Strengthening Primary Care in Northern, Rural and Remote Communities
Healthcare Excellence Canada launched the Strengthening Primary Care in Northern, Rural and Remote Communities program (Strengthening Primary Care) to strengthen access to team-based primary care in northern, rural and remote communities.
About Strengthening Primary Care
Strengthening Primary Care brought together 20 teams of primary care providers, organizations and communities from November 2023 to November 2024. They represented several northern, rural and remote communities in 10 provinces and territories across Canada. One of the 20 teams (Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services) advanced five unique promising practices to respond to the needs of people and providers throughout their province.
People in northern, rural and remote communities value care close to home, though access to primary care can be more limited than in urban areas. The program helped teams to build on their local strengths to respond to the needs of their communities.
Recognizing that no two communities are alike, this program offered tailored supports to help participating teams define goals and improvement plans that align with the unique needs, readiness, and available resources of local patients and providers. By leveraging local networks and cultural knowledge, they aimed to make care more accessible, effective and closer to home. Learn more about the teams and the support they received.
Strengthening Primary Care’s Impacts
The work done by the teams reached over 66,000 patients in their communities. The program helped teams plan, advance and evaluate promising practices that are improving access to primary care to meet the unique needs and goals of their communities, patients and providers.
Teams leveraged virtual and in-person primary care to improve care closer to home and provide more people with permanent family doctors and care teams. Together, they also overcame common challenges related to health workforce, communication and other barriers.
These promising practices are contributing to a future where northern, rural and remote communities benefit from:
- Improved access to team-based primary care closer to home.
- Improved patient and provider experiences of care.
- Safer care, including more culturally safe care.
- Reduced avoidable emergency departments.
Explore more promising practices from the program.
Featured content
Promising Practices for Strengthening Primary Care in Northern, Rural and Remote Communities
Discover how teams are delivering high-quality, innovative, team-based care. Explore short promising practices from this program that are improving healthcare for people across the country.
Featured content
Promising Practices for Strengthening Primary Care in Northern, Rural and Remote Communities
Discover how teams are delivering high-quality, innovative, team-based care. Explore short promising practices from this program that are improving healthcare for people across the country.
