Information and Communication Technology

Given the size of Canada, there are many locations in the country where the use of ICT to support health care is essential. Various health ICTs also can enable providers to deliver health care in a variety of distributed or modalities that are free of “time-place” dependency—essentially, they do not require a client to physically travel to a specific location to receive health care.

While these sorts of virtual approaches to healthcare can assist with reaching clients in rural and remote locations, there are still many barriers in Canada for individuals to use these services, including (but not limited to) lack of Internet connectivity, healthcare providers who do not utilize existing virtual healthcare solutions, and the technology and health literacy of clients.