On May 26 & 27, the Choosing Wisely Canada community gathered in Winnipeg, Manitoba for the 2025 Less, but Better National Meeting. Hosted in collaboration with the Canadian Medical Association, this two-day event welcomed over 250 participants from Manitoba and parts of Canada to network, learn, and exchange new ideas on reducing overuse in Canadian health systems.

The Choosing Wisely Manitoba team took centre stage in the opening plenary, with panelists, Dr. Alexander Singer, Christine Peters and Dr. Eric Bohm and moderated by Dr. Abdulrazaq Sokoro. The panel shared Manitoba’s decade-long journey toward more appropriate care and what it takes to move a culture towards doing less to achieve better health outcomes.

Outside of keynote presentations, attendees networked and participated in concurrent sessions covering timely topics in hospital, primary, long-term care. Sessions sparked lively discussions on issues like workload burden, deprescribing, and climate change, offering a platform for collaboration and knowledge sharing. From in-depth workshops to abstract presentations, participants highlighted efforts and success stories from across the country. Sessions like Mobilizing the Next Generation to Choose Wisely featured current STARS (Students and Trainees Advocating for Resource Stewardship) leaders advancing resource stewardship in medical education.

Across the two days, attendees tested their Choosing Wisely Canada trivia, answering questions about our history for a chance to win “Less, But Better” tote bag and captured their meeting moments in our photobooth.  Take a look at some of our favourite snaps and poses:

Day one wrapped up with a lively networking event that invited attendees to envision a 2035 news headline answering: “What does success look like for Choosing Wisely?”  Participants envisioned the future of reducing overuse in Canada before celebrating this year’s Choosing Wisely Canada Awards. Dr. René Wittmer received the Clinician Excellence in Choosing Wisely Award for his leadership and impact as President of Choisir avec soin Quebec.  Dr. Kelly Burak was also honoured with this award for his role as a clinical lead for Choosing Wisely Alberta and a strong advocate for medical education. Dr. Mathilde Guadreau-Simard was awarded the Future Leader in Choosing Wisely Award for her ongoing dedication to resource stewardship and Choosing Wisely climate efforts. Read more about this year’s award recipients.

Day two opened with a thought-provoking keynote Will AI Help or Harm Overuse?  Dr. Amol Verma from Unity Health Toronto was tasked with answering this difficult question and exploring potential benefits, harms, and how clinicians can be equipped to use it wisely. The session closed off with remarks from Manitoba’s Deputy Minister of Health, Scott Sinclair, highlighting the province’s past success and reaffirming their commitment to continuing Choosing Wisely work in the future.

In the final keynote of the meeting, The Science of Doing Less: De-Implementation Research in Canada, Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw shared the current state of de-implementation research. He emphasized that while frameworks and evidence are in now place, driving lasting change requires sustained effort from individuals, organizations and systems. Attendees left with practical strategies to support Choosing Wisely initiatives in their own contexts.

Like Manitoba itself, Choosing Wisely Canada’s 2025 National Meeting was a testament to the strength of collaboration and community. 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, presenters. Special thanks to the Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Institute for Health Information,  Healthcare Excellence Canada, and the Canadian Medication Appropriateness and Deprescribing Network for their generous support of this year’s event.