Alternative financing for community health organizations

This webinar is presented by Tapestry Community Capital 

Explore community bonds as an alternative financing option for community health organizations

Community health organizations, from long-term care homes to hospital foundations, are facing growing demand, rising costs, and facility pressures. There's a different way to raise capital that strengthens your mission while keeping investment local.

Join Tapestry Community Capital to explore how community bonds can help these organizations access repayable, values-aligned capital for facility upgrades, expansions, or community-focused health initiatives.

# In this session, you'll learn:

  • How community bonds can work in community health settings
  • Examples from organizations that have already used community bonds successfully
  • How to get started with Tapestry's Community Capital Readiness Program

 

Details
Tuesday, March 17, 2026 - 10:45
12-1 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
External Link: 
Learn more about Community Bonds
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location
Webinar

En ce jour de la Journée internationale des femmes, concentrons-nous sur la santé et le bien-être des femmes

Date: 
Friday, March 6, 2026

Ce dimanche 8 mars, le Canada et le monde entier soulignent la Journée internationale des femmes. Tout en célébrant leurs accomplissements et en réfléchissant au chemin qu’il reste à parcourir pour atteindre l’égalité des genres, nous souhaitons proposer quelques domaines d’action prioritaires.

En matière de santé, la santé reproductive demeure un axe de mobilisation et d’intervention névralgique. Nous devons rester vigilants, car des reculs sont observés partout dans le monde, tant aux États-Unis qu’ici, au Canada. Il faut signifier clairement aux élus et aux décideurs que nous soutenons le plein accès aux soins liés à la grossesse et à l’avortement. Comme l’indique l’organisme Planned Parenthood Toronto sur son site Web, ce soutien prévoit aussi le droit d’accéder à des renseignements et à des services factuels, empreints de compassion et sans jugement, sur toutes les options : l’avortement, l’adoption et la parentalité.

Cela passe également par un accès facilité à tous les types de contraception pour toutes les femmes, au sein d’environnements sans jugement et soutenus par les pairs. D’autres membres de l’Alliance, notamment les organisations autochtones de soins de santé primaires, les équipes de santé familiale communautaire, les centres de santé communautaire et les cliniques dirigées par du personnel infirmier praticien de l’Ontario, se sont aussi engagés à montrer la voie pour aider les femmes à obtenir les soins de santé reproductive requis dans le cadre des soins primaires.

De plus, nous devons presser les gouvernements de soutenir les organismes et les prestataires qui épaulent les femmes se heurtant à des obstacles, tout particulièrement les femmes noires, autochtones ou nouvellement arrivées. La prochaine Semaine de la santé maternelle des femmes noires de Toronto, qui aura lieu en avril, offrira une nouvelle occasion de mettre l’accent sur l’équité des services et de veiller à ce que toutes les personnes enceintes bénéficient du suivi prénatal et postnatal nécessaire. Le CSC Women’s Health in Women’s Hands de la région de Toronto offre des services et conseille d’autres organismes sur les caractéristiques de soins équitables destinés aux femmes qui se heurtent à des obstacles. L’organisme démontre concrètement l’incidence positive de soins de santé mentale, de suivi du diabète et de services liés au VIH lorsqu’ils sont prodigués dans un environnement sécurisant sur le plan culturel.

Les membres de l’Alliance, dont le CSC du noyau urbain de Hamilton, reconnaissent également que l’équité des soins passe par l’accès aux produits d’hygiène menstruelle. Ces services peuvent être jumelés à des occasions d’apprentissage permettant aussi d’établir et de renforcer les liens de confiance, afin de répondre aux divers besoins des personnes au-delà de leurs besoins de subsistance. Peu importe le point d’entrée dans le système de santé, nous devons veiller à ce que chaque femme reçoive un accueil et des soins primaires adaptés à sa situation.

De nombreux autres enjeux commandent notre attention, notamment les droits des femmes, la lutte contre la violence et l’intimidation, l’équité salariale ainsi que l’égalité des chances dans l’éducation, la politique et d’autres sphères d’influence de la société. Il importe de rappeler que les droits des femmes concernent l’ensemble de la collectivité et relèvent de la responsabilité de chacun. À l’occasion de la Journée internationale des femmes, nous rendons hommage à toutes les femmes, ici au Canada et partout dans le monde. Nous appelons tous les acteurs de la société, et plus particulièrement les leaders du secteur de la santé, à instaurer et à pérenniser des institutions et des services robustes afin que les femmes puissent s’épanouir et exercer pleinement leur leadership. 

On International Women's Day, a Call for Action on Women's Health and Wellbeing

Three panelled graphic for International Women's Day 2026 showing women celebrating together.
Date: 
Friday, March 6, 2026

This Sunday, March 8, is International Women’s Day, in Canada and around the world. As we take time to celebrate and recognize the achievements of women, and to reflect on the work needed to achieve gender equality, we want to offer some areas for focus.

When it comes to women’s health and women’s bodies, reproductive health remains an important area for advocacy and action. We must remain vigilant in these areas as we see regressions around the world, in the U.S. and here in Canada; we must tell elected leaders and policymakers loud and clear that we support full access to pregnancy and abortion care, including, as Alliance member Planned Parenthood Toronto puts it on their website: “the right to access factual, caring, and non-judgmental information and services on all options: abortion, adoption, and parenting.” 

It also means making access to contraceptives, including all types of birth control, more accessible to all women, in non-judgmental, peer-supported environments. Other Alliance members – Indigenous Primary Health Care Organizations, Community Family Health Teams, Community Health Centres, and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics across Ontario are also committed to helping to lead the way when it comes to helping women access the reproductive care they need as part of primary care.

We must also call on governments to support organizations and providers who serve women who face barriers, including Black, Indigenous and newcomer women. The upcoming Toronto Black Maternal Health Week in April will be another chance to put a focus on equitable services for women, and ensuring that every pregnant person can get the pre and post-natal care they need. Women’s Health in Women’s Hands, a Toronto area CHC, provides further services and guidance for others on what equitable care for women facing barriers looks like and the differences it makes, including mental health care, diabetes care, HIV services, delivered in culturally safe ways.

Alliance members such as Hamilton Urban Core CHC, also understand that equitable care and services for women must include access to feminine hygiene supplies, but also that such services can be combined with opportunities for education, building trust, and meeting people’s needs that go beyond the basics. We must make all doors the right doors for women in primary care. 

There are many other areas for focus, when it comes to women’s rights, action against violence and abuse, and issues around pay equity, equal opportunities in education, politics and other key spheres of society, and more. The important thing to remember is that women’s rights are everyone’s concern, and everyone’s work. This IWD, we celebrate all women here in Canada and around the world – and we call on everyone, especially those in health leadership roles, to ensure we’re putting in place and keeping strong the institutions, organizations and services to help women thrive and lead. 

Storytelling Workshop

This virtual workshop is presented by the Hospital For Sick Children's Learning Institute

# About the Workshop.

Storytelling is a powerful knowledge-sharing tool that can help you connect with your audience, get your message across, and be memorable-at conferences, retreats, meetings, and anywhere you speak about your work. It’s also useful when describing the impact of your work to funders and the general public, or when developing knowledge translation products, such as videos. Includes the 6-Step Story Planning Template.

# We will:

  • Explore the art of storytelling as a method to communicate your work, engage others, and inspire action
  • Examine real examples of stories that have been developed based on scientific projects and annual reports
  • Debunk five myths of science storytelling
  • Learn how to prepare, structure, and tell a story well
  • Discuss the importance of considering/measuring a story’s impact

This workshop was developed by Renira Narrandes and has been licensed to The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids).

Details
Thursday, May 21, 2026 - 10:00
10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Cost: 
$300
Register here
Location
Zoom

Advancing Integrated Community-Based Primary Health Care

This webinar is presented by the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) Canada

# Session Description:

With primary care reform underway across jurisdictions and growing recognition that fragmented care fails people, Canada has a significant opportunity to set a bold national aspiration for comprehensive primary care—fully embedded within an integrated system. Primary care and integrated care are mutually reinforcing. We propose that comprehensive, person-centered integrated care requires a foundation of strong, team-based primary care, and primary health care cannot deliver its full promise unless it is meaningfully connected to the broader health and social system.

The vision for what this looks like in practice is still emerging, and efforts across the country remain largely disconnected. This session brings together diverse perspectives to explore what integrated primary care means in practice—what strengths and levers already exist, what conditions enable meaningful connection across sectors, and how we can move from parallel reform efforts toward collective learning and impact.

# Why This Matters:

Without primary care functioning as part of an integrated system—connected to community supports, specialists, and the broader determinants of health—we risk building better silos rather than better systems. This session explores leading practices across jurisdictions and is needed to achieve sustainable change.

Join us as we explore the current state of primary care integration, envision what's possible, and identify the pathways that can get us there together.

Details
Tuesday, March 31, 2026 - 12:00
12:00-1:30pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
External Link: 
Learn more
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location

IFIC Forum Discussion on Integrated Teamwork

This interactive webinar is presented by the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) as part of their "Nine Pillars of Integrated Care" 2026 Forum Series

Join this online forum to discuss how integrated teamwork is the engine of integrated care.

Following on from our successful Forum Discussions on two of the Nine Pillars of Integrated Care, Governance  and Information and Technology, which explored international experiences of integrated care, we are delighted to host the third in our series of nine Forums to launch the revised Pillars.

Integrated teamwork is the engine of integrated care. The delivery of high-quality integrated care is fundamentally dependent on effective teamwork among health and social care professionals. The evidence base supporting this assertion is substantial, consistent, and growing. To make integrated care a reality, diverse professionals need to work collaboratively, sharing responsibility for care planning and delivery. Without functional teamwork as its operational foundation, integrated care remains a policy aspiration rather than a lived reality for those who use services.

Join IFIC for an interactive Forum Discussion focused on the Integrated Teamwork Pillar of the Nine Pillars of Integrated Care. This session brings together international expertise to explore what progress has been made, what tensions remain, and what practical shifts are needed to enable integrated, people centred care in different contexts.

# What we will explore

  • How integrated teamwork can enable coordination, continuity and shared decision making
  • What has to change in the way that health and care professionals are trained and practice
  • How people and the centre of care and family carers are part of the integrated team

# How the Forum will run

This is a discussion led session, designed for learning across policy, research and practice. Expect short framing inputs from contributors, followed by a moderated conversation and active engagement from the audience. The emphasis is on generative dialogue rather than presentations.

# Who this Forum is for

This Forum Discussion is relevant for policymakers and system leaders, practitioners, researchers, education and training specialists, and anyone interested in how integrated teamwork can support integrated care.

# About the Nine Pillars of Integrated Care

The Nine Pillars of Integrated Care describe the core conditions that enable integrated care to be implemented, sustained and scaled. Each Forum in the 2026 series focuses on one Pillar, while recognising the interconnections between all nine. The series supports shared learning across IFIC’s global community and strengthens the translation of evidence into practical action.

Details
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 - 12:00
12:00-1:30pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
External Link: 
Learn more
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location

Quality Improvement Open House

This Lunch & Learn Webinar is presented by the Alliance for Healthier Communities

The Alliance’s Learning Health System team is here to support all Alliance members on their quality improvement (QI) journeys, regardless of their pace and starting point. We know that a QI-informed approach can make their work more joyful, rewarding, and impactful. Our team of QI coaches can help you:

  • Get started with a brainstorming session or guided data exploration to identify a meaningful goal and choose a project. 
  • Overcome the “no time for QI” barrier by integrating it into huddles and workflows.
  • Break your QI project into small, manageable steps, so you’re not overwhelmed by complexity.
  • Identify a change idea to try, then test it on a small scale to see how it works.

Tailored coaching is just one of the free QI supports available to Alliance members. We also offer peer-supported and self-paced learning activities, learning events, and help with data collection and retrieval. On Wednesday May 6, the EPIC Learning Health System team is hosting a Quality Improvement Open House for members who want to learn about these supports and how to access them.

This open house is for anyone working at an Alliance-member organization who wants to implement change or make improvements, whether you’re an experienced QI lead, a member of your organization’s QI team, or new to this journey. Administrators, program managers, interprofessional providers, data managers, health promoters, and directors can all participate in QI activities and can all benefit from learning about our QI supports. 

By participating in this webinar, you’ll gain: 

  • Awareness of how the EPIC Learning Health System and our QI Supports can help your team meet strategic goals,
  • Information you can use for year-round planning of QI activities,
  • Heightened curiosity about your practice-based data and how it can guide improvement work,
  • Deeper understanding that QI isn't “one more thing” for your busy team to do, but something that can be woven throughout your work, and
  • Insight into available supports for implementing or improving a social prescribing referral pathway.

Register here and join us from 12-1 pm on Wednesday, May 6. Get an orientation to all our QI supports, hear success stories from your peers who have benefited from them, and have time for interactive deeper dives into the QI supports that spark your curiosity. 

Details
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 - 12:00
12-1 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Alliance Event
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location
Online event

Tools for Better Management of ME, FM, and POTs in Primary Health Care

This webinar is presented by the Alliance for Healthier Communities in Partnership with CareNow Ontario.

Are you seeing clients with persistent but hard-to-explain symptoms — debilitating fatigue, dizziness, unrefreshing sleep, pain, or brain fog — and wondering how best to help when tests don’t provide clear answers? 

Symptoms of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), and Fibromyalgia (FM), often emerge after an acute viral-like illness, such as the Epstein–Barr virus, influenza, COVID-19, or other viral or bacterial infections, and they persist long after the initial illness resolves. These infections can trigger long-lasting conditions characterized by debilitating fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, autonomic nervous system instability, sleep disruption, and pain. Daily functioning is often significantly limited, affecting both basic and instrumental activities of daily living. Because they are so often debilitating and have whole-person impacts, these conditions are often best managed in a comprehensive, team-based primary health care setting, with coordinated support that includes physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and social work. However, this post-infectious pattern is not always recognized in clinical practice, contributing to delays in diagnosis and care. 

New, evidence-informed tools are now available to support better Management of ME, FM, and POTs in primary health care settings. Created by the Centre for Effective Practice (CEP) in partnership with clinicians and people with lived experience, these  practical resources help clinicians identify core symptom patterns, conduct focused assessments, and build individualized management plans that include both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic strategies. They also promote person-centred care, recognizing the wide variation in symptom severity and presentation. 

Join this free Lunch & Learn webinar from CareNow Ontario and the Alliance for Healthier Communities to get an overview of the CEP tools, hear from providers and clients who have benefitted from them, and come away better equipped to identify and care for people living with POTS, ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia.

Details
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 - 12:00
12-1 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Alliance Event
External Link: 
Access the CEP tools
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location

Planetary Health & Sustainable Care ECHO: Climate Impacts on Health & Health Equity

This peer-supported learning series is presented by the Collaborative Centre for Climate, Health, and Sustainable Care and CASCADES.

Join the Collaborative Centre and CASCADES for our next cycle of the Planetary Health & Sustainable Care ECHO: Climate Impacts on Health & Health Equity starting April 7.

In this cycle, we will explore how climate change-driven environmental shifts (such as rising temperatures, declining air quality, changing patterns of vector-borne diseases, and increasingly frequent extreme weather events) create and intensify threats to health and health and social services. Particular attention will be paid to how these threats are unevenly distributed, disproportionately affecting individuals, communities, and patients already burdened by social, economic, and environmental inequities. Impacted groups can include people living with mental health conditions, those experiencing homelessness, older adults, women and gender-diverse people, Indigenous and racialized communities, people with disabilities, and others facing intersecting vulnerabilities.  

This cycle will run for 6-8 weeks on Tuesdays, beginning April 7. Registration is open on a rolling basis, meaning those interested can register at any time before and throughout the cycle and attend any number of sessions. Registrants will receive a calendar invitation to the entire cycle (all sessions).

 

Details
Tuesday, April 7, 2026 - 12:00
Tuesday, April 14, 2026 - 00:00
Tuesday, April 21, 2026 - 00:00
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 - 00:00
Tuesday, May 5, 2026 - 00:00
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 - 00:00
12-1 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Learn more and register
Location
Virtual

Mentions and measures: How are Indigenous values considered in impact assessments?

This webinar is hosted by the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH)

# Webinar description

In Canada’s oil and gas industry, impact assessments (IAs) are used to determine the positive and negative externalities of proposed projects. These assessments tend to prioritize economic gains over the values of Indigenous communities who bear the weight of impacts. We will discuss how Indigenous values are understood and considered alongside standardized economic measures in decision-making. This webinar presents a thematic inductive analysis of six National Energy Board (NEB) reports for project approvals in the Alberta oil and gas industry. Our findings evidence how Indigenous values shared in the IAs are interconnected to health and well-being, emphasizing the importance of Indigenous leadership in IA for informed decision-making.

# Learning objectives

  • Identify what measures and components were used to inform recent IA reports prepared by the NEB for major oil and gas projects approved under federal jurisdiction.
  • Understand to what extent the application of these measures and components reflect Indigenous values and the interconnections to Indigenous health and wellbeing.

Please note: webinar registration is limited to 1000 participants. This webinar will be recorded; by registering for this webinar you are providing your consent to this recording. The webinar registration and delivery is in English only.

Unauthorized recording, screen capture, or distribution of this webinar is strictly prohibited.

Details
Tuesday, March 3, 2026 - 14:00
2:00-3:30 pm
Cost: 
Free
Internal/External: 
Community Event
External Link: 
Learn more
Event Type: 
Learning Events
Register here
Location
Webinar