Frequently Asked Questions

ICES leads cutting-edge studies that evaluate health care delivery and population outcomes. ICES researchers access a vast and secure array of Ontario’s demographic and health-related data, including population-based health surveys, anonymous patient records, and clinical and administrative databases.

ICES Central is located on the campus of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. It supports physical sites at Queen’s University in Kingston (ICES Queen’s), the University of Ottawa (ICES uOttawa), the University of Toronto (ICES UofT), Western University in London (ICES Western), McMaster University in Hamilton (ICES McMaster), and the Health Sciences North Research Institute in Sudbury in partnership with Laurentian University and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (ICES North).

ICES sites

ICES data is an inventory of coded and linkable health data sets. It encompasses much of the publicly funded administrative health services records for the Ontario population eligible for universal health coverage since 1986. This includes health service records for almost 14 million people. The breadth and scope of ICES data is the foundational resource for creating unbiased evidence to drive health system policy, planning and evaluation. It also supports hundreds of research projects each year undertaken by researchers across the province.

About ICES data

ICES data dictionary

Collaboration and partnerships are the key to driving successful research initiatives and achieving positive change. To expand the scope and impact of health services research in Canada, ICES has forged partnerships across a diverse network of scientists, stakeholder organizations and representatives of provincial and national health care organizations. In addition, many ICES scientists serve on research committees, programs and task forces at the local, provincial, national and international levels.

Collaborations & Partnerships

ICES is one of a handful of organizations in Ontario that have been specially designated to receive and use data under the province’s Personal Health Information Protection Act. The designation is granted by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) and is subject to ongoing IPC oversight and renewal every three years.

About privacy at ICES

ICES deploys a variety of measures to protect the information entrusted to it. Physical security controls, technological safeguards such as data encryption, and a robust framework of policies and procedures work together to protect information.

About privacy at ICES

Research opportunities span a wide range of topics and disciplines including drug safety and effectiveness, health system performance, mental health and addictions services, and chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

About ICES Research

Research Programs

ICES research results in an evidence base that is published as atlases, investigative reports and peer-reviewed papers, and is used to guide decision-making and inform changes in health care policy and delivery. Many ICES reports are undertaken to answer specific questions (known as Applied Health Research Questions) posed by health-system stakeholders and policy-makers. ICES research is used to guide decision-making and influence the design, implementation and evaluation of health policy and the delivery of health care.

Publications

ICES is a community of research, data and clinical experts. Many ICES scientists are internationally recognized for their work, and a number of them are practicing physicians who understand the everyday challenges of health care delivery. Our scientists lead multidisciplinary teams that include expert statisticians and epidemiologists, as well as specialists in knowledge translation, information security and privacy, and information technology. The diversity within these teams and their expertise in using ICES’ comprehensive array of linked data sets are the foundation for our innovative approach to research.

ICES scientists

More than 350 scientists and staff work at ICES sites across Ontario.

ICES receives core funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health. Our scientists have highly successful track records competing for peer-reviewed grants from federal agencies, such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and from provincial and international funding bodies. However, ICES is an independent not-for-profit corporation, and takes pride in its international reputation as a trusted, impartial and credible source of high-quality health and health services research and evidence.

No.

No. ICES is an independent, non-profit organization, although many scientists affiliated with ICES have clinical and teaching appointments at hospitals and universities across Ontario and beyond.