June 9, 2022 — The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has developed pan-Canadian guidance on equity stratifiers (e.g., demographic characteristics) to facilitate their consistent use in disaggregated reporting. Guidance on racialized group and Indigenous identity stratifiers was developed to inform data collection as well as reporting. These guidance documents are part of a broader program of work to support harmonized collection of equity stratifier data and comparable reporting on health inequalities in health care access, quality, experience and outcomes.
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Stratifier bundle
These documents provide pan-Canadian guidance on using 8 equity stratifiers in the analysis and reporting of health inequalities.
Equity stratifier guidance documents
As an alternative to the zipped bundle, each guidance document can be downloaded separately.
Gender
Income
Racialized group
Geographic location
Indigenous identity
Sex at birth
About stratifiers
What is an equity stratifier?
An equity stratifier is a characteristic such as a demographic, social, economic or geographic variable that can identify population subgroups for measuring differences in health and health care that may be considered unfair or unjust. Inequalities between subpopulations can be identified by disaggregating health indicators using equity stratifiers.
How were these guidance documents developed?
The proposed definitions presented in these documents were developed with the support of a pan-Canadian working group and subject matter experts. The standards reflect current best practices and provide practical considerations for implementation and use. CIHI worked closely with Statistics Canada to ensure that these definitions align with Statistics Canada standards, where possible.