Community health centres in Canada

Community health centres in Canada, are non-profit, community-governed community health organizations that provide primary health care, health promotion and community development services, using inter-disciplinary teams of health providers. These teams include physicians, nurse practitioners, dieticians, health promoters, counsellors and others who are paid by salary, rather than through a fee-for-service system.

Community health centres are sponsored and managed by incorporated non-profit community boards made up of members of the community and others who provide health and social services. Services are designed to meet the specific needs of a defined community. In addition, CHCs provide a variety of health promotion and illness prevention services which focus on addressing and raising awareness of the broader determinants of health such as employment, education, environment, isolation and poverty.

CHCs have been in existence in Canada since the 1920s, sometimes referred to as 'community clinics' (as in Saskatchewan) or CLSCs as in Quebec. Today, there are over 300 CHCs across Canada, represented by the Canadian Association of Community Health Centres (CACHC). There are over 80 CHCs in Ontario alone, represented by the Association of Ontario Health Centres (AOHC). In 2005 the Government of Ontario announced a major expansion of Ontario's CHC network as a key pillar of Ontario's health strategy.

In many communities, CHCs provide their programs and services for those people who have difficulties accessing a full range of appropriate primary health-care services. Some examples of priority groups are members of linguistic or cultural groups, individuals who live in remote under serviced communities, individuals with low incomes, individuals who are homeless, and the elderly.

The CHC approach to community health encompasses the broad factors that determine health such as education, employment, income, social support, environment and housing. Health centres provide accessible primary health care services in northern and rural communities, in communities where many people have a high risk of ill health or to individuals and families with significant access issues, such as their race, ethnicity, or mother tongue.