Cervical screening in Canada, 2023-24
Collection of equity data in screening programs
Barriers exist that makes it more challenging for equity-denied groups to participate in cervical screening. Understanding how these barriers impact participation and what opportunities exist to support increased participation is an area demanding additional focus to implement initiatives and strategies to support participation. The Pan-Canadian Cancer Data Strategy guides efforts to enhance the collection, integration, and use of cancer data, with the goal of equitably improving cancer prevention, access to care, and outcomes.
The Pan-Canadian Cancer Data Strategy highlights the importance of closing the gaps in health outcomes between First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and non-Indigenous communities and highlights First Nations, Inuit and Métis-led efforts to advance data and data governance. There is a need for data to report progress toward reconciliation; however, most Canadian cancer data about First Nations, Inuit and Métis is held by other data stewards and partners outside of the screening programs. No jurisdictions collect Indigenous self-identification as part of their cervical screening programs.
Collection of equity data in screening programs
| Domain | Number of jurisdictions |
|---|---|
| Sex and/or gender* | 7 |
| Race- and/or ethnicity-based data^ | 0 |
| Geography-based data | 8 |
| Additional strategies | 1 (Pronouns) |
*Sex assigned at birth refers to the sex assigned based on a person’s reproductive system and other physical characteristics. It can also be understood as the sex recorded at a person’s birth (for example, the sex recorded on their birth certificate). Gender refers to the personal and social identity of a person. Gender is not biological, but refers to the socially constructed ideas about behaviours, roles, expressions, and actions performed by a person based on their sense of being a man, woman, gender diverse person, or other identity. There are different terms individuals use to describe a person’s gender including but not limited to “gender diverse, non-binary, man, woman, agender”.
^Race is a term used to classify people into groups based principally on physical traits (phenotypes) such as skin colour. Ethnicity is a socially defined category describing a group of people that share a common culture, tradition, language, history, geography, religion, and sometimes racial identity.