1 | Getting started - background documents

The Alliance or Healthier Communities' vision is equitable health and wellbeing for everyone living in Ontario. Our mission is to advance comprehensive primary health care and advocate for changes in Ontario's health and social systems to address inequities. Our core values, described in more detail here, are Health Equity, Leadership, Collaboration, Knowledge, and Self-Determination.

Our Model of Health and Wellbeing outlines three guiding principles and eight core attributes of our model. It describes and guides the work of all our members. A companion Model of Wholistic Health and Wellbeing guides the work of our Indigenous members. 

Our Health Equity Charter guides our collective efforts recognizing and confronting barriers to equitable health. These efforts bring us closer to achieving our vision. 

Those who are developing or expanding a primary health care organization that is Indigenous-led or has a focus on care for Indigenous people or communities will benefit from guidance and resources offered by the Indigenous Primary Health Care Council (IPHCC). You may wish to start with the documents linked below.

• Model of Wholistic Health and Wellbeing (Indigenous Primary Health Care Council)

The Model of Wholistic Health and Wellbeing (MWHW) was developed by IPHCC and is a counterpart to the Alliance's Model of Health and Wellbeing. The MWHW is rooted in a population needs--based approach to health care planning and delivery for the Indigenous population. It incorporates physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual elements of wellbeing and it is the belief that all elements must operate in harmony.

• IPHCO Development Toolkit: Guiding Document for Indigenous Leaders  (Indigenous Primary Health Care Council - English only)

The IPHCC created this toolkit as a resource for the Executive Leaders of newly established Indigenous Primary Health Care Organizations (IPHCOs) who commonly have the title of Executive Director (ED) or Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This resource contains information relevant to the funding and structure of IPHCOs, key operational considerations and links to tools and resources to support their continued evolution. 

Given the practical nature of the recommendations it contains, this toolkit can also be utilized to the support the following: 

• The orientation of new Executive Leaders and other executive team members within existing IPHCOs;
• Providing support for existing IPHCO Executive Leaders; and
• Sharing information on the role of the Executive Leaders.

For example, the toolkit can provide IPHCO board members with an understanding of the wide-ranging and complex responsibilities of the Executive Leaders, thereby creating awareness of the types of supports that should be provided by the governing body to enable the Executive Leaders to successfully advance the goals of the organization.

• Principles for French Language Health Services (Alliance for Healthier Communities 2025).

This document was created by the Alliance to help organizations ensure that French Language Health Services (FLHS) are planned, designed, delivered, and evaluated appropriately, as required by the Connecting Care Act, 2019 and the French Language Services Act, 1990 (FLSA). Although it was originally written to support Alliance members working in OHTs, these considerations are equally applicable in the context of IPCT Expansion.

On the spectrum of public engagement, community governance is at the highest level. It ensures that members of the community are deeply involved and empowered, playing a key role in the planning, direction-setting, and monitoring of health care organizations to meet the needs and priorities of local communities. It is through effective community engagement and governance that organizations orient and tailor services to meet ongoing and changing population health needs. This engagement ensures that those served by an organization have not only a voice but real power in strategic planning, accountability, and oversight. 

This brief report from the Alliance (2025) provides a definition of community governance, reviews evidence for its positive impact, and describes how it is foundational to comprehensive primary health care.