Ontario Stroke Registry

The Registry of the Canadian Stroke Network (RCSN) was established in 2001 with a research grant from the Canadian Stroke Network (CSN) to allow for the measurement and monitoring of stroke care delivery and outcomes in Canadian patients at participating institutions. The RCSN also serves as a rich clinical database for investigator-initiated research projects and the Ontario Stroke Network (OSN) utilizes RCSN data to monitor and evaluate stroke care in Ontario. The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care provides ongoing financial support to collect data on Ontario patients. The RCSN’s data and research staff are located at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) in Toronto. In the first two phases of the RCSN, data was collected from 21 hospitals across Canada. Since 2003, data collection has been primarily focused on Ontario patients. 

In 2004, the RCSN became a prescribed registry under Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PIHIPA); this status permitted the RCSN to collect data related to stroke care delivery in Ontario without patient consent. As of November 1, 2011, the RCSN’s ownership was transferred from the CSN to ICES in partnership with the OSN. To reflect these changes in governance, our name has been changed to the Ontario Stroke Registry (OSR). As ICES is a prescribed entity under PHIPA, 2004, OSR continues to have the privilege of collecting data on stroke patients without informed consent. 

For more information on the Ontario Stroke Registry, please visit https://osr.ices.on.ca.