This post was published by Amy Flood and Ivy Parks for Healthing.ca on October 21, 2026.
In a new op-ed for Healthing.ca, Amy Flood, Executive Director of Women’s Health Collective Canada, and Ivy Parks, President of BD-Canada, make the case that Canada already has a blueprint for women’s health. The next step is turning it into coordinated action across every sector that shapes women’s lives.
Where Canada’s blueprint for women’s health began
The authors point back to Health Canada’s 1999 Women’s Health Strategy, which framed women’s health as far broader than reproductive care. It called for stronger evidence, policies that respond to sex and gender differences, effective health services and collaboration across sectors. More than 25 years later, it remains the most recent broad federal strategy dedicated to women’s health.
Progress since then has been real, from new research to growing public conversation about conditions that were long overlooked. The gaps, however, are still significant. Citing the McKinsey Health Institute, Flood and Parks note that Canadian women spend 24 per cent more of their lives in poor health than men. Closing that gap could give each woman roughly seven more healthy days a year and add an estimated $37 billion annually to Canada’s economy by 2040.
The gaps go well beyond reproductive care
Cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mental, neurological and substance-use disorders account for about 75 per cent of the identified gaps in Canada. At the same time, conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women, such as endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain and menopause symptoms, remain under-recognized despite their lasting impact on wellbeing.
Turning the blueprint for women’s health into action
Earlier this year, Women’s Health Collective Canada released its Blueprint for Action with knowledge partner McKinsey & Company Canada. It identifies four areas of opportunity:
- Better sex- and gender-disaggregated data and research
- Stronger sex-specific care and more equitable access
- Increased investment in research and innovation
- Better information and support for women managing their health
Flood and Parks argue that no single organization or sector can deliver on these priorities alone. Employers, investors, philanthropists, life sciences and technology companies, researchers, clinicians, advocates and governments all influence women’s health outcomes. A coordinated national approach would align investment with the areas of greatest need, build clearer pathways from research to implementation, scale what works across provinces and report on progress publicly. It also needs to reflect how geography, race, ethnicity and income shape access to care.
Their conclusion will resonate with the Femtech Canada community: Canada does not need to start over. The foundation is already here, and the opportunity now lies in “continued leadership, stronger coordination and shared accountability.” For more on the data behind the gap, read From Insight to Action: Bridging Canada’s Women’s Health Gap.
Amy Flood will join us as a speaker at Femtech Forum 2026 on November 3 in Toronto.