National Health Ethics Week 2026

This National Health Ethics Week we will celebrate what makes healthcare and social services ethics unique and vibrant across the different areas of Canada! In order to help you understand the theme and share with others (people from your area and across the national ethics community), below are some questions for you to explore. You do not need to answer each question, but feel free to build on them!

• What is your area? To whom are your services offered? (The terms “area” and “region” are used interchangeably in these prompts)
  • Is it a hospital, university, health catchment area, Nation or Reserve/Community, province or territory, linguistic, administrative region, or something else?
• Which common features or characteristics identify and delineate the area that you are celebrating?
  • For example, are its limits natural, administrative or symbolic?
• What strengths in health ethics theory and practice do you identify in your region?
  • For example, are there particularly creative, collaborative, emerging, or well-established elements of healthcare ethics theory, praxis, or training in your area?
• How does the area you serve influence your theory or practice?
  • For example, are the strengths of your region influenced by the history, ecology, cultural, or political heritage of the area?
• What can you share from your region to enrich the way healthcare ethics is seen and practiced across other regions?
  • What makes ethics successful in your area that other regions could benefit from?
• Are there practitioners or partners that have significantly contributed to implementing ethics in your area and whose contributions deserve to be highlighted?
  • What are their strengths and where do they draw their inspiration from?

We encourage you to creatively interpret these and other themes about the strengths across the country! The CBS-SCB promotes the use of creative, artistic, and unconventional mediums to share your ideas and successes.

We also encourage you to follow the National Health Ethics Week schedule on our website to discover the various opportunities to participate in. We also invite you to share your own activities with us so that we can help promote them and connect them with interested participants.

For further information, or to get in contact, do not hesitate to reach out using the CBS-SCB contact link.

The Goals of National Health Ethics Week

National Health Ethics Week is a time for Canadian health institutions, schools and universities, research and clinical ethics committees, healthcare professionals, community organizations, businesses, and members of the general public to host and take part in events that explore health and social service ethics across the country.

The goal of National Health Ethics Week is specifically to:

• Raise awareness and promote dialogue about healthcare, social services, and research ethics issues facing our communities
• Facilitate networking between individuals interested in ethics in healthcare and social services (clinical, organizational, and research ethics)
• Provide greater visibility for the services offered by the Canadian research, organisational, and clinical ethics community, including professional healthcare ethicists, research ethics boards, and clinical ethics committees
• Offer an opportunity for Canadians to get engaged in ethics discussions that have important strategic and policy-making implications

By taking part in the National Health Ethics Week, you are showing a commitment to the development of an ethical culture that will help to open lines of communication with others in your community.