In October 2025, Canada’s Pediatric Palliative Care Alliance launched a pediatric palliative care Resource Hub and redesigned website. This launch reflects a shared commitment to enhancing pediatric palliative care across the country and ensuring that healthcare professionals, organizations, and families have access to timely, high-quality resources when they are needed most.
The Resource Hub brings together over 500 tools and resources developed or curated by specialists in pediatric palliative care, offering a centralized and practical repository to support healthcare professionals providing pediatric palliative care. The Hub includes:
- A curated collection of pediatric palliative care resources, gathered through an international environmental scan of existing tools and materials developed by organizations and included in the Hub based on relevance and applicability
- A series of authored guides, developed by specialized pediatric palliative care providers, offering practical insights into key aspects of the pediatric palliative care journey.
Resources are relevant across care settings, including hospitals, hospices, home care, and community-based services. Tools are also organized to support care across the illness trajectory, from diagnosis through to end-of-life care and bereavement support. Importantly, the Hub is fully bilingual, ensuring equitable access for both English- and French-speaking providers across the country.
A National Roadmap for Pediatric Palliative Care
The Canadian Core Care Pathway for Pediatric Palliative Care was launched alongside the Hub, providing a framework for delivering pediatric palliative care. The Core Care Pathway is designed to address challenges within pediatric palliative care systems in Canada, including service fragmentation, inconsistent access, and lack of shared language among providers and families. The Core Care Pathway offers a national roadmap for equitable and consistent care for infants, children, and youth with serious illness and their families.
The Canadian Core Care Pathway for Pediatric Palliative Care illustrates pediatric palliative care as a flexible, ongoing journey from identification of a child with serious illness through to end-of-life, or alternatively if there is resolution of pediatric palliative care needs.
A Shared Commitment
Canada’s Pediatric Palliative Care Alliance was founded on the shared vision that every child with a serious illness and their family can access high-quality, family-centred palliative care in the location of their choice. The launch of the Resource Hub and the Canadian Core Care Pathway for Pediatric Palliative Care advance this vision by providing healthcare professionals practical and evidence-informed tools to enhance the delivery of pediatric palliative care. The Alliance hopes this work will contribute to more equitable and coordinated pediatric palliative care for children living with serious illness and their families across Canada.
Looking Ahead
Throughout consultations, it has been established that pediatric palliative care requires a unified voice. The formation of the Alliance is just one step in that direction. The Alliance has initiated discussions with Health Canada about the continuation of this work. With future support, efforts can enhance efficiency and quality by concentrating on strategic visioning, innovation, research, education, data collection, and advocacy.
Together, the Alliance is working towards a shared goal of improving access and quality of care for children with life-limiting illnesses and their families.
Those who are interested in learning more about the Alliance, please visit:
www.pediatricpalliativecare.ca
To read the Canadian Core Care Pathway for Pediatric Palliative Care, please visit:
https://www.pediatricpalliativecare.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Core-Care-Pathway-for-Pediatric-Palliative-Care-Canadas-Pediatric-Palliative-Care-Alliance.pdf
If you are interested in registering for the Resource Hub to access our resources, please register at: https://www.pediatricpalliativecare.ca/resource-hub/
For further information, please contact:
Kira Goodman
Project Director, Canada’s Pediatric Palliative Care Alliance
kira@pediatricpalliativecare.ca
