Hello 2026! The January issue of HDRN Canada Data Points is here!

What's Up @ HDRN Canada?

Data Privacy Week: January 26 - February 1

To mark Data Privacy Week, HDRN Canada is showcasing its new e-learning course, Protecting Personal Information: Foundations in Data Privacy and Ethics for Personal and Personal Health Data. The course is designed for students, researchers and the public to learn how administrative personal health information is protected in research.

Your health data, their research – Is that okay?

Research teams from HDRN Canada and the Population Health Research Network separately explored community attitudes towards the use of health data in research, finding shared values and interesting differences between Canadians and Australians. Learn more in Part 1 of our series on social license for health data use.

A smiling South Asian man with a checkered shirt. Text reads: Social Licence: Public Perceptions on Health Data Use. Maritime SPOR Support Unit. Brian Cho, Research Team Member. HDRN Canada Public Advisory Council.

What do Maritimers think about their health data use?

Are Maritimers comfortable with their health data being used to improve care, support research or study disease? HDRN Canada Public Advisory Council member Brian Cho participated in a Maritime-wide research project that examined how health data are used in data centres and what contributes to social license in health data use.

No significant visuals. Text reads: International Data Access Tools Repository. International Population Data Linkage Network Initiative. Hosted by Administrative Data Research UK. Logos for International Population Data Linkage Network and ADR UK are at bottom.

International Data Access Tools Repository launched

HDRN Canada's Data Assets Inventory and Algorithms Inventory are now available through the International Data Access Tools Repository, a global collection of tools created through our collaboration with the International Population Data Linkage Network to support good practice and secure access to administrative health data.

Upcoming Events

Paul Kershaw, a middle-aged man with curly brown hair and glasses. Text reads: Medical Budgets in an Aging Canada. Why protecting universal access now requires generationally fair revenue reform. UBC School of Population and Public Health. Tuesday, January 20. Logos for UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research and University of British Columbia are at bottom.

Medical budgets in an aging Canada
JANUARY 20 | Vancouver & Virtual

Drawing on CIHI data and new age-adjusted fiscal analysis, Dr. Paul Kershaw demonstrates why protecting universal health care requires generationally fair revenue reform at the next UBC Centre for Health Services and Policy Research webinar. Dr. Kershaw shares research findings, including the need to modernize medical-care financing to reflect Canada's aging population.

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Edwin White Chancon, a smiling man with glasses. Daniel Berezean, a smiling white man with brown hair. Allana Cameron, a smiling white woman with brown hair and glasses. Brandon Blanck, a smiling white man with brown hair. Text reads: Testing what’s possible. Projectathons and the future of interoperability. Tuesday, January 27.

Projectathons & the Future of Interoperability | JANUARY 27 | Virtual

Canada’s progress toward a fully connected health system relies on how systems work together. Join Canada Health Infoway to learn how projectathons are shaping the future of interoperability. This webinar explores how projectathons, as testing events, accelerate standards adoption, identify issues early and give governments, vendors and providers solutions that are ready for care settings.

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Admin data in rural dementia health services research | JANUARY 29 | Virtual

Our first Big IDEAs About Health Data webinar of 2026 kicks off with Dr. Julie Kosteniuk, Dr. Jacqueline Quail and Beliz Açan Osman, from University of Saskatchewan's Rural Dementia Action Research Team, discusssing dementia care research in rural areas and how clinical and administrative data can improve care.

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Navigating Data with CRDCN & DASH
FEBRUARY 12 | Virtual

The Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN) and HDRN Canada are teaming up for an exciting joint webinar designed to support researchers with data access and use, highlighting how CRDCN’s extensive research platform and DASH’s streamlined data access support can accelerate and strengthen health research.

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News from Across the Network

Long-acting stimulants for ADHD management

A new study using retrospective analysis of administrative data accessed through DataNB examined the impact of long-acting stimulant pharmacotherapy for ADHD on academic outcomes among students in grades K-12, finding an association with improved academic performance, attendance and likelihood of graduation.

Using admin data to assess community health delivery

One of the first studies to publish results using administrative data accessed through the Health Research Data Platform - Saskatchewan (HRDP-SK) evaluated the Saskatoon Community Clinic, a team-based, patient-centred co-operative, finding value and challenges to this unique model within the Canadian health care system.

Tracking 20 years of Manitoba health trends

The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy has released the 2024 RHA Indicators Atlas, which tracks Manitobans' health and health service use over a 20-year period, focusing on health status, health care use, quality of care, and maternal and child health. These indicators cover data holdings from all of Manitoba's five health authorities.

StatCan launches Health Statistics Newsletter

Want to be the first to know about the latest health data, research highlights and upcoming events from Statistics Canada? Subscribe to the new monthly Health Statistics Newsletter for access to upcoming data releases, tools and new datasets from the national statistical agency, all in one place, delivered to your inbox.

What shapes primary care capacity in Canada?

Population Data BC will link seven data sets from the BC Ministry of Health to provincial regulatory college data and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data as part of a multiregional research project exploring factors shaping primary health care system capacity in order to estimate future needs and capacity.

Health Summit celebrates people & stories in research

If you missed YSPOR's 2025 Health Summit, read the recap to learn more about this annual event, which celebrates the power of people, stories and relationships to shape research that truly reflects the needs of Yukoners. Planning is already underway for the 2026 Health Summit - sign up for YSPOR's newsletter to stay updated!