Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada

CDPAC vision and mission

The Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada (CDPAC) is a network of Canada’s major national, provincial and territorial health organizations that have come together around the common cause of promoting healthy living for the prevention of non-communicable diseases.

CDPAC’s mission is to work primarily at the national level to take an integrated, population health approach to influence policies and practices that will help prevent non-communicable diseases.

CDPAC’s vision is that Canadians will be supported by a comprehensive, sufficiently resourced, sustainable, and integrated system of research, surveillance, policies, and programs that promote healthy living for the prevention of non-communicable diseases.

CDPAC is a voluntary, unincorporated round-table alliance of organizations who provide strategic direction and oversight to CDPAC’s shared priorities for action on chronic disease prevention. The chair of the Alliance is Elizabeth Holmes (Canadian Cancer Society). The Alliance members are:

Alberta Policy Coalition for Chronic Disease Prevention
BC Healthy Living Alliance
Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health
Canadian Cancer Society
Canadian Medical Association
Canadian Men’s Health Foundation
Canadian Nurses Association
Diabetes Canada
Dietitians of Canada
Heart & Stroke
The Kidney Foundation of Canada
Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance
YMCA Canada

CDPAC Alliance Members provide collaborative leadership in relation to setting positions, broad policy, strategic directions, expectations and limitations to authority of staff and work groups, allocation of resources, and reporting requirements.

Each Alliance Member acts as the liaison to their constituents, providing timely information on the activities of CDPAC and facilitating consultation as required to further the mandate of CDPAC.

CDPAC one-pager on mission/vision

Federal election 2019 - survey responses

The Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada recommends that all parties commit to increasing healthy living investments, with an emphasis on scale-up of evidence informed policies and programs, in collaboration with provinces, territories and municipal governments and other partners.

Related to this recommendation, we sent several key questions related to chronic disease prevention and healthy living to each of the federal parties asking if elected:

a) how will your party address chronic diseases and shared risk factors?
b) how will your party increase healthy living investments to tackle chronic disease in Canada
c) how will your party scale-up evidence informed policies and programs to reduce the burden of chronic disease in Canada?

Wondering how the parties responded about their commitment to chronic disease prevention? Check out their responses:

Conservative Party of Canada response
Green Party of Canada response
Liberal Party of Canada response
New Democratic Party of Canada response

Federal Election 2019

The Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada (CDPAC) is an alliance of Canada’s major national health organizations sharing a common vision for an integrated system of research, surveillance, policies, and programs to promote healthy living and prevent chronic diseases. The four most common chronic diseases, also called NCDs, are cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease. These are largely preventable and share common risk factors. Reducing tobacco use and alcohol consumption, increasing physical activity and supporting healthy diets will all help to reduce the incidence of chronic diseases in Canada. These risk factors also influence mental health and there is growing recognition to include mental health in conversations about chronic diseases. Individually and collectively, we have been active in both raising awareness about how to reduce risk factors associated with these diseases and in encouraging Canadians to take preventive action.

In 2016, about 226,000 Canadians died from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes and chronic respiratory disease. Together, these diseases account for 88% of all deaths in Canada. The causes are complex and require a comprehensive approach spanning multiple departments at multiple levels of government, civil society and the private sector.

History of CDPAC

The Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada (CDPAC) was constituted in 2001 to strengthen linkages among established, new and emerging chronic disease prevention initiatives in Canada. The idea of a national alliance emerged from the experience of many organizations in several initiatives.

In the summer of 2001, the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA), Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (HSFC) and Health Canada drafted a work plan for a two-year project. The work plan was discussed, revised and ratified by the group. At that time, the CCS, HSFC and CDA submitted a letter of intent for grant funding through the Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI). In November 2001, these groups held a consultation with various stakeholder organizations across the country.

With input from this meeting, a small Steering Committee was pulled together in 2002 to establish the mission, purpose, objectives and structure of the Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada. The founding members included:

Canadian Cancer Society
Canadian Council for Tobacco Control
Canadian Diabetes Association
Canadian Public Health Association
Coalition for Active Living
Dietitians of Canada
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada

The Steering Committee has grown and evolved many times since its inception of 2002. A list of current members can be found here.

In October 2013, CDPAC became a federally incorporated not-for-profit, and voted in its board of directors. In 2018, CDPAC returned to unincorporated status.

Networks and groups

CDPAC is a proud supporting member of the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition, a national coalition advocating for restrictions on food and beverage marketing to children and youth that launched February 24th 2016 at the Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada pan-Canadian conference.

Co-led by Heart & Stroke and the Childhood Obesity Foundation, the Stop Marketing to Kids Coalition says the time has come to protect children and to support parents to make healthy decisions for their families. The coalition developed the Ottawa Principles, which outline the policy recommendation of restricting commercial marketing of all food and beverages to children and youth 16 and under. The restrictions would not apply to non-commercial marketing for valid public health education or public awareness campaigns. The Ottawa Principles also include a set of definitions, scope, and principles to guide policy development.

More information about the coalition including the Ottawa Principles, and a mechanism for concerned Canadians to send their member of parliament a letter supporting restrictions on food and beverage marketing to kids, is available at the coalition website at www.stopmarketingtokids.ca.

Infographics

The following set of infographics explain chronic diseases including common risk factors for chronic disease, provide evidence on the scope and magnitude of chronic diseases in Canada, and demonstrate measures to promote healthy living and prevent chronic diseases. These infographics can be used to inform decision-makers about actions to support healthy living for chronic disease prevention.

CDPAC's Overview of Chronic Disease in Canada: Includes information on the most prevalent non-communicable chronic diseases, top risk factors for these diseases, and policy and individual measures to address them

English
French

CDPAC's Economic Impact of Chronic Disease in Canada: Includes information on the economic burden of chronic diseases in Canada from four key risk factors; how much money could be saved by modest reductions in key chronic disease risk factors; and selected policies, programs and research to support chronic disease prevention

From our partners:

Health equity and the social determinants of health (Canadian Medical Association)
The cost of poor men's health (Canadian Men's Health Foundation)