Provincial Perspectives: A Dive into Chronic Disease Management in NB and ON
- Faiza Syed
- Mar 13
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 31
I teamed up with a classmate once more to conduct a provincial comparison between New Brunswick (NB) and Ontario (ON). This time, our focus was on examining the similarities and differences in chronic disease surveillance, management, and funding. What I found particularly interesting was how these provinces approach these issues in different ways, despite encountering comparable public health challenges. Sometimes, it feels like it's just a numbers game with all these complex frameworks, indexes, and reports, but the real question is, is any of this actually working?
| NB | ON |
Chronic Disease Surveillance | New Brunswick is part of the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System (CCDSS), which helps track chronic disease rates per 100,000 people. It allows data to be broken down by things like region, trends over time, age, sex, and fiscal year (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2024a). On top of that, New Brunswick has also created its own surveillance programs. One key initiative is the Chronic Disease Prevention and Management Framework, which helps the province better understand and tackle chronic health conditions in its population. | Ontario is also part of the CDSS which collects data on residents covered by provincial health insurance (OHIP). This system helps track trends and provides national data on various chronic diseases and conditions over time (Government of Canada, 2024). In addition to participating in the CCDSS, Ontario has its own programs to monitor and manage chronic diseases. The Chronic Disease Prevention Strategy 2020 to 2023 builds on earlier efforts to improve chronic disease prevention across the province (Ontario Health, 2025). They also use the Chronic Disease Prevention and Management Framework, which focuses on strategies like building healthier public policies, creating supportive environments, and empowering communities to act (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 2018). These efforts help the province better understand and manage chronic health conditions among its population. |
Chronic Disease Management | When looking at the Government of New Brunswick (GNB) website Chronic Disease Management falls under Primary Health Care and a report published in May 2010 outlines some data as part of its total report, but most of the information in it is from 2006-2009 (Primary Health Care Branch Addiction, Mental Health and Primary Health Care Division, 2010). The public health branch published a Communicable Disease report annually, but it is a few years behind because it requires whole data to be published (Communicable disease in New Brunswick 2022 – Annual Surveillance report, 2024). It’s used for communicable disease and a few of those such as syphilis, HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis B could fall under chronic diseases in that respect. There are other reports published by the New Brunswick Department of Health on Cancer (2018), COPD (2016), Diabetes (2016), mental health and substance use disorders (2016), ischemic heart disease (2016b), multiple sclerosis (2016), and prescription opioids and population health (2016) that have profiles of chronic illnesses but there is no central system available online for the public to view chronic disease rates provincially. The Cancer Network states that cancer surveillance has been done in the province of New Brunswick since 1952 and there is an NB Provincial Cancer Registry (Government of New Brunswick, 2022. Data is shared with the North American Association of Central Cancer Centre Registries (Government of New Brunswick, 2022). Dementia has its own page on the new GNB website that has information for caregivers, health professionals and several topics to look at (Government of New Brunswick, 2024a). Diabetes has its own page as well that has information on insulin pumps in NB, tools for providers, and several links for the public (Government of New Brunswick, 2023) Several provincial documents and one from Horizon Health (2024) provide guidance on management of chronic disease including links to screening guidelines for cervical and colon cancer (Government of New Brunswick, 2024). NB faces unique challenges, with reports indicating that it has the highest prevalence of chronic health conditions in Canada. Approximately 20% of the population experiences three or more chronic conditions, highlighting the need for comprehensive management strategies. So, the NB Health Council emphasizes the importance of appropriate screening and early risk factor management, especially given the province's higher rates of obesity and associated risk factors. | Ontario has developed several strategies and frameworks (some of which are described above) to support those living with chronic conditions and in the prevention of disease. Ontario has also developed a preventative initiative called the Prevention System Quality Index (PSQI) to monitor and enhance policies and programs aimed at reducing chronic disease risk factors. The PSQI provides insights into the effectiveness of prevention strategies across the province (Ontario Health, 2025). In terms of public health initiatives, the province runs health campaigns to raise awareness on chronic disease for example hypertension and diabetes. They encourage early detection through screening programs and education. Another program called Integrated Care for Complex Patients (ICCP) helps those with multiple chronic conditions by improving coordination of services, decreasing hospital stays, and improving quality of life (Ontario Health, 2025) Below are common chronic conditions in Ontario and prevalence: 1. Diabetes – 1.5 million Ontarians living with this (Diabetes Canada, 2025). 2.Cancer – 1 in 2 Ontarians will be diagnosed in their lifetime (Cancer Care Ontario, 2022) 3.Chronic Respiratory Diseases - ~ 2.4 million Ontarians living with asthma or chronic respiratory condition (e.g. COPD) (Public Health Ontario, 2019). 4.Cardiovascular disease – 1 in 12 Ontarians live with heart disease (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2025). 5.Mental health disorders – 1 in 5 Ontarians experience a mental health disorder in any given year; anxiety and depression top the list. (CAMH, 2023) 6.Obesity – 1 in 3 adults in Ontario are obese – 30% (Statistics Canada, 2024) whereas in NB is listed at 43%. |
Funding & Resources | Funding for most of the chronic health conditions would be divided among the Department of Health in the form of primary care dollars to ensure enough nurse practitioners and physicians for residents of NB (Department of Health, 2024). Planning and funding for health care in New Brunswick is also spoken about in New Brunswick’s Health Plan (New Brunswick Department of Health & Government of New Brunswick. 2021). provinces allocate resources to combat chronic diseases, funding levels and resource distribution may vary New Brunswick has identified securing adequate funding for surveillance system management as a pressing challenge, underscoring the need for sustained financial support to effectively monitor and address chronic health conditions. | In Ontario, there is quite a bit of support for managing chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and COPD. The government funds programs through OHIP, Ontario Health Teams, and specific initiatives like the Diabetes Strategy. Non-profits like Diabetes Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation also pitch in with resources and education. Public health units run prevention programs, like smoking cessation and healthy living campaigns, while local health networks (LHINs) help with home care and therapy. If you’re dealing with a chronic condition, your doctor or local health unit can point you to the right resources, and organizations often have patient programs to help with costs.
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References
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