Canada Leads at ICIC25: Building Global Bridges for Integrated Care
Canada's integrated care community made a powerful impact at the 25th International Conference on Integrated Care in Lisbon this May. With 240 Canadian participants among 1,200 delegates from 60 countries, our contribution spanned keynotes, presentations, workshops, and collaborative discussions throughout the conference.
The International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) represents an international social movement working to break down silos and create more coordinated, person-centered care systems. At ICIC25, Canada's participation showed our deep engagement in this movement.
A Vibrant Canadian Community
Canada's integrated care community was well-represented throughout the conference. This was most evident at the Canadian Reception, co-hosted by the North American Centre for Integrated Care alongside IFIC Canada. With over 150 attendees, the reception was filled with the kind of energy that demonstrates the strength of Canada's integrated care movement.
This gathering exemplified how we connect, learn, and create impact together. Conversations bridged research and practice, connected diverse sectors, and showcased the collaborative spirit driving Canada's integrated care movement. We're building bridges between national and international initiatives—bringing global insights home while sharing Canadian expertise worldwide.
Canadian Leadership Across the Movement
Canada leads four Special Interest Groups (SIGs) within IFIC—specialized working groups that bring together international experts around specific areas of integrated care:
- Actioning Person Centred Care (co-led by Kerry Kuluski) puts person-centered principles into practice globally, improving how organizations learn from service users and building partnerships for research and policy change.
- Community-Enabled Integrated Care (co-led by Melissa Chang, Nick Goodwin, and Jen Recknagel) explores how community leadership creates place-based health and well-being initiatives, drawing from successful Ontario approaches and beyond.
- Digital Health Enabling Integrated Care (Canadian co-lead Carolyn Steele-Gray) develops understanding of how digital solutions support integrated care while building international collaborations to address shared challenges.
- Volunteers and Voluntary Sector (led by Michelle Nelson) enhances the role of non-state actors as partners in integrated care delivery.
Through leading these groups, Canada helps shape international conversations in person-centered care, community engagement, digital innovation, and cross-sector collaboration. Information about joining these and other IFIC Special Interest Groups can be found on the IFIC Website.
Showcasing Canadian Innovation Abroad
A standout example of Canadian leadership was an international workshop that tackled a pressing challenge: how can research drive integrated care transformation? Co-hosted by NICE Canada and IHSPR, the session used Canada's THINC initiative as a case study for international discussion about closing the research-to-practice gap.
The workshop brought together researchers, policy makers, practitioners, and people with lived experience from four countries for panel presentations and collaborative table discussions. Participants worked together to develop practical strategies for ensuring research creates real change in integrated care settings. A full report from the workshop will be available soon. Learn more about NICE's work on our website.
Another example of Canadian collaboration was the workshop co-hosted with the Health Standards Organization (HSO), exploring how to advance integrated care frameworks globally. The session brought together IFIC and HSO to discuss unifying integrated care efforts across 72 countries, with participants examining framework applications, governance needs, and the importance of contextual approaches to integrated care.
Looking Ahead
The momentum from Lisbon continues through ongoing collaborations and shared projects sparked at the conference.
All conference resources—including presentations, videos, and session recordings—are now available online, extending the learning well beyond the three days in Portugal.
Looking ahead to ICIC26 in Birmingham (April 13-15, 2026), Canada's integrated care community will have new opportunities to share our work and learn from international colleagues. The conference theme, "Integrated care for all: promoting health and wellbeing through diversity," aligns well with priorities emerging from Canadian research and practice.
Canada's presence at ICIC25 reflects our commitment to using integrated care as a lever for advancing health and wellbeing across the country. People throughout Canada are demonstrating incredible leadership in this space, and the maturity and energy of our integrated care community was on full display in Lisbon, showing we're well-positioned to continue advancing our impact both at home and internationally.
The North American Centre for Integrated Care serves as the hub for Canada's vibrant integrated care community. Join our newsletter to stay connected to the movement and discover opportunities to get involved.
The call for papers for ICIC26 opens September 1, 2025. Conference resources from ICIC25 are available at integratedcarefoundation.org.