Our key focus is on continuing to make a real impact and improve the daily quality of life for the food allergy community. We have highlighted a few of our current advocacy and long-term initiatives below.
Plus, read more on how we are making a difference our Impact Report. You’ll learn about our key milestones, hear from our Executive Director and Board Chair, and get inspired by parents and others as they share how this organization has made a difference.
Current advocacy initiatives
Access to epinephrine
We are invested in our advocacy efforts to ensure you always have access to epinephrine. We are advocating with Health Canada and other key stakeholders, helping to encourage other suppliers to enter this space, educating and informing you and others on how to access these devices, and engaging with allergists and other healthcare professionals.
In 2024, as part of our advocacy in support of the National Pharmacare Program, we requested that epinephrine devices (e.g. EpiPen®) are included among the first lists of essential medicines in the national formulary under the proposed program.
Access to allergy care
Timely access to an allergist is an ongoing concern across the country due to shortages in many areas and long wait times.
The reductions in allergy care in Newfoundland and Labrador, where access to such care is already limited, prompted us to take action in 2022. Our advocacy efforts led to a meeting with representatives from the Health Minister’s office to discuss change.
The lack of practicing allergists in Prince Edward Island, which caused patients to travel to other provinces to see one, spurred us into action in 2019. By engaging the community, we helped prioritize the need for allergy care. In late 2023, PEI will have its first allergist.
Ensuring patient-centric research
In 2024, we engaged with researchers to address gaps in food labelling and the need for global action; the pre-hospital use of epinephrine and simplifying decision-making for individuals on when to administer it; understanding biphasic anaphylaxis; access to oral immunotherapy (OIT), and evaluating the level of satisfaction with this treatment among individuals and families.
Partnering with the foodservice sector
We are working with the foodservice industry to better meet the needs of the 3 million Canadians impacted by food allergy, enabling them to dine out with confidence. To support this work, we’ve created free training tools and resources aimed at enhancing education and providing essential information so impacted individuals can more easily make informed dining decisions. Additionally, we are collaborating with leaders from the foodservice industry to develop allergen management guidance and promote greater allergy awareness.
Visit our foodservice page to learn more about training available for foodservice.
Healthcare professional outreach
There are a limited number of allergists across the country, and many of you may only have an opportunity to see your allergist once a year. For those who are newly diagnosed, they may have to wait months up to years before seeing an allergist. This means, ensuring other healthcare professionals are educated about food allergies and how to support your needs is crucial.
We are focused on our outreach efforts with healthcare professionals (like Family Physicians, Paediatricians, and other healthcare providers) to ensure all Canadians with food allergies receive the support they need to live confidently with this medical condition.
Check out our current healthcare professional section to see our current resources.
Long-term advocacy initiatives
Access to accurate ingredient information
As part of our ongoing commitment to collaborate with the food industry and government on issues related to accurate food labelling and best practices for allergen management, we continued to build momentum with our Allergen Management Guidelines.
Throughout the year, we extended the reach of these guidelines by hosting numerous webinars, participating in national and global conferences, meeting with industry councils and associations, and engaging with government.
Informed dining
In 2024, we intensified our efforts to improve food allergen management in foodservice environments, recognizing the critical need for action, especially with the rise of online ordering and third-party delivery platforms. Despite two decades of evidence underscoring the need for stronger protection, Canada still lacks requirements for ingredient disclosure in foodservice settings, falling behind other countries.
We launched our consumer research report, Recipe for Success, to better understand the impact of the food allergy community on foodservice businesses. This report revealed how allergen management drives consumer loyalty and benefits foodservice businesses, reinforcing the importance of clear ingredient disclosure. We also launched our Think Food Allergy initiative to ensure that foodservice operators keep food allergy top of mind.
Check out our current foodservice section to see our current resources.
National Food Allergy Action Plan
We are committed to advocating towards making food allergy a health priority in Canada. In 2019, we, along with the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (CSACI) presented our National Food Allergy Action Plan at Parliament Hill as a part of our advocacy day with government.
Our action plan is intended to set the framework to guide future actions for improving the quality of life for Canadians with food allergy and reducing the impact of this medical condition. Specifically, it focuses on greater support in the areas of prevention, management, treatment, and broad-based community support of food allergy.
Among the specific recommendations we are calling for federal
leadership in:
- Building public awareness of anaphylaxis and how to treat it
- Taking action to mitigate the risk of drug shortages and prioritizing the review of new epinephrine delivery systems
- Guidance mandating prevention of food allergy as a public health priority
- Supporting parents in early introduction of allergenic foods to infants, and early treatment for those who have an allergic reaction, along with better access to treatment options for all ages
- Helping to ensure Canadians have access to accurate ingredient information so they can make safe and informed choices, regardless of where they eat
Ultimately, our goal is to have a fully funded plan that, once executed, will reduce the impact of food allergy, and improve the quality of life for Canadians affected by food allergy.
Visit our National Food Allergy Action Plan page to find out how you can get involved and help to #MakeFoodAllergyCount!
Increasing access to oral immunotherapy
Early in 2024, we asked for the community’s insights in oral immunotherapy (OIT) help inform our advocacy efforts. The insights confirmed that access is challenging for those who have had treatment, there is a high level of satisfaction with OIT regardless of the age of the child, there is a lack of treatment options for impacted adults, and in Ontario, 50% of people who were in treatment indicated that their allergist paused treatment citing issues with provincial billing.
We remain committed to being your voice and continuing to advocate for access to affordable treatment options that can improve the safety and quality of life for Canadians of all ages
Small but mighty
The entire staff of Food Allergy Canada could fit around a boardroom table. Actually, make that one end of a boardroom table! But that doesn’t stop us from taking on the big issues.
Managing food allergy is a shared responsibility, and we rely on partners like you to help us make a difference.
Join us and make an impact. There are many ways you can make a significant impact.