Our Services

The Arthritis Research Centre of Canada (ARC) was incorporated in 2000, in recognition of the tremendous potential research brings to improving the lives of people living with bone and joint diseases. ARC first engaged us in 2009 to provide strategic planning services, when the Centre’s activities and success in attracting external research funding outgrew the organization’s premises. The ARC Board successfully implemented and monitored the resulting plan, culminating in a move to a roomy new home, made possible with a $4 million gift from the Milan & Maureen Ilich Foundation. To maintain this considerable momentum, ARC invited us back in 2012 to help develop a new three-year strategic plan, successfully implemented in 2013 through 2015, when the organization rebranded as Arthritis Research Canada. Now with facilities in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec, ARC continues to grow and demonstrate its dedication to understanding, advancing and sharing knowledge about the causes of arthritis, and addressing issues impacting people with arthritis right now. We are honoured to have been engaged to work with ARC again, on their subsequent strategic plans in 2016 and 2019. We’ve also assisted with strategic planning for their volunteer colleagues at the Arthritis Patient Advisory Board.

CAREX Canada is a national surveillance project that estimates the number of Canadians exposed to carcinogenic substances in workplace and community environments. These estimates provide significant support for targeting exposure reduction strategies and cancer prevention programs. CAREX is currently collaborating in a national study to quantify the human and economic burden of occupational cancer in Canada. The study is making use of national and provincial cancer statistics, literature reviews on cancer risks associated with workplace exposures, and estimates of historical exposures in Canada. The end result will be a series of robust province- and sex-specific estimates for cancers caused by 44 occupational carcinogens and 24 cancer sites. In March 2016, CAREX brought more than 70 stakeholders from BC, Alberta and the Yukon together to provide an overview of study results to date, and to discuss ways these results can inform policy and practice change. CAREX also aimed to have the meeting support the development of a western stakeholder network, among people with a shared interest in reducing the burden of cancers related to occupational exposures. We provided support with planning the event: Principal Consultant Patricia Evans facilitated the session, and Senior Consultant Lisa May created a comprehensive report on the proceedings, including priorities for prevention identified by participants.

The Surrey Homelessness and Housing Society (SHHS) is a non-profit organization with a vision that everyone in Surrey has a home. The City of Surrey established the Society in 2007 to oversee the Surrey Homelessness and Housing Fund, an endowment designed to provide perpetual support for Canada’s fastest growing urban centre. In its eighth year of operations, evolving strategic goals called for resources beyond existing capacity. The SHHS Board commissioned us to conduct an operational review of board governance and administrative roles and responsibilities. Principal Consultant Patricia Evans and Senior Consultant Lisa May examined the effectiveness of the existing board structure, composition, and decision-making framework; reviewed the purpose, function, and effectiveness of board committees, including committee membership and structures, board and committee chair roles, and succession planning practices and procedures. We developed recommendations in all of these areas and for board governance, policies and standards to achieve non-profit sector best practices. In addition to these recommendations, we prepared a comprehensive Governance and Operations Manual for SHHS’s ongoing use.

Female physicians deliver an increasing proportion of medical care in BC, and they tend to make different choices from their male colleagues about how to balance personal and professional priorities. But the system they work in has only just begun to acknowledge and support this difference. We worked with a steering committee of the Physician Health Program of BC to research and write a report recommending better workplace arrangements for pregnant and new mother physicians. Medicine and Motherhood: Can We Talk? is based on an extensive review and analysis of the international scholarly literature, including personal experiences of women in medicine. The report recommended making accommodations for physicians who are pregnant and new mothers to ensure the record number of women entering medical practice can pursue their careers, while attending to their needs as mothers. The University of British Columbia recently incorporated many of the report’s recommendations, when revising its policy on pregnant physicians in post-graduate training.

In 2012 and again in 2016, the North Vancouver Detachment engaged us to design and facilitate service planning processes. Working with a team of Detachment staff—both sworn officers and municipal employees—we implemented customized research and consultation processes to provide a broad understanding of the community context for planning. These processes included key informant interviews (in 2012, with elected officials, community partners, representatives of local First Nations and business/community organizations); internal surveys (in 2016, an online staff poll); and public opinion surveys (in 2016, a survey fielded in English, French and Farsi to meet the needs of this ethnically diverse community). By comparing and contrasting the findings of these processes, we were able to provide insights to the Detachment on the priorities, opinions, concerns and opportunities that shape their operating context. We presented these findings at collaborative planning workshops, where team members explored the implications for priorities and actions in the years ahead.

“As a manager new to the process of developing a strategic plan, I found Pat’s leadership and guidance provided me with the framework for success.” – Inspector Jennifer Hyland, Operations Officer, North Vancouver RCMP

Physician health services evolved in Canada in multiple locations to suit local needs. This approach has presented challenges to those seeking to share, cooperate and collaborate on a national scale. In 2015, the Canadian Medical Foundation funded an ad hoc working group, called the Tricoastal Consortium, to develop a common descriptive framework for Canadian organizations providing physician health services. In turn, the four physician-leaders participating in the Tricoastal Consortium engaged us to coordinate this year-long project. Following an iterative process involving multiple national consultations, we enabled the Consortium to deliver a descriptive framework for physician health services in Canada. This document presents a common language and taxonomy that promise to serve as the foundation for future collaboration in areas like program review and planning; quality improvement; resource allocation and advocacy; stakeholder consultation; and standards development.