From Jennifer Gillivan, President & CEO, IWK Foundation
February 3, 2026
Dear Women of the Maritimes,
In October, we wrote to you to share what we heard as part of the Women’s Health Survey.
Because you used your voice and shared your stories, this is now the largest survey on women’s health in the country — 27,317 of you across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island told us clearly and courageously what it has been like to move through a health system that too often does not see you, study you, or serve you well.
And we promised then that your voices would be heard.
This letter is about what comes next.
Today, the IWK Foundation is stepping forward to lead a conversation, and a movement, that is long overdue. This movement is not just about the Foundation. It is about women+ across the Maritimes and across Canada, and about whether we are willing to turn evidence and lived experience into real, lasting systemic change.
We are launching Women’s Health Equity Now —the WHEN Movement.
WHEN reflects a simple truth: women’s health cannot wait. It cannot be addressed quietly, incrementally, or someday. Equity requires urgency, leadership, and collective action, now.
This is a long-term commitment to changing how women’s health is understood, taught, researched, funded, and delivered. And it is built directly on what you told us.
Our hope is the community will rise alongside us as we support you and change women’s health. Today is how we can all support a movement together.
Based on your voices, our work is focused across five areas.
Learning About Women
You told us that too often your symptoms are misunderstood, your bodies under-explained, and your concerns dismissed. That is not about individual intent, it is about gaps in education.
Here’s what’s happening now:
- Launch of The Fifth Wave podcast, bringing global women’s health experts into accessible conversations for women, clinicians, and communities.
- Work with champions in medical education to expand women’s health training beyond today’s limited curriculum.
- New partnerships to introduce women’s health education to middle school students, because system change starts early.
Research That Represents Women
You told us that you feel that women’s health conditions are under-researched and misunderstood. The data proves this and as a result the health gaps show up in delayed diagnoses and limited care options.
Here’s what’s happening now:
- Investment in women’s health research through national collaborations with women’s hospital foundations across Canada.
- Establishment of the Dr. Oulton Accelerate Research Chair in Women+ Health to strengthen evidence and improve outcomes in our region.
- Creation of a new Breast Health Data Centre to improve how data informs diagnosis and treatment.
- Expanded research conversations to better reflect the lived experiences of Indigenous women, African Nova Scotian women, newcomer women, trans women, and underserved communities.
- Early work toward a dedicated Women’s Health Research Institute to accelerate collaboration and impact.
Innovation Designed for Women
You told us that tools and technologies designed for women’s health often don’t exist or don’t reflect your realities.
Here’s what’s happening now:
- Exploration of new ways to support women-led innovation in health tools, technologies, and models of care designed with women in mind.
- Championing women entrepreneurs across the Maritimes who are reimagining innovations such as contraception, menstrual health, maternal care, menopause support, and wellness platforms.
Visible Leadership & Advocacy
One of the most powerful things you told us is many of you could not name a single institution or leader publicly and consistently championing women’s health. We heard that clearly.
Here’s what’s happening now:
- Through the WHEN Movement, the IWK Foundation is stepping forward as a visible, public champion for women’s health.
- Collaboration on national reports and blueprints calling for a coordinated women’s health strategy in Canada.
- Proudly championing improved menopause support and normalizing women’s health conversations at work.
- Convening leaders across government, healthcare, research, and the private sector to drive systemic change.
Care for Women — Where It Matters Most
Ultimately, all of this work comes together at the point of care.
Women deserve care environments that reflect dignity, comfort, and evidence-based care specifically designed for them.
Here’s what’s happening now:
- Introduction of patient-centered approaches to pain management, comfort, and dignity during procedures.
- Expansion of navigator models that reduce wait times, improve access, and help women make informed choices earlier.
- Investment in advanced equipment and technologies for conditions like fibroids and pelvic health.
- Planning and investment to modernize women’s health spaces at the IWK so they reflect today’s evidence, expectations, and values and model of care.
- Expansion of women’s health services into community-based settings, closer to where women live and work.
Together, these five areas reflect the scale of change women are asking for and the responsibility we all share to deliver it.
We know this work will take time. And we know there is more to do — a lot more beyond what’s outlined here. This is just the beginning of a longer journey.
This work will take all of us — women, communities, health leaders, governments, philanthropists and partners — stepping forward together to lead.
This is how we move from listening to action.
This is how women’s voices become lasting change.
This is how we achieve women’s health equity — now.
I look forward to keeping you updated along the way.
With respect, resolve, and deep gratitude for your trust,
Jennifer Gillivan, ICD.D
President & CEO
IWK Foundation
From Jennifer Gillivan, President & CEO, IWK Foundation
Dear Women of the Maritimes,
In June, we asked you to tell us the truth about your health.
We expected stories. We received a movement.
27,317 of you across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island responded to our survey on women’s health, making it the largest of its kind in our region’s history. But you didn’t just check boxes. You told the truth. Thousands of you wrote, in your own words, what it feels like to carry the load you do. To care for others while struggling to care for yourself. To manage chronic health concerns while feeling invisible in the very systems meant to support you. To show up every day despite being overwhelmed, dismissed, tired, and unheard.
More than 13,000 of you shared raw, unfiltered, and courageous personal stories. Stories of stress, anxiety, perimenopause, menopause, pain, delayed diagnoses, mental health struggles, caregiving burnout, and the silent weight of being the one who holds everything together when it feels like no one is holding you.
Let me be very clear: we see you. We hear you. And you are not alone.
What you told us is that women in the Maritimes are not thriving. Many are just getting by.
More than 75% of you said you’ve delayed or avoided seeking care because of time constraints, fear of dismissal, or past negative experiences. You told us that your health issues are not just affecting your body, they’re affecting your sleep, your self-esteem, your family, your work, your relationships, and your future.
These are signs of a system that hasn’t caught up to what women actually need.
And while yes, some of what you shared reflects broader issues women face globally, there is something powerfully local in your stories. Your experiences are shaped by our geography, our gaps in care, our rural realities, and the Maritime culture of “just keep going.”
But we can’t just keep going. Not like this.
Many of you told us you feel like you have to “piece together your own care,” rely on social media for basic health information, or wait years for help that may never come. You spoke about chronic pain, weight, anxiety, and stress, not as isolated issues, but as constant companions. You told us what it means to be the one that people depend on, while quietly wondering when someone will ask how you are.
You are the experts on your own health. And now it’s time for systemic change.
This is not a call for women to be more resilient. You’ve already proven your strength over and over again. What’s needed now is something bigger: a reimagined approach to women’s health, one that listens, adapts, respects, and responds.
At the IWK Foundation, we are committed to being a champion for this movement. We know that clinical care is just one part of the picture. Your health is shaped by your financial well-being, your caregiving responsibilities, your mental load, and the stories you’ve been told, or not told, about what’s “normal.”
We also know that change takes all of us. And that change starts with raising your voices even louder.
That’s why we’ve publicly released The Voice of Maritime Women — The Unspoken Burden of Women’s Health, and created a social media toolkit to help you share the findings, advocate for change, and remind others they are not alone.
It is no longer “unspoken.” It is undeniable.
To every woman who filled out the survey, thank you. Thank you for your honesty, your courage, your time, and your trust.
And this is just the beginning, there’s more to come.
You deserve care that sees you as a whole person.
You deserve systems that don’t wait for a crisis to take you seriously.
You deserve a future where women’s health is not an afterthought, but a priority.
And we’re with you. Every step of the way.
If not now, when? If not us, who?
With deep respect and together in health equity,
Jennifer Gillivan
President & CEO, IWK Foundation