Testimony before Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (SOCI) in support of a National Children's Strategy
On November 6, 2025, Emily Gruenwoldt, President and CEO of Children’s Healthcare Canada and Executive Director of the Pediatric Chairs of Canada, appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology in support of Bill S-212 – An Act respecting a national strategy for children and youth in Canada.
In her testimony, Mrs. Gruenwoldt outlined the urgent need for coordinated national action to improve the health and wellbeing of children and youth across the country. Despite Canada’s wealth, outcomes for children continue to lag behind peer nations, with inequities in access, long wait times, and fragmented supports defining many families’ experiences.
Finally, she expressed strong support for a legislated, outcome-driven strategy that aligns federal, provincial, and territorial investments around measurable results—ensuring accountability, equity, and sustained progress beyond election cycles.
Watch her full testimony here.
Testimony to Senate of Canada, Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology
Emily Gruenwoldt, CEO, Children’s Healthcare Canada
November 6, 2025
Opening and Introduction
Honourable Members of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, it is a privilege to appear before you today in support of Bill S-212, An Act to establish a national strategy for children and youth.
My name is Emily Gruenwoldt, and I serve as President and CEO of Children’s Healthcare Canada, Executive Director of the Pediatric Chairs of Canada, and Co-Founder of Inspiring Healthy Futures.
Children's Healthcare Canada is a national, not for profit association that represents healthcare delivery organizations serving children, youth and families. Our members include Canada’s 16 children’s hospitals, community hospitals, children’s rehabilitation and treatment centers, mental health centres, homecare and palliative care agencies serving children.
The Pediatric Chairs of Canada (PCC) represents the department heads of pediatrics within Canada’s 17 medical schools.
Finally, Inspiring Healthy Futures is a national collaboration committed to measurably improving the health and wellbeing of children and youth across this country.
The Reality for Children in Canada
The current state of children’s health often surprises Canadians.
In the province you call home, Senators Osler and McPhedran, one in four children lives in poverty—well above the national average.
In Quebec, Senators Petitclerc and Brazeau, child-protection investigations have risen nearly 50 percent since 1998, now affecting 23 children per 1,000.
In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, four in ten children live in food-insecure households.
In Ontario, over 30,000 children are waiting for mental-health services, while transgender youth face a 16-fold higher risk of suicide than their peers.
Nationwide, one in five children lives with chronic pain, nearly one-third has a chronic illness, and about 100,000 live with medical complexity, requiring frequent hospital care and coordination across multiple systems.
These are not isolated figures. They tell the story of a country where a child’s opportunities — and outcomes — too often depend on where they live, who they are, or what their family can afford. Canadians expect better, and a national strategy is the foundation for that better future.
Why a National Strategy Is Needed
The call for a national strategy for children and youth is not new. It has been echoed by researchers, civil-society organizations, and families for decades as Canada persistently lags behind peer nations in international rankings of child and youth health.
UNICEF’s global report cards consistently place Canada in the bottom third of wealthy countries for child wellbeing—below nations with fewer resources but stronger coordination.
Top performing countries have one thing in common: legislated, outcome-driven national strategies that align investments, policies, and accountability around measurable results for children. Canada has the resources to do the same. What’s missing is political will and a coherent, enduring plan.
Through Inspiring Healthy Futures, a partnership of Children’s Healthcare Canada, the Pediatric Chairs of Canada, CIHR’s Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health, and UNICEF Canada, more than 2,000 voices have contributed to a shared Acceleration Agenda—a roadmap to improve child and youth wellbeing. At the very top of that agenda: a national strategy.
What the Strategy Would Do
A legislated national strategy would:
- Define clear national outcomes and indicators across domains such as health, learning, safety, and inclusion.
- Ensure whole-of-government coordination, recognizing that children’s wellbeing depends as much on housing, income, and education as on healthcare.
- Set measurable targets and transparent reporting, so Canadians can track progress.
- Prioritize prevention and early intervention, shifting resources upstream to reduce crisis care and long wait-lists.
- Embed equity and participation, collecting disaggregated data and ensuring children and youth have a voice in policies that affect them.
- Secure stable, multi-year investments tied to outcomes and shared accountability.
- Create a unified data backbone and public dashboard, enabling provinces and territories to learn from one another.
- Legislate continuity, ensuring that progress endures beyond election cycles.
Without such a framework, we lack the coordination and accountability needed to deliver measurable improvement. Bill S-212 would change that.
What Success Could Look Like
With adoption and implementation of a national strategy, Canada could realize measurable success. Within five years, Canada could see:
- Infant, injury, and preventable-hospitalization rates falling faster than the OECD median.
- Food insecurity reduced by one-third, with sharper declines for Indigenous and low-income children.
- Ninety percent of children receiving care within clinically recommended wait times.
These are achievable, measurable goals with an economic and social return —if we commit to a shared national plan.
Conclusion
Canada’s children are growing up in a nation that possesses the means to help them thrive—but not yet the systems to ensure it. Many are healthy and resilient, but far too many are constrained by preventable inequities and fragmented supports.
A legislated, coordinated strategy will help Canada move from intention to impact—transforming isolated initiatives into measurable, sustained progress.
On behalf of Children’s Healthcare Canada, the Pediatric Chairs of Canada, and the broader Inspiring Healthy Futures coalition, I urge this committee to pass Bill S-212 without delay and to champion its implementation with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners.
Thank you.