Since being elected in 2015, Canada’s federal Liberal government has taken steps to overhaul major environment-related laws and policies, including federal environmental assessment (EA) and regulatory processes. During 2016–2017, a government-appointed panel toured Canada and received >1000 suggestions from diverse sectors of society regarding EA reform. Yet, different sectors of society may have different views concerning scientific components of EA. We analyzed written submissions during public consultation (categorized into five sectors) regarding five key scientific components of EA: (1) openly sharing information, (2) evaluating cumulative effects, (3) scientific rigour, (4) transparency in decision-making, and (5) independence between regulators and proponents. On the whole, submissions from Indigenous groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals/academics supported strengthening all five components. In contrast, most contributions from industry/industry associations, and, to a lesser extent, government bodies or agencies, suggested that there was no need for increased scientific rigour or increased independence. These findings indicate that there is cross-sectoral support for strengthening some scientific aspects of EA. However, the degree to which the Government of Canada strengthens the scientific rigour and independence of EA will indicate whether environmental decision-making in Canada is aligned with preferences from industry or the rest of Canada. - OPEN ACCESSThe concept of sustainable phosphorus is studied in depth around the world, as the scientific community largely agrees that the non-renewable phosphorus reserves in the form of phosphorite ore must be used judiciously. Unfortunately, many developed countries, including Canada, have yet to implement a phosphorus management plan. The Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland can be heralded as success stories of effective, committed, cross-sector phosphorus management. We examine factors that contributed to their success and consider how these may be transferred to Canada. We also consider Canadian geographic and research factors and contrast the Canadian policy environment and phosphorus recycling efforts with those in the EU. Finally, we analyze active Canadian and North American phosphorus interest groups and seek to determine why their collective efforts have yet to coalesce around tangible action. Canada produces phosphorus fertilizer from imported deposits of phosphate rock. Canada produces potassium fertilizer from its rich potash mines, making it a global power in nutrient production. It is imperative that Canada earns a respected leadership role in efficient global phosphorus and potassium nutrient management and recycling.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Jonathan W. Moore,
- Linda Nowlan,
- Martin Olszynski,
- Aerin L. Jacob,
- Brett Favaro,
- Lynda Collins,
- G.L. Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson, and
- Jill Weitz
Gaps between environmental science and environmental law may undermine sound environmental decision-making. We link perspectives and insights from science and law to highlight opportunities and challenges at the environmental science–law interface. The objectives of this paper are to assist scientists who wish to conduct and communicate science that informs environmental statutes, regulations, and associated operational policies (OPs), and to ensure the environmental lawyers (and others) working to ensure that these statutes, regulations, and OPs are appropriately informed by scientific evidence. We provide a conceptual model of how different kinds of science-based activities can feed into legislative and policy cycles, ranging from actionable science that can inform decision-making windows to retrospective analyses that can inform future regulations. We identify a series of major gaps and barriers that challenge the successful linking of environmental science and law. These include (1) the different time frames for science and law, (2) the different standards of proof for scientific and legal (un)certainty, (3) the need for effective scientific communication, (4) the multijurisdictional (federal, provincial, and Indigenous) nature of environmental law, and (5) the different ethical obligations of law and science. Addressing these challenges calls for bidirectional learning among scientists and lawyers and more intentional collaborations at the law–science interface. - OPEN ACCESS
- Alana R. Westwood,
- Sarah P. Otto,
- Arne Mooers,
- Chris Darimont,
- Karen E. Hodges,
- Chris Johnson,
- Brian M. Starzomski,
- Cole Burton,
- Kai M.A. Chan,
- Marco Festa-Bianchet,
- Shaun Fluker,
- Sumeet Gulati,
- Aerin L. Jacob,
- Dan Kraus,
- Tara G. Martin,
- Wendy J. Palen,
- John D. Reynolds, and
- Jeannette Whitton
British Columbia has the greatest biological diversity of any province or territory in Canada. Yet increasing numbers of species in British Columbia are threatened with extinction. The current patchwork of provincial laws and regulations has not effectively prevented species declines. Recently, the Provincial Government has committed to enacting an endangered species law. Drawing upon our scientific and legal expertise, we offer recommendations for key features of endangered species legislation that build upon strengths and avoid weaknesses observed elsewhere. We recommend striking an independent Oversight Committee to provide recommendations about listing species, organize Recovery Teams, and monitor the efficacy of actions taken. Recovery Teams would evaluate and prioritize potential actions for individual species or groups of species that face common threats or live in a common area, based on best available evidence (including natural and social science and Indigenous Knowledge). Our recommendations focus on implementing an adaptive approach, with ongoing and transparent monitoring and reporting, to reduce delays between determining when a species is at risk and taking effective actions to save it. We urge lawmakers to include this strong evidentiary basis for species recovery as they tackle the scientific and socioeconomic challenges of building an effective species at risk Act. - OPEN ACCESSGuidance on improving the visual aspects of science communication range from “recipe”-style instructions to hyper-focused aspects of data visualization. Currently lacking in the peer-reviewed literature is a primer in graphic design tailored to a high-level overview of basic design principles and associated jargon related to layout, imagery, typeface, and colour. We illustrate why these aspects are important to effective communication. Further, we provide considerations on when to solicit professional assistance and what to expect when working with graphic designers. Having the fundamental principles of good design in your toolbox facilitates the production of effective visual communication related to your research and fruitful scientist–designer collaborations.
- OPEN ACCESSA key dimension of our current era is Big Data, the rapid rise in produced data and information; a key frustration is that we are nonetheless living in an age of ignorance, as the real knowledge and understanding of people does not seem to be substantially increasing. This development has critical consequences, for example it limits the ability to find and apply effective solutions to pressing environmental and socioeconomic challenges. Here, we propose the concept of “knowledge in the dark”—or short: dark knowledge—and outline how it can help clarify key reasons for this development: (i) production of biased, erroneous, or fabricated data and information; (ii) inaccessibility and (iii) incomprehensibility of data and information; and (iv) loss of previous knowledge. Even in the academic realm, where financial interests are less pronounced than in the private sector, several factors lead to dark knowledge, that is they inhibit a more substantial increase in knowledge and understanding. We highlight four of these factors—loss of academic freedom, research biases, lack of reproducibility, and the Scientific tower of Babel—and offer ways to tackle them, for example establishing an international court of arbitration for research and developing advanced tools for research synthesis.
- OPEN ACCESSPlanning for adaptation to climate change requires regionally relevant information on rising air and ocean temperatures, sea levels, increasingly frequent and intense storms, and other climate-related impacts. However, in many regions there are limited focused syntheses of the climate impacts, risks, and potential adaptation strategies for coastal marine areas and sectors. We report on a regional assessment of climate change impacts and recommendations for adaptation strategies in the NE Pacific Coast (British Columbia, Canada), conducted in collaboration with a regional planning and plan implementation partnership (Marine Plan Partnership for the North Pacific Coast), aimed at bridging the gaps between climate science and regional adaptation planning. We incorporated both social and ecological aspects of climate change impacts and adaptations, and the feedback mechanisms which may result in both increased risks and opportunities for the following areas of interest: “Ecosystems”, “Fisheries and Aquaculture”, “Communities”, and “Marine Infrastructure”. As next steps within the region, we propose proactive planning measures including communication of the key impacts and projections and cross-sectoral assessments of climate vulnerability and risk to direct decision-making.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Melissa M. Arcand,
- Lori Bradford,
- Dale F. Worme,
- Graham E.H. Strickert,
- Ken Bear,
- Anthony Blair Dreaver Johnston,
- Sheldon M. Wuttunee,
- Alfred Gamble, and
- Debra Shewfelt
Agriculture is practiced on 3–4 million acres of First Nations reserve lands in the Saskatchewan Prairies—predominantly by non-Indigenous farmers. A confluence of factors including an increase in agricultural land holdings on reserve and greater autonomy in land management have renewed conversations on how First Nations can realize the full economic benefits and exert greater control over agricultural activities that affect the reserve land base. We hosted a Forum on Indigenous Agriculture to share current knowledge on the contemporary status of Indigenous agriculture and to co-formulate research, capacity building, and policy priorities. First Nations’ roles in agriculture are diverse and were categorized in three broad contexts: as farmers, relying on traditional Indigenous or western practice, or a synergy of both; as landlords negotiating lease agreements; and as agribusiness entrepreneurs. Five themes emerged from the forum: centring Indigenous knowledge and traditional relationships to the land, capacity building, building respectful partnerships and relationships, financing farming and equitable economies, and translating research to policy and legislation. The forum provided foundational data to inform research and capacity building to meet community-defined goals in agriculture on reserve lands and by First Nations people. - OPEN ACCESSA 2012 Expert Panel Report on marine biodiversity by the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) concluded that Canada faced significant challenges in achieving sustainable fisheries, regulating aquaculture, and accounting for climate change. Relative to many countries, progress by Canada in fulfilling international obligations to sustain biodiversity was deemed poor. To track progress by Canada since 2012, the RSC struck a committee to track policy and statutory developments on matters pertaining to marine biodiversity and to identify policy challenges, and leading options for implementation that lie ahead. The report by the Policy Briefing Committee is presented here. It concluded that Canada has made moderate to good progress in some areas, such as prioritization of oceans stewardship and strengthening of the evidentiary use of science in decision-making. Key statutes were strengthened through amendments, including requirements to rebuild depleted fisheries (Fisheries Act) and new means of creating marine protected areas (Oceans Act) that allowed Canada to exceed its international obligation to protect 10% of coastal and marine areas by 2020. Public release of mandate letters has strengthened ministerial accountability. However, little or no progress has been made in reducing regulatory conflict with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), decreasing ministerial discretion under the Fisheries Act, clarifying the role of science in sustainable fisheries policy, and accounting for climate change. Five future policy challenges are identified: (1) Ensure climate change impacts and projections are incorporated into ocean-related decision making and planning processes; (2) Resolve DFO’s regulatory conflict to conserve and exploit biodiversity; (3) Limit ministerial discretionary power in fisheries management decisions; (4) Clarify ambiguities in how the Precautionary Approach is applied in sustainable fisheries policy; and (5) Advance and implement marine spatial planning. Since 2012, there has been progress in recovering and sustaining the health of Canada’s oceans. Failure to further strengthen biodiversity conservation threatens the capacity of Canada’s oceans to provide ecosystem services that contribute to the resilience of marine life and the well-being of humankind. Unprecedented and enduring changes in the ocean caused by climate change have made the achievement of meaningful progress all the more urgent.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Carole A. Estabrooks,
- Sharon E. Straus,
- Colleen M. Flood,
- Janice Keefe,
- Pat Armstrong,
- Gail J. Donner,
- Véronique Boscart,
- Francine Ducharme,
- James L. Silvius, and
- Michael C. Wolfson
The Royal Society of Canada Task Force on COVID-19 was formed in April 2020 to provide evidence-informed perspectives on major societal challenges in response to and recovery from COVID-19. The Task Force established a series of working groups to rapidly develop policy briefings, with the objective of supporting policy makers with evidence to inform their decisions. This paper reports the findings of the COVID-19 Long-Term Care (LTC) working group addressing a preferred future for LTC in Canada, with a specific focus on COVID-19 and the LTC workforce. First, the report addresses the research context and policy environment in Canada’s LTC sector before COVID-19 and then summarizes the existing knowledge base for integrated solutions to challenges that exist in the LTC sector. Second, the report outlines vulnerabilities exposed because of COVID-19, including deficiencies in the LTC sector that contributed to the magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis. This section focuses especially on the characteristics of older adults living in nursing homes, their caregivers, and the physical environment of nursing homes as important contributors to the COVID-19 crisis. Finally, the report articulates principles for action and nine recommendations for action to help solve the workforce crisis in nursing homes. - OPEN ACCESS
- Audrey Turcotte,
- Natalie Kermany,
- Sharla Foster,
- Caitlyn A. Proctor,
- Sydney M. Gilmour,
- Maria Doria,
- James Sebes,
- Jeannette Whitton,
- Steven J. Cooke, and
- Joseph R. Bennett
Since the implementation of the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA) in 2003, deficiencies in SARA and its application have become clear. Legislative and policy inconsistencies among responsible federal agencies and the use of a subjective approach for prioritizing species protection lead to taxonomic biases in protection. Variations in legislation among provinces/territories and the reluctance of the federal government to take actions make SARA’s application often inefficient on nonfederally managed lands. Ambiguous key terms (e.g., critical habitat) and disregard for legislated deadlines in many steps impede the efficacy of SARA. Additionally, the failure to fully recognize Indigenous knowledge and to seek Indigenous cooperation in the species protection process leads to weaker government accountability, promotes inequity, and leads to missed opportunities for partnerships. New legislative amendments with well-defined and standardized steps, including an automatic listing process, a systematic prioritization program, and clearer demands (e.g., mandatory threshold to trigger safety net/emergency order) would improve the success of species at risk protection. Moreover, a more inclusive approach that brings Indigenous representatives and independent scientists together is necessary for improving SARA’s effectiveness. These changes have the potential to transform SARA into a more powerful act towards protecting Canada’s at-risk wildlife. (The graphical abstract follows.) - OPEN ACCESSThe COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the challenges governments face in balancing civil liberties against the exigencies of public health amid the chaos of a public health emergency. Current and emerging pandemic response strategies may engage diverse rights grounded in civil liberties, including mobility rights, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and the right to liberty and security of the person. As traditionally conceived, the discourses of civil rights and public health rest on opposite assumptions about the burden of proof. In the discourse of civil and political rights of the sort guaranteed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the onus rests on government to show that any limitation on rights is justified. By contrast, public health discourse centers on the precautionary principle, which holds that intrusive measures may be taken—lockdowns, for example—even in the absence of complete evidence of the benefits of the intervention or of the nature of the risk. In this article, we argue that the two principles are not so oppositional in practice. In testing for proportionality, courts recognize the need to defer to governments on complex policy matters, especially where the interests of vulnerable populations are at stake. For their part, public health experts have incorporated ideas of proportionality in their evolving understanding of the precautionary principle. Synthesizing these perspectives, we emphasize the importance of policy agility in the COVID-19 response, ensuring that measures taken are continually supported by the best evidence and continually recalibrated to avoid unnecessary interference with civil liberties.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Tania Bubela,
- E. Richard Gold,
- Vivek Goel,
- Max Morgan,
- Karen Mossman,
- Jason Nickerson,
- David Patrick, and
- Aled Edwards
In the event of the current COVID-19 pandemic and in preparation for future pandemics, open science can support mission-oriented research and development, as well as commercialization. Open science shares skills and resources across sectors; avoids duplication and provides the basis for rapid and effective validation due to full transparency. It is a strategy that can adjust quickly to reflect changing incentives and priorities, because it does not rely on any one actor or sector. While eschewing patents, it can ensure high-quality drugs, low pricing, and access through existing regulatory mechanisms. Open science practices and partnerships decrease transaction costs, increase diversity of actors, reduce overall costs, open new, higher-risk/higher-impact approaches to research, and provide entrepreneurs freedom to operate and freedom to innovate. We argue that it is time to re-open science, not only in its now restricted arena of fundamental research, but throughout clinical translation. Our model and attendant recommendations map onto a strategy to accelerate discovery of novel broad-spectrum anti-viral drugs and clinical trials of those drugs, from first-in-human safety-focused trials to late stage trials for efficacy. The goal is to ensure low-cost and rapid access, globally, and to ensure that Canadians do not pay a premium for drugs developed from Canadian science. - OPEN ACCESS
- Gordon J.G. Asmundson,
- Cindy Blackstock,
- Marie Claire Bourque,
- Glenn Brimacombe,
- Allison Crawford,
- S. Hélène Deacon,
- Ken McMullen,
- Patrick J. McGrath,
- Christopher Mushquash,
- Sherry H. Stewart,
- Jennifer Stinson,
- Steven Taylor, and
- Marsha Campbell-Yeo
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of the people of Canada. Most have found it challenging to cope with social distancing, isolation, anxiety about infection, financial security and the future, and balancing demands of work and home life. For some, especially those who have had to face pre-existing challenges such as structural racism, poverty, and discrimination and those with prior mental health problems, the pandemic has been a major impact.The Policy Briefing Report focuses on the current situation, how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated significant long-standing weaknesses in the mental health system and makes specific recommendations to meet these challenges to improve the well-being of the people of Canada.The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental effect on mental health of people in Canada but the impact has been variable, impacting those facing pre-existing structural inequities hardest. Those living in poverty, and in some socially stratified groups facing greater economic and social disadvantage, such as some racialized and some Indigenous groups and those with preexisting mental health problems, have suffered the most. Some occupational groups have been more exposed to the virus and to psychological stress with the pandemic. The mental health care system was already overextended and under resourced. The pandemic has exacerbated the problems. The care system responded by a massive move to virtual care. The future challenge is for Canada to strengthen our knowledge base in mental health, to learn from the pandemic, and to provide all in Canada the support they need to fully participate in and contribute to Canada’s recovery from the pandemic. - OPEN ACCESSCOVID-19 presents an opportunity to preserve a rich and diverse historical record—one intended to honour all experiences and voices and in recognition of ongoing systemic inequalities shaping the pandemic. But policy changes are necessary in three key areas: how memory institutions are funded and supported, the gaps in our capacity to preserve the digital records that reflect how we communicate with one another today, and how to preserve and make accessible valuable scholarly research into the societal impact of COVID-19. Our goal is to begin a conversation about priorities for archival preservation, the need for greater equity and justice in our preservation practices, and ways to safeguard the existence of historical records that will allow us in future to bear witness, with fairness and truth and in a spirit of reconciliation, to our society’s response to COVID-19.
- OPEN ACCESSThe influenza pandemic of 1918–1920, which killed 50 000 Canadians, spurred the creation of a federal department of public health. But in the intervening century, public health at all levels has remained, as Marc Lalonde put it in 1988, the “poor cousin” in the health care system (Lalonde 1988, p. 77). Punctuated by sporadic investment during infectious disease crises, such as polio in the early 1950s, public health is less of a priority as the cost of tertiary health interventions rises. While public health potentially involves a broad range of interventions, this paper focuses on the history of public health interventions around infectious disease. COVID-19 has forced us to relearn the importance of maintaining basic infectious/communicable disease control capacity and revealed the cost of our failure to do so. It has also drawn our attention to the intersection between social inequality, racism, and colonialism and vulnerability to disease. In addition to investing in our capacity to contain disease outbreaks as they occur, we must plan now for how to achieve greater health equity in the future by addressing underlying economic and social conditions and providing meaningful access to preventive care for all. This is how we build a truly resilient society. Governments at all levels have recognized the importance of social factors in shaping health and illness for decades. But greater health equity will result only from genuine action on this knowledge. Action will arise from public advocacy in support of prevention, and a new level of engagement and collaboration between affected individuals and communities, public health experts, and governments.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Stefan Baral,
- Andrew Bond,
- Andrew Boozary,
- Eva Bruketa,
- Nika Elmi,
- Deirdre Freiheit,
- S. Monty Ghosh,
- Marie Eve Goyer,
- Aaron M. Orkin,
- Jamie Patel,
- Tim Richter,
- Angela Robertson,
- Christy Sutherland,
- Tomislav Svoboda,
- Jeffrey Turnbull,
- Alexander Wong, and
- Alice Zhu
Those experiencing homelessness in Canada are impacted inequitably by COVID-19 due to their increased exposure, vulnerability of environment and medical comorbidities, and their lack of access to preventive care and treatment in the context of the pandemic. In shelter environments one is unable to effectively physically distance, maintain hygiene, obtain a test, or isolate. As a result, unique strategies are required for this population to protect them and those who serve them. Recommendations are provided to reduce or prevent further negative consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic for people experiencing homelessness. These recommendations were informed by a systematic review of the literature, as well as a jurisdictional scan. Where evidence did not exist, expert consensus from key providers and those experiencing homelessness throughout Canada was included. These recommendations recognize the need for short-term interventions to mitigate the immediate risk to this community, including coordination of response, appropriate precautions and protective equipment, reducing congestion, cohorting, testing, case and contact management strategies, dealing with outbreaks, isolation centres, and immunization. Longer-term recommendations are also provided with a view to ending homelessness by addressing the root causes of homelessness and by the provision of adequate subsidized and supportive housing through a Housing First strategy. It is imperative that meaningful changes take place now in how we serve those experiencing homelessness and how we mitigate specific vulnerabilities. These recommendations call for intersectoral, collaborative engagement to work for solutions targeted towards protecting the most vulnerable within our community through both immediate actions and long-term planning to eliminate homelessness. - OPEN ACCESSSignificant public discourse has focused recently on police–civilian interactions involving with persons with mental illness (PMI). Despite increasing public attention, and growing demands for policy change, little is actually known about the myriad of ways in which Canadian police encounter PMI in the context of routine police work. To assist policymakers in developing evidence-informed policy, this paper attempts to shed light on present difficulties associated with addressing fundamental questions, such as the prevalence of mental health related issues in police calls for service. To do this, we attempt to map the size and scope of police calls for service involving PMI, drawing on both the available scientific data and the limited knowledge to be gleaned from available police reports. Our focus is on two broad categories of police interactions with citizens: public safety concerns (wellness checks, suicide threats, missing persons, mental health apprehensions) and crime prevention and response (encountering PMI as victims–complainants and (or) as potential suspects). We also explore the challenges policy-makers face in relying on police data and the importance of overcoming weaknesses in data collection and sharing in relation to the policing of uniquely vulnerable groups. This paper concludes with some key recommendations for addressing gaps highlighted.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Jennifer Brennan,
- Frank Deer,
- Roopa Desai Trilokekar,
- Leonard Findlay,
- Karen Foster,
- Guy Laforest,
- Leesa Wheelahan, and
- Julia M. Wright
Post-secondary education (PSE) is a vital part of civil society and any modern economy. When broadly accessible, it can enable socioeconomic mobility, improve health outcomes, advance social cohesion, and support a highly skilled workforce. It yields public benefits not only in improved well-being and economic prosperity, but also in reduced costs in health care and social services. Canada also relies heavily on the PSE sector for research. During the COVID-19 pandemic, PSE has supported research related to the pandemic response and other critical areas, including providing expert advice to support public health and government decision-making, while maintaining educational programs and continuing to contribute to local and regional economies. But the pandemic effort has stretched already strained PSE resources and people even further: for decades, declining public investment has driven increases in tuition and decreases in faculty complement, undermining Canada’s research capacity and increasing student debt as well as destabilizing the sector through a growing reliance on volatile international education markets. Given the challenges before us, including climate change, reconciliation, and the pandemic, it is imperative that we better draw on the full range of experience, knowledge, and creativity in Canada and beyond through an inclusive, stable, and globally engaged PSE. Supporting PSE’s recovery will be key to Canada’s ongoing pandemic response and recovery. The recommendations in this report are guided by a single goal—to make the post-secondary sector a more effective partner and support in building a more equitable, sustainable, and evidence-driven future for Canada, through and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. - OPEN ACCESS
- Victoria Esses,
- Jean McRae,
- Naomi Alboim,
- Natalya Brown,
- Chris Friesen,
- Leah Hamilton,
- Aurélie Lacassagne,
- Audrey Macklin, and
- Margaret Walton-Roberts
Canada has been seen globally as a leader in immigration and integration policies and programs and as an attractive and welcoming country for immigrants, refugees, temporary foreign workers, and international students. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed some of the strengths of Canada’s immigration system, as well as some of the fault lines that have been developing over the last few years. In this article we provide an overview of Canada’s immigration system prior to the pandemic, discuss the system’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities revealed by the pandemic, and explore a post-COVID-19 immigration vision. Over the next three years, the Government of Canada intends to bring over 1.2 million new permanent residents to Canada. In addition, Canada will continue to accept many international students, refugee claimants, and temporary foreign workers for temporary residence here. The importance of immigration for Canada will continue to grow and be an integral component of the country’s post-COVID-19 recovery. To succeed, it is essential to take stock, to re-evaluate Canada’s immigration and integration policies and programs, and to expand Canada’s global leadership in this area. The authors offer insights and over 80 recommendations to reinvigorate and optimize Canada’s immigration program over the next decade and beyond. - OPEN ACCESS
The need for a federal Basic Income feature within any coherent post-COVID-19 economic recovery plan
COVID-19 has shone a harsh light on the extent of poverty in Canada. When normal economic activity was interrupted by the exigencies of public health driven lockdowns, the shutdown disproportionately affected people who, before the pandemic, were living on incomes beneath the poverty line or dependent upon low-paying hourly remunerated jobs, usually part time and without appropriate benefits. Those living beneath the poverty line in Canada, three million of welfare poor and working poor, include a disproportionately large population of Black and Indigenous people and people of colour. This paper addresses the challenge of inclusive economic recovery. In particular, we propose that the federal government introduce a Basic Income guarantee for all residents of Canada as part of a comprehensive social safety net that includes access to housing, child care, mental and physical health care, disability supports, education, and the many other public services essential to life in a high-income country. Residents with no other income would receive the full benefit that would be sufficient to ensure that no one lives in poverty, while those with low incomes would receive a reduced amount. - OPEN ACCESSCOVID science is being both done and circulated at a furious pace. While it is inspiring to see the research community responding so vigorously to the pandemic crisis, all this activity has also created a churning sea of bad data, conflicting results, and exaggerated headlines. With representations of science becoming increasingly polarized, twisted, and hyped, there is growing concern that the relevant science is being represented to the public in a manner that may cause confusion, inappropriate expectations, and the erosion of public trust. Here we explore some of the key issues associated with the representations of science in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these issues are not new. But the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on the biomedical research process and amplified the adverse ramifications of poor public communication. We need to do better. As such, we conclude with 10 recommendations aimed at key actors involved in the communication of COVID-19 science, including government, funders, universities, publishers, media, and the research communities.
- OPEN ACCESSCorrectional services, both institutional and within the community, are impacted by COVID-19. In the current paper, we focus on the current situation and examine the tensions around how COVID-19 has introduced new challenges while also exacerbating strains on the correctional system. Here, we make recommendations that are directly aimed at how correctional systems manage COVID-19 and address the nature and structure of correctional systems that should be continued after the pandemic. In addition, we highlight and make recommendations for the needs of those who remain incarcerated in general, and for Indigenous people in particular, as well as for those who are serving their sentences in the community. Further, we make recommendations for those working in closed-custody institutions and employed to support the re-entry experiences of formerly incarcerated persons. We are at a critical juncture—where reflection and change are possible—and we put forth recommendations toward supporting those working and living in correctional services as a way forward during the pandemic and beyond.
- OPEN ACCESSThis paper summarizes COVID-19 disease epidemiology in Canada in the pre-vaccine era—from January through to December 2020. Canadian case numbers, risk factors, disease presentations (including severe and critical disease), and outcomes are described. Differences between provinces and territories in geography, population size and density, health demographics, and pandemic impact are highlighted. Key concepts in public health response and mitigation are reviewed, including masking, physical distancing, hand washing, and the promotion of outdoor interactions. Adequate investment in public health infrastructure is stressed, and regional differences in screening and testing strategies are highlighted. The spread of COVID-19 in Canadian workplaces, long-term care homes, and schools is described and lessons learned emphasized. The impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations in Canada—including Indigenous Peoples, ethnic minorities and newcomers, people who use drugs, people who are homeless, people who are incarcerated, and people with disabilities—is described. Sex and gender disparities are also highlighted. Author recommendations include strategies to reduce transmission (such as test–trace–isolate), the establishment of nationally standardized definitions and public reporting, the protection of high risk and vulnerable populations, and the development of a national strategy on vaccine allocation.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Annette Majnemer,
- Patrick J. McGrath,
- Jennifer Baumbusch,
- Chantal Camden,
- Barbara Fallon,
- Yona Lunsky,
- Steven P. Miller,
- Genevieve Sansone,
- Tim Stainton,
- John Sumarah,
- Donna Thomson, and
- Jennifer Zwicker
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives and well-being of all people globally, with consequences being observed across all domains from physical and mental health, to education and employment outcomes, to access to community supports and services. However, the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated public health restrictions on individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) has largely been overlooked. Not only do people with IDD have a greater risk of severe complications and death from the virus as shown in large-scale studies, but they also face significant short- and long-term consequences of COVID-related public health measures on their mental health and well-being. At a time when this vulnerable population is already feeling undervalued, ignored, and forgotten, it is imperative that the risks facing adults and children with IDD—as well as their families and caregivers—are recognized, valued, and addressed through a disability-inclusive approach to Canada’s pandemic policy response planning. This requires both a mainstreaming of disability inclusion into all COVID-19 response and recovery policies as well as disability-specific policies to address the unique barriers and challenges encountered by people with IDD during the pandemic. The recommendations in this policy briefing aim to achieve a more inclusive, accessible, and sustainable Canada for people with IDD both during and after the pandemic—an approach that will result in benefits for all of society. - OPEN ACCESSThe performance of graduate students in research varies greatly across countries due to various factors, mainly socioeconomic and linguistic. The current situation is critical because the wealthiest countries are also the most linguistically equipped to navigate the English-dominant landscape of academia. Here, we assess the language of citations and the publishing performance of graduate students from three French-speaking countries: Algeria, Canada, and France, where Algeria is the least English proficient and the most economically disadvantaged. We found that the bibliography of PhD theses were English dominated in all regions (72.5% in Algeria compared with >93.1% in Western countries), whereas those of Masters theses were French dominated in Algeria (63.3%), relatively bilingual in France (47.6% French), but English dominated in Canada-Québec (94.7%) and Canada-BC (98.7%). Algerian PhD students produced fewer papers, were less likely to publish in journals with calculated impact factors, and received fewer citations than students who graduated from universities in France or in two Canadian provinces, British Columbia and Québec. Our results suggest that the economic and linguistic disadvantages faced by graduate students from non-Western backgrounds affect their academic performance, highlighting important issues in facing future global challenges.
- OPEN ACCESSChildren and youth flourish in environments that are predictable, safe, and structured. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted these protective factors making it difficult for children and youth to adapt and thrive. Pandemic-related school closures, family stress, and trauma have led to increases in mental health problems in some children and youth, an area of health that was already in crisis well before COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. Because mental health problems early in life are associated with significant impairment across family, social, and academic domains, immediate measures are needed to mitigate the potential for long-term sequalae. Now more than ever, Canada needs a national mental health strategy that is delivered in the context in which children and youth are most easily accessible—schools. This strategy should provide coordinated care across sectors in a stepped care framework and across a full continuum of mental health supports spanning promotion, prevention, early intervention, and treatment. In parallel, we must invest in a comprehensive population-based follow-up of Statistics Canada’s Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth so that accurate information about how the pandemic is affecting all Canadian children and youth can be obtained. It is time the Canadian government prioritizes the mental health of children and youth in its management of the pandemic and beyond.
- OPEN ACCESSWe pursue an evidence-informed argument that interpersonal relationships in childhood and adolescence are central to achieving learning outcomes and that school closures across various parts of Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic have compromised these critical relationships, jeopardizing educational attainment. We highlight how the centrality of relationships with peers and educators in achieving learning goals is well established in the literature. So too is the importance of peers in creating stable mental health and wellness for children and youth. The pandemic context has drastically interfered with ongoing wellness, exacerbating feelings of loneliness and social isolation, which takes a toll on what children and youth can achieve in the virtual classroom. In the interest of reducing harm, we call on provincial/territorial governments to move quickly to ensure schools are open in the fall and to think carefully and consult effectively before any further closure decisions are made. We understand that safety is paramount and as such offer a framework for planning a safe return where necessary. Now more than ever there is a need to prioritize social–emotional learning opportunities to protect young people from the lasting effects of social isolation and threats to the fundamental need to belong that have been induced or exacerbated by the pandemic.
- OPEN ACCESSAs Canada’s schools reopen, attention to healing the school community is essential. Given the considerable stressors of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is unsurprising that recent studies find Canadian children’s mental health in decline. As social connection is tightly entwined with children’s mental health, supporting school-based spaces for quality social interactions and play will be an important postpandemic recovery strategy. Children will need opportunities to re-establish positive social connections at school, and informal spaces such as recess and lunch are an ideal time to afford these opportunities. Yet many schoolyards have long been challenged by social conflict that can interfere with children’s need to connect with peers. Therefore, efforts should be directed not only at mitigating the effects of social harm, but also toward ensuring social and physical landscapes that are meaningful, inclusive, and engaging for children and adolescents of all ages. Recommendations for postpandemic recovery are provided.
- OPEN ACCESSThe COVID-19 pandemic has engendered a critical moment in education. Questions of equity, engagement, and interaction have been brought into sharper focus as students’ homes became their classrooms. There is a demonstrated need for interdisciplinary thinking, enabling students to work with the resources they have at hand, and helping learners orient themselves in place and time. Defining Moments Canada/Moments Déterminant Canada, using the interdisciplinary framework of curatorial thinking, encourages students to make sense of information, more effectively create a meaningful story, and build a stronger sense of social responsibility and awareness. This framework is operationalized using the S.A.S.S. pedagogy—Selecting, Archiving, Sense-Making, and Sharing—through which students find their personal way into a research question and demonstrate their learning while considering narrative intent, evidence limitations, and their own role as a historical actor. This integrative, critical, and interdisciplinary focus is an approach to a (post)pandemic world that prioritizes creative student responsiveness to upcoming challenges.
- OPEN ACCESSThe COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that although learning can and sometimes does occur without teaching, on any significant scale, and especially among the most marginalized and vulnerable children, a lot of learning does not occur when children are deprived of teachers and teaching. Any questions of learning loss in the short term and learning transformations in the long run cannot therefore be addressed in any meaningful way without examining the short- and longer-term impacts of the pandemic on losses, gains, and transformations in teachers and teaching. This article analyzes actual and likely pandemic consequences of and insights deriving from remote access, digitally based interactions, and physical distancing in relation to three core characteristics of teaching and teacher quality. These are the development of “teacher expertise”, the nature of teaching as an “emotional practice” in which the well-being of students and teachers is reciprocally interrelated, and the ways in which external changes either enrich or deplete teacher’s “professional capital”, especially their “social capital”. Beyond post-pandemic narratives of educational doom on the one hand and of jubilant celebrations of bright spots and silver linings on the other, the article concludes that the future of teaching after COVID-19 will actually be complex, uncertain, and contingent on the policy decisions and professional directions that are set out in the recommendations to this report.
- OPEN ACCESSDefined as the ability to think and move quickly and easily, the importance of agility as an essential element in the move forward for leaders of schools and systems postpandemic, as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on children, is examined. The smartness of a leader’s continuous interactions with the multi-faceted features of their environment, the very nature of the ever-evolving educational landscape of today, is of tremendous value for the leadership of tomorrow. Through the prioritization of strategic objectives in balanced measure, connectivity through relationships and partnership building, proactivity for effective change management, ingenuity in the optimization of resources over time, and the cultivation of systemness throughout the organization—as aspects of agility—educational leaders have the bona fide chance of a lifetime to transform school systems in the pursuit of achievement, equity, and well-being for the benefit of all students, staff, and school communities. Additional considerations, including barriers to agility, are also addressed as are recommendations for leaders of schools and systems as they navigate the shifts in organizational terrain caused by the disruption.
- OPEN ACCESS
- A. Bryndum-Buchholz,
- K. Boerder,
- R.R.E. Stanley,
- I. Hurley,
- D.G. Boyce,
- K.M. Dunmall,
- K.L. Hunter,
- H.K. Lotze,
- N.L. Shackell,
- B. Worm, and
- D.P. Tittensor
Climate change and biodiversity loss are twin crises that are driving global marine conservation efforts. However, if unaccounted for, climate change can undermine the efficacy of such efforts. Despite this, integration of climate change adaptation and resilience into spatial marine conservation and management has been limited in Canada and elsewhere. With climate change impacts becoming increasingly severe, now is the time to anticipate and reduce impacts wherever possible. We provide five recommendations for an inclusive, proactive, climate-ready approach for Canada’s growing marine conservation network: (1) integrating climate-resilience as a universal objective of the Canadian Marine Conservation Network, creating and implementing (2) national transdisciplinary working groups with representation from all knowledge holders and (3) necessary tools that integrate climate change into conservation design, (4) defining operational and climate-relevant monitoring and management objectives, and (5) strengthening communication and increasing knowledge exchange around the roles and benefits of protected areas within government and towards the public. Canada’s extensive marine and coastal areas reflect national and international responsibility to engage on this issue. Canada is well positioned to assume a leading role in climate change adaptation for marine conservation and help accelerate progress towards international commitments around mitigating ongoing biodiversity loss and climate change. - OPEN ACCESS
- Sharon E. Straus,
- Brian Hutton,
- David Moher,
- Shannon E. Kelly,
- George A. Wells, and
- Andrea C. Tricco
In 2009, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Health Canada, and other stakeholders established the Drug Safety and Effectiveness Network (DSEN) to address the paucity of information on drug safety and effectiveness in real-world settings. This unique network invited knowledge users (e.g., policy makers) to submit queries to be answered by relevant research teams. The research teams were launched via open calls for team grants focused in relevant methodologic areas. We describe the development and implementation of one of these collaborating centres, the Methods and Application Group for Indirect Comparisons (MAGIC). MAGIC was created to provide high-quality knowledge synthesis including network meta-analysis to meet knowledge user needs. Since 2011, MAGIC responded to 54% of queries submitted to DSEN. In the past 5 years, MAGIC produced 26 reports and 49 publications. It led to 15 trainees who entered industry, academia, and government. More than 10 000 people participated in courses delivered by MAGIC team members. Most importantly, MAGIC knowledge syntheses influenced practice and policy (e.g., use of biosimilars for patients with diabetes and use of smallpox vaccinations in people with contraindications) provincially, nationally, and internationally. - OPEN ACCESSThe drivers of the harassment and intimidation of researchers are complex, widespread, and global in their reach and were being studied across many disciplines even before COVID-19. This policy briefing reviews some of the scholarship on this wide-ranging problem but focuses on what can be done to help ensure that Canadians fully benefit from the work of Canada’s researchers while also preserving the security and safety of those researchers. It identifies policies and actions that can be implemented in the near term to gather information on the problem, better frame public research communications, and ensure that mechanisms are readily available to support researchers who are threatened. The policy briefing is concerned with researchers, but these behaviours are also harming journalists, politicians, public health communicators, and many others more fully in the public eye than researchers. Some recommendations here may help to address this wider problem.
- OPEN ACCESS
- Samira Mubareka,
- John Amuasi,
- Arinjay Banerjee,
- Hélène Carabin,
- Joe Copper Jack,
- Claire Jardine,
- Bogdan Jaroszewicz,
- Greg Keefe,
- Jonathon Kotwa,
- Susan Kutz,
- Deborah McGregor,
- Anne Mease,
- Lily Nicholson,
- Katarzyna Nowak,
- Brad Pickering,
- Maureen G. Reed,
- Johanne Saint-Charles,
- Katarzyna Simonienko,
- Trevor Smith,
- J. Scott Weese, and
- E. Jane Parmley
Given the enormous global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in Canada, and manifold other zoonotic pathogen activity, there is a pressing need for a deeper understanding of the human-animal-environment interface and the intersecting biological, ecological, and societal factors contributing to the emergence, spread, and impact of zoonotic diseases. We aim to apply a One Health approach to pressing issues related to emerging zoonoses, and propose a functional framework of interconnected but distinct groups of recommendations around strategy and governance, technical leadership (operations), equity, education and research for a One Health approach and Action Plan for Canada. Change is desperately needed, beginning by reorienting our approach to health and recalibrating our perspectives to restore balance with the natural world in a rapid and sustainable fashion. In Canada, a major paradigm shift in how we think about health is required. All of society must recognize the intrinsic value of all living species and the importance of the health of humans, other animals, and ecosystems to health for all. - OPEN ACCESS
- Gail Tomblin Murphy,
- Tara Sampalli,
- Lisa Bourque Bearskin,
- Nancy Cashen,
- Greta Cummings,
- Annette Elliott Rose,
- Josephine Etowa,
- Doris Grinspun,
- Esyllt W. Jones,
- Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay,
- Kathleen MacMillan,
- Cindy MacQuarrie,
- Ruth Martin-Misener,
- Judith Oulton,
- Rosemary Ricciardelli,
- Linda Silas,
- Sally Thorne, and
- Michael Villeneuve
Nurses represent the highest proportion of healthcare workers globally and have played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has shed light on multiple vulnerabilities that have impacted the nursing workforce including critical levels of staffing shortages in Canada. A review sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada investigated the impact of the pandemic on the nursing workforce in Canada to inform planning and implementation of sustainable nursing workforce strategies. The review methods included a trend analysis of peer-reviewed articles, a jurisdictional scan of policies and strategies, analyses of published surveys and interviews of nurses in Canada, and a targeted case study from Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan. Findings from the review have identified longstanding and COVID-specific impacts, gaps, and opportunities to strengthen the nursing workforce. These findings were integrated with expert perspectives from national nursing leaders involved in guiding the review to arrive at recommendations and actions that are presented in this policy brief. The findings and recommendations from this policy brief are meant to inform a national and sustained focus on retention and recruitment efforts in Canada. - OPEN ACCESS
- R.T. Noel Gibney,
- Cynthia Blackman,
- Melanie Gauthier,
- Eddy Fan,
- Robert Fowler,
- Curtis Johnston,
- R. Jeremy Katulka,
- Samuel Marcushamer,
- Kusum Menon,
- Tracey Miller,
- Bojan Paunovic, and
- Teddie Tanguay
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the precarious demand-capacity balance in Canadian hospitals, including critical care where there is an urgent need for trained health care professionals to dramatically increase ICU capacity.The impact of the pandemic on ICUs varied significantly across the country with provinces that implemented public health measures later and relaxed them sooner being impacted more severely. Pediatric ICUs routinely admitted adult patients. Non-ICU areas were converted to ICUs and staff were redeployed from other essential service areas. Faced with a lack of critical care capacity, triage plans for ICU admission were developed and nearly implemented in some provinces.Twenty eight percent of patients in Canadian ICUs who required mechanical ventilation died. Surviving patients have required prolonged ICU admission, hospitalization and extensive ongoing rehabilitation. Family members of patients were not permitted to visit, resulting in additional psychological stresses to patients, families, and healthcare teams. ICU professionals also experienced extreme psychological stresses from caring for such large numbers of critically ill patients, often in sub-standard conditions. This resulted in large numbers of health workers leaving their professions.This pandemic is not yet over, and it is likely that new pandemics will follow. A review and recommendations for the future are provided.