The North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (NAO) is a collaborative partnership of interested researchers, research organizations, governments, and health organizations promoting evidence-informed health system policy decision-making. Due to the high degree of health system decentralization in the United States and Canada, the NAO is committed to focusing considerable attention to state and provincial health systems and to creating a foundation for more systematic health system and policy comparisons among substates.
Featured
Health Systems in Action (HSiA): Mexico, Canada, United States reports available
Quebec: A Health System Profile (available in paperback)
Health Reform Observer
New Publications
- Medication management for older adults in interprofessional primary care teams: a qualitative interview study of family health teams in Ontario, Canada, BMC Primary Care
- Canada and the Netherlands: Rhetoric versus Reality in the Evolution of Solidarity Underpinning Universal Health Coverage, Canadian Journal of Health History
- Improving Equity in Access to Dental Care in Canada: Historical Lessons for Policy Change, Journal of Public Health Dentistry
- The progressivity of health care revenue financing in 29 countries: A comparison, Health Policy
New Reports
- Healthcare for families of active military personnel in high-income jurisdictions, NAO Rapid Review #48
- Community-based supports for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and care partners, NAO Rapid Review #47
- Initiatives de soutien de proximité destinées aux personnes atteintes de la maladie d’Alzheimer et autres troubles neurocognitifs ainsi qu’à leurs proches aidants, NAO Revue rapide 47
- Public Health System Financing in Nova Scotia
New Book Chapter
- Chapter 22: Canada’s health care system: the promises and challenges of a federated system in Research Handbook on Health Care Policy
In the News
Event Recordings
- Health Systems in Action (HSiA): North American Insights (Webinar: Sep 9, 2025)
Health System Profiles
Canada Health System Review (2020)
Mexico Health System Review (2020)
United States Health System Review (2020)
The North American Observatory is hosted at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario. We wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.