What We Do

As a research centre, CanChild conducts health services and systems research on child health issues that will make a difference for children and youth with physical, developmental and communication needs, and their families.  We are not a clinical setting.  To ensure CanChild research addresses the real life concerns of children, families, and communities, our team of researchers work in close partnership with:

• Children and youth with disabilities and their families;
• Professionals who provide services for children and youth;
• Organizations such as Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs), Community Care Access Centres (CCACs), the Ontario Association of Children's Rehabilitation Services (OACRS) and its member Children's Treatment Centres (CTCs), and Ontario Boards of Education;
• Researchers and university educators throughout Canada and around the world;
• Policy analysts and decision-makers from government ministries, including the Ontario Ministries of Health and Long-Term Care, Children and Youth Services, Community and Social Services and Education.

CanChild is committed to sharing information and building future capacity in child health services research.   We do this by:

• Making research findings available to families, service providers and policy-makers by writing user-friendly educational materials;
• Designing and maintaining an award-winning website;
• Conceptualizing and implementing a unique Intranet site linking over 2,000 Canadian and international service providers and researchers who are able to learn from the evidence and each other to improve their practice;
• Developing the credibility and capacity to attract graduate students and post-doctoral fellows to build future capacity in child health services research.