Annual Report 2025-2026

A key focus this year was improving awareness and prevention of preeclampsia, a serious condition that can develop after 20 weeks of pregnancy or following childbirth and can pose significant risks if not identified early. In partnership with the MotHERS™ (Mothers’ Health Education, Research & Screening) Program, we developed the Preeclampsia Awareness and Prevention During Pregnancy fact sheet. This resource outlines signs, symptoms, risk factors and when to seek care, and is available in multiple languages to help reduce barriers to access and promote equitable care.

We also created resources for the early pregnancy and postpartum periods. The Early Pregnancy Concerns Care Navigation Resource supports pregnant individuals experiencing symptoms such as pain or bleeding by helping them recognize when urgent care is required, understand what follow-up may be needed, and how to access emotional, cultural and community supports. The Postpartum Warning Signs Information Sheets for patients and healthcare providers support early recognition of potentially serious complications that can occur up to 12 months after pregnancy. Developed with input from clinicians, subject‑matter experts and individuals with lived experience, these resources support informed patient–provider conversations and safer pregnancy and postpartum outcomes.

CCKO aims to improve care continuity, collaboration and service delivery for children and youth with medical complexity and their families. With support from the Ministry of Health, PCMCH provided more than $6.6 million to complex care clinics across Ontario last year.

The program has seen tremendous growth since its inception. Regional Complex Care Clinics are now embedded in four children’s hospitals and 17 community-based clinics, with two additional clinics recently opening in Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The program has expanded its reach, growing from just under 600 patients in FY 2017/18 to more than 1,400 in FY 2025/26.

This year, we continued to advance efforts to improve coordination of care in Northern Ontario by supporting the development and expansion of new CCKO sites. This included completing a patient transfer pilot initiative between NEO Kids at Health Sciences North and the CCKO clinic at the Hospital for Sick Children, enabling children with medical complexity to receive care closer to home.

In 2025/26, the PDN hosted a series of webinars focused on priority topics in paediatric diabetes care. These sessions engaged providers, clinical experts, researchers and people with lived/living experience to share perspectives, explore emerging evidence and support shared learning:

• Bridging the Gap in Diabetes Care Transitions
• My Journey from Patient Partner to CanScreenT1D Indigenous Research Coordinator
• Talking with Kids: How to Engage Children in their Diabetes Care
• Practical Approaches to Addressing Fear of Hypo/Hyperglycemia in Diabetes Clinics
• Practical Approaches to Addressing Diabetes Distress in Clinics
• Let’s Get Practical! Navigating the DIY “Looping” Journey

With the PDN, we also continued to work towards developing a centralized Paediatric Diabetes eResource Centre to improve access to high-quality educational and clinical resources for care providers across the network. A PDN working group is currently supporting the review and validation of content, with the resource centre expected to launch in the coming fiscal year.

In 2025, PCMCH secured more than $4.9 million in additional base funding from the Ministry of Health to address growing demand within the CLP/C Program. This investment will help reduce wait times and improve access to care by supporting the delivery of specialized and time‑sensitive dental treatment for eligible children and youth.

As part of a centralization initiative, a comprehensive database upgrade was undertaken to support centralized budget management, improve reporting capabilities, and enable greater operational efficiencies across the program. Additionally, the new funding will support the development of a new CLP/C Self-Service Portal. This modern, user-friendly platform will streamline communications and improve accessibility for patients, families and providers, supporting a more efficient, responsive and patient-centred experience.

To support informed decision‑making by families, we also refreshed our RSV fact sheets for parents and expectant parents, explaining RSV risks and evidence‑based prevention options in plain language. These resources are available in multiple languages to improve accessibility and reach diverse communities across Ontario. We also developed a poster for healthcare settings with QR codes linking directly to parent resources to support timely access to information at the point of care.

Together, these updated resources reinforce our commitment to equity, evidence-based practice and coordinated provincial action to reduce the burden of RSV among infants and high-risk children.

RSV Poster with QR codes

In 2025/26, the regional networks continued to advance a wide range of activities that support quality and equity in care. This included:

• Delivering education and training opportunities for healthcare providers
• Fostering collaboration among hospitals and community partners
• Supporting system initiatives such as RSV prevention and awareness, and improving transitions from paediatric to adult care for youth with complex needs

In December 2025, we convened regional network leaders and provincial partners for the Regional Networks Operational Forum (RNOF) retreat. The retreat provided dedicated space to reflect on accomplishments, strengthen connections and explore opportunities to further advance the core elements of regional networks. Moving forward, the regional networks and PCMCH will continue to support coordinated, evidence‑informed approaches that strengthen Ontario’s perinatal and child health system.

Attendees at the RNOF Retreat

In 2025/26, we continued to translate our public-facing resources into multiple languages to better reach diverse populations. These included materials related to RSV immunization, preeclampsia, early pregnancy care navigation, and postpartum warning signs. By making these resources more accessible, we are helping ensure that more individuals and families can access clear information to support informed care decisions.

We also continued to advance our understanding of Indigenous history, health and healing practices and present-day inequities through learning. We supported staff in building a deeper understanding of how colonization and Western systems have contributed to health inequities for First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Through structured learning sessions and open discussions facilitated by PCMCH’s Program Manager for Indigenous Health Equity and Engagement, called “Bundles,” staff were encouraged to reflect on these impacts and apply this knowledge in their daily work, supporting more culturally informed and respectful engagement.

The OPBN is a province-wide network of specialized paediatric weight management programs that work together to improve access to equitable, evidence-informed care for children and youth living with obesity. With leadership and coordination from PCMCH, the OPBN supports shared standards, collaboration across sites, and consistent approaches to care, education and quality improvement.

The Education Hub’s early planning and priority setting was guided by a provincial Steering Committee, co-chaired by PCMCH and the SickKids Healthy Living Clinic and supported by representation from all OPBN sites. The SickKids Healthy Living Clinic serves as the central coordinating site for the OPBN Education Hub.

Foundational work completed this year included the creation of education resources (e.g., myths, facts, boosting health and happiness at home) and delivery of province-wide Food Skills Workshops tailored for patients and families.

Work is underway to expand accessible, patient- and family-centred learning opportunities, including the development of educational video modules and continued delivery of virtual Food Skills Workshops. Together, these activities lay the groundwork for a coordinated, province-wide approach to education that supports patients, families and care teams in Ontario.

Highlighting the OPBN Education Hub at the SickKids Learning Institute’s Education Showcase

This past year, we worked collaboratively to develop a provincial framework to guide, strengthen and enhance Ontario’s neonatal and paediatric acute care transport system. This work brought together senior clinical and administrative leaders of transport organizations and senior leadership from the broader health system to articulate shared principles, clarify patient populations, and prioritize developing processes for timely access to appropriate consultation, triage and dispatch. We also advanced a provincial data strategy to assess transport team performance and system coordination, alongside work to clarify roles, responsibilities, and performance expectations across transport services, including training, education and equipment readiness, leveraging existing implementation processes.

Among these collaborations is PCMCH’s support of the Canadian Obstetric Survey System (CanOSS), a national initiative focused on understanding and reducing severe adverse perinatal events in pregnancy. By bringing together multidisciplinary expertise and collecting data across care settings, this work aims to identify underlying causes of major complications and support evidence-informed improvements in perinatal care. The project has received funding through the Juravinski Research Institute, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada and Brain Canada

PCMCH is also a collaborator and integrated Knowledge Translation Panel member on a project led by Drs. Alene Toulany and Sarah Munce focused on improving the transition from paediatric to adult care for youth with chronic health conditions. Using an integrated knowledge translation approach, this work brought together youth, caregivers, healthcare providers and system leaders to co-develop a consensus set of quality indicators that can be applied across conditions, care settings and jurisdictions in Canada. A final list of 11 indicators has been prioritized, with final results currently in press. The next phase of work will focus on supporting implementation by examining barriers and facilitators to using the indicators in practice, and identifying strategies to support their uptake across care settings. This project received $1.1 million in grant funding from the CIHR and the PSI Foundation.