The CART Access Project

Advancing abortion care through tools for health professionals

In partnership with The Contraception & Abortion Research Team (CART) and funded by Health Canada, UBC CPD continues its partnership for ongoing development of education for health professionals across Canada who can provide abortion care.

Providing optimal care to underserved populations

The three-part project addresses intersectionality and the compounding of historic, systemic and sustained barriers to seeking care/optimal care for underserved populations. Through the discovery, creation and delivery of professional development, this partnership addresses learning gaps to help address educational needs.

Two educational offerings are currently available while a third is in development.

Year one (2024): Online Module, We All Have a Role to Play: Increasing Access to Abortion Care in Canada

In response to the lack of access to education resources on reproductive health, UBC CPD and The Contraception & Abortion Research Team (CART) developed an accredited, self-paced course for health professionals who provide primary, sexual and reproductive health care across Canada.

We All Have a Role to Play: Increasing Access to Abortion Care in Canada launched in April 2024 and explores current abortion trends across the country. By the end of the course, learners will be able to apply person-centered strategies to overcome logistical and other practice barriers that hinder abortion care. The course is designed with English and French language options.

Year two (2025): Webinar, Increasing Access to Abortion Care in Canada

To address how primary care providers can contribute to supportive abortion care in their communities, even if they don’t directly prescribe or perform terminations, UBC CPD and The Contraception & Abortion Research Team (CART) hosted the webinar, Increasing Access to Abortion Care in Canada, on Feb. 18, 2025.

The event featured key speakers Mélina Castonguay, midwife and reproductive health consultant, Carol-Anne Vallée, obstetrician and gynecologist, and Kendra Weerheim, primary care nurse practitioner.

Participants learned how to use language and responses that are non-judgement and supportive when communicating patient options, recognize abortion care considerations relevant to each professional role and more.

Year three (2026): Online Module to address effects of incarceration on family planning

For year three of the CART Access Project, UBC CPD will deliver education in partnership with the University of New Brunswick and Wellness Within: An Organization for Health and Justice, to address the needs of people who seek care in family planning (abortion and contraception) while experiencing effects of incarceration.

“Women are the fastest growing population in Canadian prisons. Incarceration can limit access to essential health services, increase health risks and disrupt treatment and supports,” Dr. Martha Paynter, Director of The Contraception & Abortion Research Team (CART), highlights in a recent study.

Since year one of the access project, CART has interviewed over 30 people with lived experience of incarceration and over 30 clinicians across Canada to learn more about family planning health needs.

In 2026, UBC CPD will launch a bilingual, self-paced online course, a recorded podcast series and digital resources for health professionals to improve sexual and reproductive health care for people experiencing effects of incarceration.

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Paynter M, Heggie C, McKibbon S, Martin-Misener R, Iftene A, Murphy GT. Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes among Incarcerated Women in Canada: A Scoping Review. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research. 2022;54(1):72-86. doi:10.1177/0844562120985988

The patient voice

The inclusion of patient voices in the planning, development and implementation of continuing professional development provides unique perspectives and advances patient- and family-centred care. We accept lived and living experience as a form of evidence.

Our partner

The Contraception & Abortion Research Team (CART) is a national, interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral collaboration performing research to support health services and policies to ensure equitable access to high-quality family planning knowledge, methods and services for people and families throughout Canada.

CART-GRAC is co-led by Dr. Wendy V. Norman and Dr. Sarah Munro, with infrastructure at The University of British Columbia, within the Women’s Health Research Institute of British Columbia Women’s Hospital and Health Centre and the Provincial Health Services Authority.

Learn more about CART.

Learn more about this project.