In Canada, healthcare delivery is managed separately by each province and territory. While this structure allows jurisdictions to respond to local needs, it can also create barriers when patients must travel outside their home province for specialized care. Differences in funding arrangements, health information privacy requirements, billing practices, approval pathways, and service availability can complicate access to treatment, particularly for rare or highly specialized conditions such as pediatric cancer. Families can face administrative complexity when seeking access to therapies, clinical trials, or expertise unavailable locally. Traveling for care can also result in additional financial burdens for families.

This project will develop a case study examining how the Maritime provinces — New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island — coordinate the delivery of pediatric cancer care across provincial boundaries. Led by Ac2orn and researchers at IWK, the project will document the legislative, policy, administrative, and operational mechanisms that support this collaborative model of care.

The Maritime provinces have developed a comparatively integrated approach to pediatric oncology care. Most children and youth with cancer from the region receive treatment through the IWK Health Centre, which functions as a shared regional centre for specialized pediatric cancer services. Over time, this arrangement has required participating provinces to address challenges related to governance, referral pathways, reimbursement, information sharing, and continuity of care.

The project will provide a practical review of the legislation, regulations, policies, agreements, and administrative procedures that enable interprovincial care delivery. The resulting case study is intended to support broader efforts to improve interprovincial patient mobility across Canada. While focused on pediatric oncology, the findings are expected to have relevance for other disease areas requiring specialized or centralized care, including rare diseases and complex chronic conditions. By examining practical approaches to coordination, funding, and information sharing, the project aims to provide a useful reference for policymakers, healthcare organizations, patient advocates, and health system planners seeking to reduce barriers to interprovincial access to care.

For more information, please contact Renu Jeyapala.