Health equity and population health

Health equity is achieved when everyone, regardless of sex, gender, income, race or other socio-demographic characteristics, has the fair opportunity to reach their optimal health. In Canada, differences across population subgroups (or inequalities) are significant for a range of health care indicators and are generally persisting or worsening over time. Health systems with a commitment to health equity recognize that measurement matters. The collection, measurement and reporting of socio-demographic data enables health systems to identify inequalities in care across populations, inform meaningful strategies and monitor progress in improving care for all patients.

Explore information on health equity, including reports, data tables, methods and other key resources.

Featured material

Measuring Health Inequalities: A Toolkit

  • Toolkit
  • June 9, 2022
This page provides resources and a brief introduction on how to plan your analysis, analyze your data and report your findings when measuring health inequalities. The reporting is on equity stratifiers such as income, age, education, gender, geographic location, sex at birth, racialized groups and Indigenous identity.

Race-based and Indigenous identity data

  • Release summary
  • March 17, 2022
Race-based and Indigenous identity data is essential for measuring health inequalities and disparities, and for identifying inequities that stem from racism, bias and discrimination.

Reports and releases

See all reports and releases

If you have a disability and would like CIHI information in a different format, visit our Accessibility page.