On May 25 and 26, the Choosing Wisely Canada community gathered in Toronto, Ontario for the 2026 National Meeting. This two-day event welcomed over 250 participants from across Canada – and around the world – to network, learn, and exchange new ideas on reducing overuse in Canadian health systems.

To kick off the event, Robert McMurdy, Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Lead for Choosing Wisely Nunavut, shared a timeline of Inuit colonial history, celebrated Nunavut independence, and offered a land acknowledgement. This was followed by opening remarks from Canadian Medical Association (CMA) President, Dr. Margot Burnell, who highlighted the alignment between Choosing Wisely Canada and the CMA’s broader goals for health care in the country.

We then welcomed our opening keynote speaker, Dr. Chris Moriates, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles for his talk, Leading From Where You Stand. Dr. Moriates gave an inspiring presentation about the power of individuals to lead from where they stand to create change, and what that approach can look like at all levels of the health system.

The afternoon session was kicked off by keynote speaker, Dr. Shazma Mithani, with a captivating talk entitled, The Misinformation Pressure Test. Dr. Mithani, an emergency department physician from Alberta, explored how misinformation is reshaping patient expectations, disrupting decision making, and straining healthcare resources in profound ways, with real-world examples from her own practice. As social media and AI change the way patients access health information, the talk gave attendees plenty of practical advice on how to practice medicine in a rapidly changing information world.

Outside of keynote presentations, attendees networked and participated in concurrent sessions covering timely topics in hospitals, long-term and primary care. From in-depth workshops to abstract presentations, participants got a glimpse into the wide-ranging efforts to tackle overuse across the country.

Students featured prominently at this year’s meeting.  Current STARS (Students and Trainees Advocating for Resource Stewardship) presented their work on advancing resource stewardship in education. This year’s presenters included two pharmacy students, reflecting the program’s continued expansion beyond medical schools. 

Day one wrapped up with a lively networking event where guests took advantage of The Globe and Mail Centre’s terrace, looking out on stunning views of the city. A few lucky participants in our surveys departed the early evening event with this year’s coveted merch — Choosing Wisely baseball caps!

Day two opened with a thought-provoking keynote from Ontario Health President, Dr. Chris Simpson. In his talk, Choosing Wisely at Scale, Dr. Simpson drew on his experiences as a clinician leader and health care administrator to explore how health systems can better incorporate Choosing Wisely principles to improve patient care, advance health equity and contribute to environmental sustainability.  

Following this, we recognized our recently designated Choosing Wisely Canada Hospitals. Scarborough Health Network, Cambridge Memorial Hospital and Alberta Children’s Hospital were acknowledged attaining Quality Improvement status, while The Hospital for Sick Children and Kingston Health Sciences Centre were celebrated for achieving Leadership status —the highest designation level. Teams from the Ontario sites joined our Chair, Dr. Wendy Levinson on stage for group photos while staff from Alberta joined via Zoom.

The 2026 edition of Choosing Wisely Canada’s National Meeting showed once again that tackling overuse, waste and harm is a team sport. We were delighted by the presence of participants from a wide range of health care disciplines over the course of the two days. We thank our community of clinicians, patients, researchers and health system partners for your ongoing commitment to Choosing Wisely Canada. We also extend a sincere thank you to our National Meeting planning committee, staff and presenters. Special thanks to the Canadian Institute for Health Information,  Healthcare Excellence Canada, Collaborative Centre for Climate, Health & Sustainable Care, Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network and Canadian Blood Services for their generous support of this year’s event.