From Cancer Prevention to Survivorship – Innovations Helping Ontarians

Nearly one in two Ontarians is expected to develop cancer in their lifetime. Every day, there are expected to be about 267 new cancer diagnoses. At the same time, real and meaningful progress has been made to change the impact of cancer on the lives of people in Ontario. Cancer incidence rates have fallen over time and more people are surviving cancer than ever before. The number of cancer survivors is expected to increase by 16 per cent between 2022 and 2027. In fact, Ontario’s five-year cancer survival rate ranks third highest among leading cancer systems around the world.

These gains are the result of years of coordinated effort across Ontario’s cancer system. Building on the strong foundation established by Cancer Care Ontario, which is now part of Ontario Health, we are advancing cancer care through province-wide planning, quality standards, performance management and clinical guidance.

Guided by the Ontario Cancer Plan, innovative programs and services continue to evolve to better support people across the cancer journey – prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship – ensuring high-quality care throughout. Below is a closer look at some of the work making a meaningful impact for people affected by cancer in Ontario.

Reducing Cancer Risk in Communities and Workplaces

Preventing cancer starts with awareness, reducing exposure to risk factors and supporting people to make healthier choices. By addressing risks early, some cancers can be prevented before they begin – improving quality of life and strengthening families, communities and the health system.

Across Ontario, provincial initiatives are helping people take proactive steps toward better health. The Preventive Care Program delivers health education, risk assessment, coaching and navigation to cancer services in 20 primary care and community settings. Participants work with prevention specialists to create personalized care plans and receive ongoing support to make small, sustainable changes that can significantly reduce cancer risk. Since launching in 2023, the program has supported more than 15,000 preventive care conversations, helping people set health goals and connect with the services they need.

The Occupational Disease Surveillance Program, led by the Occupational Cancer Research Centre, is reducing cancer risk in the workplace by detecting and monitoring work-related cancers. Using health data from over 2.4 million current and former workers, the program helps identify hazardous exposures, inform compensation decisions and guide risk-reduction efforts across Ontario’s workplaces.

Expanding Cancer Screening to Reach More People

Ontario’s screening programs for breast, cervical, colorectal and lung cancers send out about eight million screening letters each year. This is important because cancer screening can find abnormal cell changes before they become cancer or catch cancer early when treatment is most effective.

Participation in screening remains strong. More than 60 per cent of eligible Ontarians are up to date with colorectal and breast cancer screening, and nearly 60 per cent of eligible Ontarians are up to date with cervical screening. Since the new HPV test launched in March 2025, over 500,000 eligible people have been screened. Over 70,000 people at high-risk for lung cancer have been screened in the Ontario Lung Screening Program, and the program will be available province-wide by the end of March.

To help close equity gaps, access to colorectal cancer screening was expanded in remote and fly-in First Nations communities in partnership with Indigenous communities. Home screening kits are available at nursing stations and health centres for distribution directly to eligible people. In the Sioux Lookout area, participation increased from 8.3 per cent in 2023 to 23 per cent in 2025.

Reducing Inequities in Timely Cancer Diagnosis

Improving timely cancer diagnosis begins with listening to people with lived experience, especially to voices that have been underrepresented, and using what we learn to drive change for all.

Project Engaging Diverse Voices gathered insights from three high-priority groups (people who identify as Black, newcomers to Canada, and Francophone and French-speaking communities) to better understand their experiences navigating a cancer diagnosis. Their recommendations helped shape the Building Enhanced Assessment for Cancer in Ontarians with Non-specific and Specific High-risk Symptoms (BEACON) Suspicion of Cancer Service, a diagnostic assessment program.

Advancing Treatment and Support for Patients

Robotic-assisted surgery helps patients recover faster with fewer complications. For prostate cancer surgery, hospital stays have been reduced from a median of two days to one. From 2024 to 2025, this saved 1,379 hospital days and roughly $4.1 million in system costs.

Ensuring access to the newest, most effective cancer drugs is another key priority. Between April and December 2025, 35 new cancer drug indications were funded – a $581 million investment expected to benefit more than 16,000 patients across Ontario over the next three years.

Patients can also get help outside clinic hours through CareChart, an after-hours oncology nursing service. In 2025, it handled more than 2,700 calls per month from nearly 2,000 people, helping patients manage symptoms safely at home and saving more than 5,000 emergency department visits that year.

Improving Care for Survivors

As more people live longer after cancer, their care needs are changing. Many people need ongoing support after treatment, but not everyone needs the same type or level of care. To improve how survivorship care is planned and delivered, Ontario Health is developing a Cancer Survivorship Quality Standard. This will help set expectations for high-quality, consistent care for survivors across the province.

To measure the implementation of the Cancer Survivorship Quality Standard and to better understand what survivors need, Ontario Health uses the Provincial Survivorship Dashboard. This data helps regional cancer programs plan care that is well coordinated and delivered closer to home by reducing unnecessary follow-up visits at cancer centres, increasing care in community settings, and ensuring specialized cancer services are available for people who are newly diagnosed or in treatment.

Looking Ahead

Through planning, innovation and partnerships, Ontario Health and its partners are strengthening cancer care across the province – improving outcomes today while building a more equitable, accessible system for the future.