What we are doing

The Canadian Cancer Society believes that working with government and legislators to bring about healthy public policies is a vital part of achieving our vision of a world where no Canadian fears cancer.

By working across party lines and with like-minded organizations, advocates of the Canadian Cancer Society are making a difference in finding new and better ways to protect the health of Canadians, shrink cancer rates and reduce cancer’s toll on our country. We thank our donors for making these important activities possible.

Advocacy Top 10 2019 – Nationwide

 A summary of advocacy successes by region is available. Please contact advocacy@cancer.ca for a copy

• How we take action

  We do this by:

  • taking a stand on important cancer issues
  • raising Canadians’ awareness and understanding about these issues
  • influencing government to pass public policies that will help prevent cancer and help people living with cancer
• Why we take action

  Our advocacy efforts are based on the Society’s strategic plan, which impacts every aspect of what we do. We take action to:

  • prevent people from getting cancer – for example, by advocating for a ban on indoor tanning for youth under 18
  • help people with cancer to survive longer – for example, by advocating for the government to increase funding for cancer research
  • improve the quality of life for people living with cancer – for example, by advocating for financial support for caregivers
• Where we take action

  Our staff and volunteers meet with elected officials from local, provincial and national governments to persuade them to make the fight against cancer one of their top priorities.

  Some issues have multiple advocacy campaigns for different levels of government. For example, we advocate for better tobacco control:

  • at the local level – where we work with communities to push for smoke-free environments in their municipalities
  • at the provincial level – where we lobby to raise tobacco taxes to discourage consumption
  • at the national level – where we fight to regulate the way cigarettes are packaged across the country, by adopting plain packaging

Federal priorities

• Tobacco control
• Palliative care
• Caregiver support
• Asbestos ban
• Healthy living
• Indoor tanning
• Drug access

Provincial priorities

• Radon
• Smoke-free youth rated movies
• Take-home cancer drugs
• Palliative care