Evidence-Support Network for Canada
The Evidence-Support Network for Canada uses a hub-and-spoke model to provide timely, demand-driven evidence support to government policymakers, system leaders, professionals and citizens. We currently have hubs in place for four of the eight needed forms of evidence, namely data analytics, behavioural and implementation research, qualitative insights, and evidence synthesis. The hubs can respond independently or work together for a more joined-up response.
We aim to efficiently connect Canadian decision-makers with the different forms of evidence they need, when they need it, and to contribute to and leverage global advances in evidence support to better serve Canadians. We want to ensure that there’s ‘no wrong door’ for decision-makers seeking to find the right forms of evidence when they need them.
We can address a diverse array of topics and sectors from a methodological perspective, and increasingly broaden our engagement of subject-matter experts as we move progressively beyond our own areas of content expertise. The following is a rank-ordered list from most to least aligned to our in-house content expertise:
- health-system arrangements and implementation strategies that determine whether the right mix of programs, services and products equitably get to those who need them
- particular health domains such as pandemics and other health emergencies, as well as prevention
- social services and broader human services, particularly as they intersect with health services
- climate and health and other sectoral and cross-sectoral connections to health
- other sectors.
We encourage you to explore our website to find out how you can:
- access evidence support, both by identifying existing products that meet your need and by requesting our services to tackle a new priority
- strengthen Canada’s evidence support system in general, by type of community, and in particular applications like learning health systems or misinformation support
- explore our global contributions in the areas of health and social care, pandemics and other health emergencies, and prevention
- leverage global public goods via the game-changing Evidence Synthesis Infrastructure Collaborative (ESIC), including its sectoral and regional hubs, open-data system, and planned methods and process transformation
- pilot our AI bot.
In creating ESN-CA, we are building upon:
- years and sometimes decades of evidence-support experience among our hub-and-spoke partners
- lessons learned from co-leading and acting as the secretariat for the domestic and global versions of the COVID-19 Evidence Network to support Decision-making (COVID-END)
- insights derived from co-leading and acting as the secretariat for the Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenges
- Canada-specific insights from the pan-Canadian health evidence-support system (pCHESS) dialogue series and related community-specific summaries (details of which can be found in the ‘Strengthen the evidence-support system’ part of this website)
- partnership among groups working with three forms of evidence – evidence synthesis, guidance, and health-technology assessment – as part of McMaster’s new Evidence Synthesis and Support Institute
- ongoing work in partnership with the game-changing Evidence Synthesis Infrastructure Collaborative.