Choosing Wisely Canada is the national voice for reducing unnecessary tests and treatments in Canada.
Unnecessary tests and treatments expose patients to potential harm, consume precious health care resources, and contribute to the climate crisis.
Choosing Wisely Canada works with national clinician societies to identify frequently overused tests and treatments that are not supported by scientific evidence. It mobilizes health care providers and their organizations to adopt the recommendations and make them part of routine practice.
Interested in learning more about Choosing Wisely Canada? Read our FAQs.
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Dr. Wendy Levinson is Chair of Choosing Wisely Canada. She is also Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Levinson is a national and international expert in the field of physician-patient communication and, in particular, on the disclosure of medical errors to patients. Dr. Levinson has led efforts to educate and engage medical students, residents and faculty members in patient safety, quality improvement, and the stewardship of finite resources. She was a member of the ABIM Foundation Board of Trustees when they created the Choosing Wisely campaign in the United States.
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Tai Huynh is Campaign Director of Choosing Wisely Canada. He is responsible for campaign strategy and creative direction, and leads Choosing Wisely Canada’s implementation program. Tai brings to the campaign many years of experience in leading large-scale health system initiatives. He was previously Director of the Excellent Care for All Strategy at the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and is also Creative Director at OpenLab at the University Health Network in Toronto.
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Steph Callan is the Communications Specialist for Choosing Wisely Canada. She is responsible for campaign communications, including managing a variety of communication channels and developing content. Steph has a Bachelor of Arts in communications and multimedia from McMaster University and a postgraduate certificate in corporate communications from Sheridan College.
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Doreen Day is the Project Manager, Pan-Canadian Initiatives for Choosing Wisely Canada. She is responsible for managing the relationships with provincial and territorial Choosing Wisely affiliates as well as managing the development and implementation of the campaign’s pan-Canadian initiatives. Doreen holds a Master’s degree in Health Administration from the University of Toronto.
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Tara Goodale is Manager of Operations for Choosing Wisely Canada. She is responsible for all day to day operations of the campaign, including staff and stakeholder management, strategic planning, budgeting and financial reporting. Tara holds a Master’s degree in Family Relations and Human Development from the University of Guelph.
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Gillian Hurwitz is the Project Manager, Implementation for Choosing Wisely Canada. Gillian is responsible for advancing the campaign’s implementation efforts, including overseeing a national initiative to improve laboratory utilization across Canada. Gillian holds a Master of Public Health degree from Boston University.
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Karen Karagheusian is the Project Manager, Primary Care for Choosing Wisely Canada. Karen is responsible for advancing the campaign’s primary care strategy and implementation efforts, including overseeing a national initiative to reduce unnecessary antibiotic use. Karen holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree from the University of Victoria and a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Waterloo.
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Rebecca Metcalfe is a Research Associate with Choosing Wisely Canada. She is responsible for patient engagement with the campaign and developing Choosing Wisely Canada’s equity strategy. As a researcher, her work focuses on expanding the understanding of overuse in structurally vulnerable and historically excluded populations in Canada. She also provides support to the international Choosing Wisely collaboration. Rebecca holds a PhD in Population and Public Health from the University of British Columbia and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from Toronto Metropolitan University.
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Maïmouna Mbengue is a Project Coordinator with Choosing Wisely Canada. She is responsible for providing administrative and coordination support for communication and implementation efforts related to the campaign. She also provides support to the development of various on-going special projects. Maïmouna has a Bachelor of Life Science in Neuroscience from the University of Toronto.
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Joanna Wong is a Project Coordinator with Choosing Wisely Canada. Joanna is responsible for providing support for multiple campaign activities. This includes working with specialty societies to develop and maintain their lists of recommendations and coordinating with the campaign’s regional and territorial affiliates. She is also responsible for supporting the international Choosing Wisely collaboration. Joanna has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and linguistics from the University of Toronto.
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Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw is the Implementation Science Lead for Choosing Wisely Canada. Dr. Grimshaw is trained as a family physician prior to undertaking a PhD in health services research at the University of Aberdeen. His research focuses on the evaluation of interventions to disseminate and implement evidence-based practice. Dr. Grimshaw is a Senior Scientist, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, a Full Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Health Knowledge Transfer and Uptake. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and a Corresponding Fellow of the Royal College of Edinburgh. He is the President of the Board of the Campbell Collaboration.
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Dr. Jerome Leis is the Clinician Lead for the Using Antibiotics Wisely campaign. Dr. Leis is also an Infectious Diseases physician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine and the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the University of Toronto. His research is focused on the development of new models of care to reduce the risk of hospital-acquired infection and to promote the appropriate use of antibiotics.
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Dr. Yulia Lin is the Clinician Lead for the Using Blood Wisely campaign. Dr. Lin is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto and Division Head of Transfusion Medicine and Tissue Bank at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. She is Chair of the Ontario Transfusion Quality Improvement Plan Committee, the Ontario Transfusion Coordinators Network Steering Committee and the Planning Committee for the University of Toronto Transfusion Camp, a postgraduate transfusion education program with participation from over 12 Canadian universities. Her scholarly interests include physician education in transfusion medicine, quality improvement in patient blood management and transfusion safety.
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Dr. Janet Reynolds is one of two Primary Care Co-Leads for Choosing Wisely Canada. Dr. Reynolds is a family physician and the Medical Director at Crowfoot Village Family Practice in Calgary, Alberta. She is also the Medical Director for the Calgary Foothills Primary Care Network. Dr. Reynolds completed her Medical Degree from the University of Saskatchewan, moving to Ottawa to complete her Family Medicine training at the University of Ottawa.
In her more than 20 years of experience as a physician, Dr. Reynolds has learned that the most rewarding part of her job is getting to know her patients over time and understanding what is important to them. She is passionate about family medicine and health care stewardship.
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Dr. Janet Simons is the Clinician Co-Lead for the Using Labs Wisely program. Dr. Simons is a medical biochemist and internist at Vancouver’s Providence Health Care and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Simons’ research interests include improving clinical and laboratory services to create better efficiencies in health care systems.
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Dr. Christine Soong is the Clinician Lead for the Choosing Wisely Canada Hospital Designation Program. Dr. Soong is the Hospital Medicine Division Head at Sinai Health and the Department of Family and Community Medicine in Toronto. She is also the Medical Director for Quality and Safety at Sinai Health. Dr. Soong has led numerous quality improvement initiatives focused on improving care transitions and hospital discharge, resource stewardship, and reducing the inappropriate use of psychotropic medications in hospitalized patients.
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Dr. Guylène Thériault is a Primary Care Co-Lead for Choosing Wisely Canada. She is a Family Physician and practices family medicine in Gatineau, Québec. She also practices in public health and has academic responsibilities at McGill University. She teaches many different types of audiences on the use of evidence in practice including students, residents, physicians and the public, and has an interest in prevention, screening and appropriate use of resources.
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Dr. Adina Weinerman is the Clinician Co-Lead for the Using Labs Wisely program. Dr. Weinerman is a general internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Weinerman’s research focuses on quality improvement and resource stewardship. Areas of focus include education, implementation and evaluation of the Choosing Wisely Canada recommendations.
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Dr. Brian Wong is Medical Education Lead of Choosing Wisely Canada. He is also an Associate Professor and the Director of Continuing Education and Quality Improvement in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, Director for the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the University of Toronto, and a Clinician Educator with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Clinically, he is a staff general internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. His scholarly activities lie at the intersection between medical education, quality improvement and patient safety, and has been extensively involved in developing curricula to teach patient safety, quality and value to health professionals across the learning continuum.
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Amy Ma is a Public Representative for Choosing Wisely Canada. She is a member of the Montreal Children’s Hospital’s Family Advisory Forum since 2012, and has also been serving as co-chair of the McGill University Health Centre’s (MUHC) Central Patients’ Committee since 2014. Her experience in accompanying one of her children through a health issue motivates her to harness patient and family voices as a force for positive change in the healthcare system. Ms. Ma is a past board member of Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care and volunteered with the 1997 Special Olympics World Winter Games. She has a particular interest in issues involving health equity in a multicultural context, maternal health, the elderly and accessibility.
In addition to the national campaign, there are regional campaigns led by provincial and territorial partner organizations to help support local Choosing Wisely Canada efforts.
Choosing Wisely Canada has engaged medical students, residents, faculty, universities, professional organizations and regulatory bodies to embed resource stewardship principles into medical education. STARS is a grassroots medical education campaign that supports student-led efforts to advance resource stewardship awareness and education.
The Choosing Wisely Canada Implementation and Research Network (CWC-IRN) is a group of researchers, health care professionals, patient advisors, and policymakers that strive to advance implementation science in real-world health care settings.
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Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada | Burns Canada | Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry | Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry | Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine | Canadian Anesthesiologists Society | Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver | Canadian Association of Advanced Practice Nurses | Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses | Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians | Canadian Association of General Surgeons | Canadian Association of Hospital Dentists | Canadian Association of Medical Biochemists | Canadian Association of Medical Oncologists | Canadian Association of Medical Radiation Technologists | Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine | Canadian Association of Paediatric Surgeons | Canadian Association of Pathologists | Canadian Association of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation | Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology | Canadian Association of Radiologists | Canadian Blood and Marrow Transplant Group | Canadian Cardiovascular Society | Canadian College of Medical Geneticists | Canadian Critical Care Society | Canadian Dental Association | Canadian Dermatology Association | Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society | Canadian Geriatrics Society | Canadian Headache Society | Canadian Hematology Society | Canadian IBD Network of Researchers for Healthcare Growth and Improvement | Canadian Neurological Society | Canadian Nurses Association | Canadian Obstetrical and Pediatric Transfusion Network | Canadian Orthopaedic Association | Canadian Paediatric Society | Canadian Pediatric Neurosurgery Study Group | Canadian Pharmacists Association | Canadian Psychiatric Association | Canadian Rheumatology Association | Canadian Society for Surgical Oncology | Canadian Society for Transfusion Medicine | Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery | Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology | Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists | Canadian Society of Hospital Medicine | Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists | Canadian Society of Internal Medicine | Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science | Canadian Society of Nephrology | Canadian Society of Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery | Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians | Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists | Canadian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism | Canadian Spine Society | Canadian Thoracic Society | Canadian Urological Association | Canadian Association of Gastroenterology | Long Term Care Medical Directors Association of Canada | Occupational Medicine Specialists of Canada | Public Health Physicians of Canada | Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada | Society of Rural Physicians of Canada | Trauma Association of Canada
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Alberta Medical Association | Canadian Medical Association | Doctors Manitoba | Doctors Nova Scotia | New Brunswick Medical Society | Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association | Northwest Territories Medical Association | Ontario Medical Association | Saskatchewan Medical Association | Yukon Medical Association
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Canada Safe Imaging | Canadian Agency for Drugs & Technologies in Health | Canadian Association of Professors of Medicine | Canadian Deprescribing Network | Canadian Federation of Medical Students | Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement | Canadian Institute for Health Information | Canadian Partnership Against Cancer | Canadian Patient Safety Institute | Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care | College of Family Physicians of Canada | Fédération des médecins résidents du Québec | Fédération médicale étudiante du Québec | Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada | Health Quality Ontario | Ontario Medical Students Association | Resident Doctors of Canada | Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada | Touchstone Institute
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Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance | Canadian Association of Retired Teachers | Canadian Association of Social Workers | Consumer Reports Health | Crohn’s and Colitis Canada | Gastrointestinal Society | National Association of Federal Retirees | Patients Canada | Patients for Patient Safety Canada | Retired Teachers of Ontario
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Choosing Wisely Canada is supported by the University of Toronto, St. Michael’s Hospital (Toronto) and the Canadian Medical Association. It receives funding from the Canadian Medical Association, along with grants from federal, provincial and territorial ministries of health, and other partner organizations and agencies.
Choosing Wisely Canada does not accept financial support from pharmaceutical, medical devices or any other life sciences companies.
Since the Choosing Wisely campaign in the United States was launched by the ABIM Foundation in April 2012, Choosing Wisely Canada and similar campaigns in over 25 countries have emerged. Learn more about Choosing Wisely campaigns around the world.