Ontario has been an early leader in advancing culturally appropriate health care services in Canada, with longstanding commitments to work in partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities on achieving culturally appropriate, accessible, and equitable health services. Chapter 7 of the NCCIH’s Indigenous cultural safety: An environmental scan of cultural safety initiatives in Canada highlights many cultural safety initiatives and resources developed and implemented in Ontario, by either the provincial government and its various departments and agencies, alone or in partnership with other governments and organizations, by Ontario Health, or by regional health authorities, professional organizations, Indigenous organizations, and other organizations with a health mandate operating in the province.

Ontario has implemented several broad, systems-wide initiatives to enhance cultural safety for Indigenous Peoples. Key examples are the Aboriginal Health Policy and Aboriginal Healing and Wellness Strategy, both of which resulted in the creation of Aboriginal Health Access Centres that provide culturally safe and appropriate health and social services to Indigenous populations across Ontario. Additionally, health programs and services for Indigenous patients are widespread across the province, including the availability of Indigenous Patient Navigators within the health system as well as mechanisms to ensure Indigenous engagement in the development of policies, programs, and services; efforts to develop a culturally appropriate workforce; and initiatives focused on enhancing health equity.

Note to reader: While all resources in the Indigenous cultural safety chapters were freely accessible on the Internet when they were included, the NCCIH assumes no responsibility for any links that are broken or changes in free access. The resources listed are, in large part, resources that are external to the NCCIH. They are intended for general information only on an "as is" and “as available” basis. Please refer to the NCCIH’s disclaimer on its Privacy policy.

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