Groundbreaking Report Spotlights Key Opportunities to Enhance Access to Palliative Care Across the Province
Vancouver, B.C. (March 25, 2025) – A momentous milestone for palliative care in Canada has been achieved with the launch of Pallium Canada’s British Columbia Edition of the Canadian Atlas of Palliative Care.
Pallium Canada is a national registered charitable organization focused on palliative care training and education. This Atlas is a unique Canadian resource that examines palliative care at a provincial and at a regional level, across various domains, such as policy, services and education. Developed in collaboration with McMaster University’s Division of Palliative Care and the BC Centre for Palliative Care, this tool delivers a comprehensive, data-driven snapshot of palliative care services and activities across British Columbia.
This invaluable resource comes at a critical time when British Columbians face challenges in accessing palliative care when and where they need it – challenges that are further intensified by a rapidly aging population. For the first time, the Atlas consolidates provincial level information into a single, interactive resource, providing a comprehensive view of both the strengths and opportunities within British Columbia’s palliative care system. By offering data-driven insights, it serves as a powerful tool to inform future policies, optimize resource allocation, and enhance service delivery, ultimately improving palliative care access and quality across the province.
“The British Columbia Edition of the Canadian Atlas of Palliative Care is a transformative resource,” says Jeffrey Moat, Chief Executive Officer of Pallium Canada. “This Atlas provides British Columbia’s political decision-makers, health care providers and community leaders with the vital data and insights required to drive lasting change and advance equitable access to palliative care for everyone, no matter where they live. This is a historic moment in our journey to ensure that every British Columbian receives the compassionate, high-quality palliative care that they deserve.”
Informed by palliative care leads, including physicians, nurses and other health care providers from the province’s health regions, the Atlas shows that British Columbia boasts a strong and dynamic palliative care system, with high levels of access across most regions. However, while larger communities in British Columbia benefit from well-established community palliative care services, smaller, rural, and remote communities would benefit from additional support to enhance access to palliative care, ensuring more equitable services across the province.
“British Columbia has made significant strides in palliative care over the past two decades, improving access and services across the province,” says Dr. Eman Hassan, Executive Director of the BC Centre for Palliative Care. “The Atlas highlights our progress and the work that is still needed to ensure all British Columbians with serious illness have equitable access to quality, compassionate care. We are proud to have been a part of this important step toward strengthening palliative care across B.C.”
The Atlas is part of a broader national initiative to map palliative care services across Canada. Work is already underway on the Ontario and Alberta editions, both scheduled for release in 2025.
The British Columbia Edition of the Canadian Atlas of Palliative Care has been made possible through the generous support of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller Vancouver, the Y.P. Heung Foundation, the Conconi Family Foundation, the Foord Family Foundation, Saint Mary’s Health Foundation of New Westminster and The Hamber Foundation.
For more information and to access the British Columbia Edition of the Canadian Atlas of Palliative Care, visit pallium.ca/BCAtlas.
For more information, please contact:
Georgina Dunn
Digital Marketing and Communications Manager
gdunn@pallium.ca
(343) 803-4634
About Pallium Canada
Pallium Canada is a Canadian, registered charitable organization focused on building professional and community capacity to help improve the quality and accessibility of palliative care in Canada. With over twenty-five years of experience and over 60,000 learners reached, Pallium Canada has become the largest palliative care education provider for health systems and health care organizations across Canada, with broad experience and expertise working with partners to implement large-scale regional and provincial capacity-building initiatives.
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