In 2006, the Federal Government announced the creation of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, an independent and not-for-profit organization responsible for developing and implementing a national collaborative cancer control strategy that will reduce the impact of cancer on Canadians at every level of the cancer care continuum, from prevention to palliative care, and from research to policy and practice.

Cancer guidelines are a core strategic cancer control initiative of the Partnership because they systematically compile the best available evidence on specific health care options and provide a basis for consistent, high-quality cancer care that will lead to improved patient outcomes. The Partnership established The Capacity Enhancement Program (CEP) during its first five-year mandate in order to improve access to evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and resources across Canada, to increase skill capacity in using evidence to inform clinical decision-making, and to enable the exchange of knowledge and best practices among Canadian stakeholders, including clinicians, guideline developers, policymakers and cancer system leaders.

CEP Products & Services

SAGE Directory of Cancer Guidelines

The SAGE Directory of Cancer Guidelines is a publically available, searchable database of English-language cancer control guidelines released since 2003. SAGE includes a quality appraisal of each completed guideline using the AGREE II, the current gold standard in appraising guideline reporting quality. The SAGE Directory also houses listings of guidelines in development and guidelines in need of an update.

The SAGE Directory is not solely a guideline repository, but also serves as a platform to standardize and improve the quality of cancer guidelines worldwide, facilitate coordination of guideline efforts, and reduce duplication in guideline development.

The SAGE Directory of Cancer Guidelines can be accessed online by visiting CancerView.

Guidelines Resource Centre

The CEP has created an online Guidelines Resource Centre that contains reference materials and tools to support guideline developers and health-care professionals in practice guideline development. This includes how-to manuals, templates, checklists, interactive platforms, key publications, presentations, and short videos created by the CEP that target specific questions or steps in the guideline development or implementation process. The content of the Resource Centre is reviewed annually for relevancy and currency, and can be accessed by visiting CancerView.

The Guideline Resource Centre is reviewed annually for relevancy and currency and is maintained by experienced guideline development Training Coordinators, who are also available to provide advice about guideline methodology. Canadian guideline developers are invited to submit their question by visiting CancerView.

Training Opportunities

The CEP organizes training initiatives aimed at providing education and skill development opportunities to key stakeholders interested in learning how to compile and use evidence and cancer guidelines to inform decisions that will improve the quality of cancer care across the continuum and improve system performance. Training initiatives are commonly in the form of workshops or webinars.

The CEP regularly receives requests for training events. If there is a need within your organization for training and skill development, whether it is at the novice or advanced level, please inquire with the CEP about the possibility of planning a training event. For more information on training events, please visit Training Events.