Business context model

The business context model defines the interactions between the Pan-Canadian Health Data Content Framework and key stakeholders as well as key information sources and key consumers. It defines those that influence and inform the content, the collaborators, and those that govern and fund it. It also defines the consumers of the framework and the methods by which they will use it.

The audiences for the business context model are decision makers, policy makers, researchers, health care institution IT staff, clinical solution vendor technical staff, experts involved in standards development and data architecture, software developers, those interested in e-health and digital health modernization initiatives, and anyone who would like more information about the Pan-Canadian Health Data Content Framework.

The business context model is composed of information sources, collaborative groups, and key stakeholders. Relationships from each of those groups to the framework detail the type of relationship with each stakeholder and the exact documents referenced from each information source.

• Entity Name: The name of the information source or stakeholder.
• Entity Description: Details describing the information source or stakeholder.
• Relationship Name: The type of information exchanged between the information source or stakeholder and the associated entity.
• Associated Entity: The entity related to the one detailed on the page.

The maturity of the Business Context Model is currently 2: Proposed.

Stage of maturity	Definition
Future development	Artifact is planned
0: In development	Artifact is a work in progress
1: Draft	Artifact incorporates input from experts
2: Proposed	Artifact has been through at least one round of open public review or is based on an established Canadian or international standard (e.g., IPS, USCDI, AUCDI or equivalent)
3: Ready for use	Artifact is ready for use

Bibliography

The following resources were referenced in the creation of the semantic common data model and business context model:

Alberta Government. Lab Information Systems Message Standard Summary: HL7 Lab Test Result Delivery Specification and CDA Lab Report Specification. October 2018.

Alliance for Healthier Communities. Model of Health and Wellbeing: Evaluation Framework Manual. November 2019.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Glossary. June 2024.

Australian Government Department of Health. Primary Mental Health Care Minimum Data Set. November 2024.

Better Outcomes Registry and Network Ontario. Legacy Data Elements. March 2012.

Better Outcomes Registry and Network Ontario. Midwifery Legacy Data Dictionary: Fiscal Years 2006–07 to 2011–12. April 2014.

British Columbia Ministry of Health. Provincial Laboratory Information Solution Education Material for Health Authority. August 2015.

Bronfenbrenner U. The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. 1981.

Canada Health Act 1984, c.6, s.1.

Canada Health Infoway. DiagnosticReport (CA-Core). July 2025.

Canada Health Infoway. Pan-Canadian Care Service Directory (CI Build). No date.

Canada Health Infoway. Pan-Canadian Patient Summary (PS-CA) CI Build. No date.

Canada Health Infoway. Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine — Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) Canadian Edition (SNOMED CT CA). 2024.

Canada Post. Addressing guidelines. January 2022.

Canada Post. Glossary. June 2020.

Canada Revenue Agency. When you need a business number or Canada Revenue Agency program accounts. April 2023.

Canadian Institute for Health Information. CIHI Reference Data Model Toolkit. 2022.

Canadian Institute for Health Information. Indicator Library. 2024.

Canadian Institute for Health Information. National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System. 2022.

Canadian Institute for Health Information. Pan-Canadian Primary Health Care EMR Minimum Data Set for Performance Measurement Version 1.1. 2022.

Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. Service Animals. January 2026.

Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. Service animals. June 2021.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health literacy. February 2024.

Cnr-Istituto di Linguistica Computazionale. Lexical semantic relations. No date.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. Australian Core Data for Interoperability. June 2024.

DAMA International. The DAMA Dictionary of Data Management, 2nd Edition. 2011.

eHealth Ontario. Ontario’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) Conceptual Information Model (CIM). June 2019.

European Commission. European Interoperability Framework — Implementation Strategy. March 2017.

European Commission. Glossary. No date.

First Nations Information Governance Centre. The First Nations Principles of OCAP®. No date.

Friberg JC. Might the 4M Framework Support SoTL Advocacy? July 2011.

Government of Ontario. Government of Ontario Information and Technology Standards (GO-ITS) Number 56.3: Information Modeling Handbook — Appendices. 2010.

Health Canada. Canadian Clinical Drug Data Set (CCDD). July 2024.

Health Canada. Drug Product Database: Terminology. March 2022.

Health Canada. Licensed Natural Health Products Database (LNHPD). January 2019.

Health Level 7. ACCESS Gateway EHR Specification HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide-v1.0.0-WIP-draft. No date.

Health Level 7. CA Core+: DiagnosticReport CA Core, Version 1.1.0. March 2026.

Health Level 7. FHIR overview. March 2023.

Health Level 7. HL7 Reference Information Model. December 2021.

Health Level 7. International Birth and Child Model Implementation Guide, Version 1.0.0: IBCM Fetal Record Profile. August 2025.

Health Level 7. National Directory of Healthcare Providers & Services (NDH) Implementation Guide v2.0.0. July 2025.

Health Level 7. US Core Implementation Guide v8.0.0. June 2025.

Health Level 7. US Core Implementation Guide v9.0.0. May 2026.

Health Standards Organization. HSO Terms and Definitions. October 2018.

Health Standards Organization. Primary Health Care Services — CAN/HSO 34015:2020 (E). 2020.

Health Workforce Canada. Use case #1. 2024.

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Naming a corporation — Overview. August 2023.

Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise International. Maternal Health Topic. No date.

Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise International. Mobile Care Services Directory. May 2025.

International Standards Organization. ISO 13940:2015 — Health Informatics — System of Concepts to Support Continuity of Care. 2015.

International Standards Organization. ISO 13972:2022 — Health Informatics — Clinical Information Models — Characteristics, Structures and Requirements. 2022.

International Standards Organization. ISO 23081-1:2017 — Information and Documentation — Records Management Processes — Metadata for Records — Part 1: Principles. 2017.

International Standards Organization. ISO 23081-2:2021 — Information and Documentation — Metadata for Managing Records — Part 2: Conceptual and Implementation Issues. 2021.

International Standards Organization. ISO 27269:2021 — Health Informatics — International Patient Summary. 2021.

International Standards Organization. ISO/IEC 11179-1:2023 — Information Technology — Metadata Registries (MDR) — Part 1: Framework. 2023.

International Standards Organization. ISO/IEC 11179-3:2023 — Information Technology — Metadata Registries (MDR) — Part 3: Metamodel for Registry Common Facilities. 2023.

International Standards Organization. ISO/IEC 11179-4:2004 — Information Technology — Metadata Registries (MDR) — Part 4: Formulation of Data Definitions. 2004.

International Standards Organization. ISO/IEC 11179-5:2015 — Information Technology — Metadata Registries (MDR) — Part 5: Naming Principles. 2015.

International Standards Organization. ISO/IEC 11179-6:2023 — Information Technology — Metadata Registries (MDR) — Part 6: Registration. 2023.

International Standards Organization. ISO/IEC 11404:2007 — Information Technology — General-Purpose Datatypes (GPD). 2007.

International Standards Organization. ISO/IEC TR 11179-2:2019 — Information Technology — Metadata Registries (MDR) — Part 2: Classification. 2019.

International Standards Organization. ISO/TR 23081-3:2011 — Information and Documentation — Managing Metadata for Records — Part 3: Self-Assessment Method. 2011.

International Standards Organization. ISO/TS 22220:2011 — Health Informatics — Identification of Subjects of Health Care. 2011.

International Standards Organization. ISO/TS 5384:2024 — Health Informatics — Categorial Structure and Data Elements for the Identification and Exchange of Immunization Data. May 2024.

Jacob EK. Classification and categorization: A difference that makes a difference. Library Trends. 2004.

Josefsson, S. RFC 4648 - The Base16, Base32, and Base64 Data Encodings. October 2006.

Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC). Home. 2024.

Maeder MB et al. The STAR data reporting guidelines for clinical high altitude research. High Altitude Medicine and Biology. March 2018.

Mental Health Commission of Canada. Peer support. 2024.

Maternal Health Data Innovation & Coordination Hub. Common Data Elements for Maternal Health Research. June 2025.

National Cancer Institute. NCI dictionaries. March 2024.

National Health Service Digital. FHIR Maternity Record: Pregnancy Episode Details. October 2019.

National Health Service. NHS Data Model and Dictionary. 2024.

Nictiz. FHIR Implementation Guide BirthCare, Version 1.2. July 2026.

Object Management Group. PartyRole. No date.

Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics. Standardized Data: The OMOP Common Data Model. 2024.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) Version 4. October 2023.

Ontario Health. Provincial Health and Service Directory (PHSD) HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide — Draft v1.0.0. No date.

Ontario Laboratories Information System. DiagnosticReport, Version 1.0.1. December 2020.

OntarioMD. Electronic Medical Records: EMR — OLIS Specification. April 2015.

Ontario Ministry of Health. Mental Health and Addictions (MHA) — Data and Digital Initiative (DDI) Provincial Data Standard (PDS) Data Specification version 0.1.10. 2021.

Oregon Health & Science University. Home. 2024.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. A System of Health Accounts 2011: Revised Edition. March 2017.

OSCAR BC. Open source providers. No date.

Professional Record Standards Body. Digital Maternity Record. No date.

Professional Record Standards Body (PSRB). PRSB standards. January 2023.

Public Health Agency of Canada. Browse Subsets — National Vaccine Catalogue. No date.

Public Health Agency of Canada. Canadian immunization registry functional standards 2020 to 2024: Recommendations from the Canadian Immunization Registry and Coverage Network. 2020.

Public Health Agency of Canada. The Pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy: Expert Advisory Group: Reports and summaries. 2022.

Shreeve S. The episode of care (part 3): A primary care case study. 2019.

SNOMED CT. SNOMED CT Browser: Clinical finding (finding). 2024.

SNOMED International. SNOMED International home. No date.

Statistics Canada. Census of Population. July 2024.

Statistics Canada. National Occupation Classification (NOC) 2021 Version 1.0: 31303 — Physician assistants, midwives and allied health professionals. 2024.

Statistics Canada. Postal Code Conversion File. September 2024.

The Open Group. The TOGAF Standard, Version 9.2 — Definitions. 2018.

United States Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. ONC’s Cures Act Final Rule. March 2024.

Upstream Lab. Screening for Poverty And Related Social Determinants to Improve Knowledge of and Links to Resources (SPARK) Study. December 2023.

World Health Organization. Health and well-being. 2024.

World Health Organization. International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI). January 2024.

World Health Organization. Introductory Module: Strengthening Surveillance of and Response to Foodborne Diseases. No date.

World Health Organization. Social determinants of health. 2024.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). PROV-O: The PROV Ontology. April 2013.