Oct. 5, 2026

Read article originally published in The Hill Times
By: Michelle McLean

It is no secret that the Canadian healthcare system faces unprecedented challenges – the strain of rising costs, an aging population with complex care needs, outdated and insufficient infrastructure, and a shortage of healthcare professionals. The challenges we face make it imperative to use tools that can help health professionals improve the quality of care they provide, and which help them to use their time more efficiently, allowing them to care for more people. Connected digital platforms and AI are already showing what is possible but their benefits depend on reliable data and infrastructure.

We have started to realize the potential of these tools.   AI scribes are reducing time spent on administrative paperwork by 3 to 4 hours per week. Scaled nationally, AI scribes could save physicians nearly 20 million hours, the equivalent of approximately 9000 full-time doctors. Diagnostic imaging tools are producing quicker, better-quality images while cutting scan times as evidenced by an average 50% reduction in scan times per MRI appointment at Island Health. Sunnybrook’s Rho assesses X-rays of adults aged 50 and older to screen for future osteoporosis risk enabling early preventative care. AI’s potential goes beyond improving wait times and workplace productivity. It can also help hospitals deliver care in new settings. An innovation born from necessity during COVID-19, the Jewish General Hospital University Centres’s Hospital@Home program reduced exposure and admissions by treating patients in their home, supported by remote monitoring devices and in-home point-of-care testing. The program has treated roughly 2,100 patients since 2022, saved over 17,500 bed days and received a 93% satisfaction rating from patients. Expansion to a 20-bed virtual ward enabled by  AI-powered Signal 1, helps healthcare providers identify suitable patients faster, adjust therapies earlier, and deliver more proactive care.

All of these approaches depend on health information being available where it is needed. HealthCareCAN members are building the connected data systems that make this possible, including the Connected Health Record co-built by Santé Quebec West-Central Montreal Health and Social Services University Network (CIUSSS) and the HALO framework, a collaboration between Hamilton Health Sciences and BC’s Provincial Health Services Authority. And while there are many other examples across the country, our health systems cannot build at the scale and speed needed to fully leverage the potential of AI and other digital technologies without the support of the federal government.

The federal government should be applauded for the steps it has taken this year to address this need.  The AI for ALL strategy promised $200 million towards improving patient outcomes. Another $100 million is being invested in VITAL, which is expected to connect privacy-protected data systems across more than 160 sites in Ontario, Alberta and Quebec to advance research and clinical trials, before expanding to other provinces and territories. Bill S-5, the Connected Care for Canadians Act, aims to improve interoperability between electronic medical records.  However, these initiatives will struggle to scale if hospitals and health systems must run them on aging operating systems, with patchy connectivity, limited data storage and processing capacity, and vulnerable cybersecurity systems.

The infrastructure challenge falls on hospitals, health authorities, research institutes and healthcare organizations, where health data is generated, clinical trials are conducted and new technologies enter patient care. Yet digital infrastructure costs have increased two to four times. Without dedicated and predictable digital infrastructure funding, the national ambition to adopt AI and data-driven care is incompatible with the underlying local infrastructure and capacity needed to deploy technologies sustainably and at scale.

Budget 2025 took an important step by announcing a $5-billion Health Infrastructure Fund but none of the fund’s investments will address digital infrastructure needs. Digital infrastructure must be recognized as a distinct capital necessity, not an optional upgrade.  To turn Canada’s AI investments into better care for patients, we must fund the digital infrastructure that lets health organizations adopt and sustain new tools at scale.

Michelle McLean
President and CEO, HealthCareCAN

HealthCareCAN is the national voice of hospitals, health authorities, health research institutes, and healthcare organizations across Canada.