
The recommendations presented in this Action Plan build on system improvement efforts underway in federal, provincial, territorial, and regional jurisdictions. They have also created an unprecedented opportunity for broad system reform. The COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice, growing income inequity, and the opioid overdose crisis have exposed many shortcomings in our society and in the health system. The turbulent events over 2020 have laid bare the significant impacts of systemic inequity on the health of people in Canada. The strengthening of the Task Force mandate reflects the urgency to take action on pain. These actions are meant to ensure that people with pain are recognized and supported and that pain is understood, prevented, and effectively treated across Canada. In December 2020, the Task Force mandate was strengthened and accelerated to provide recommendations on priority actions. The Task Force was asked to assess the current state of pain, resulting in our first report, and to identify best practices and an improved approach to care, education and awareness, research and related infrastructure, and health system monitoring, resulting in our second report. The Canadian Pain Task Force ( CPTF) was established in 2019 to provide advice to guide the federal government toward an improved approach for the prevention and management of chronic pain, a diagnosis affecting nearly 8 million people living in Canada. Goal #6 - There is improved and equitable access to services for populations disproportionately impacted by pain.Goal #5 - Data enables effective monitoring of pain and facilitates improvement of health system quality.Goal #4 - Pain research and related infrastructure enables discovery, catalyzes innovation, and results in the translation of knowledge into real world impact.The broader community understands pain as a legitimate, biopsychosocial condition and stigma is reduced


Pain in Canada: A Public Health emergency in need of action.(PDF Version, 572 KB, 23 pages) An action plan for pain in Canada Table of contents
