Sessional Lecturer- MHI2021H: Canada's Health System and Digital Health Policy

Sessional Lecturer Position

Posting Date: June 8, 2026

Program: Master of Health Informatics (MHI)

Sessional Dates of Appointment: Fall 2026, September to December Existing Vacancy: Yes

Course Title: MHI2021H: Canada’s Health System and Digital Health Policy

Course Description:

Health care remains a top policy priority in Canada and a key defining characteristic of Canadian identity. Under Canada’s universal, publicly-funded health insurance plan (Medicare), all Canadians have access to medically necessary hospital and doctor care regardless of the ability to pay. 

Yet, like health systems across the industrialized world, Canada’s faces growing challenges. An aging and increasingly diverse population, global pandemics, emerging and more costly medical technologies and drugs, and rising public expectations about timely access to care, put additional demands on already stretched health care resources. 

The site of care is shifting as more care moves out of hospitals and into home and community, as well as online. Individuals and communities are demanding a greater role in decision-making and greater choice in where and how they receive care. There are increasing pressures to harmonize domestic health care policies with global “benchmarks” and to take advantage of the potential for digital technologies to transform care. In spite of billions of new health care dollars, public concerns about wait times for non‐emergency care continue to fuel debate about health system sustainability and the need for private pay care options.

MHI2021 will develop and apply a policy analysis “tool kit” to critically analyze key issues and trends in Canada’s health care system and digital health policy, with a particular focus on understanding the ways in which digital technologies can help to address long-standing Canadian health system challenges and how individuals both within and outside government can shape this future. 

Course sections examine the current state of health care in Canada, the public-private mix, the influence of powerful interest groups, and the determinants of health, paying particular attention to the ideas, interests, and institutions which have shaped the Canadian health care system in the past and which now shape its future.

This graduate course is designed for health professionals and students of health policy who need to “make sense” of and meaningfully influence a rapidly changing and increasingly politicized health care environment in which “evidence” is often only one factor driving the pace and direction of change.

Objectives:  

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

•    Identify major elements of Canada’s health care system
•    Explain current digital health policy issues and trends in Canada and internationally
•    Apply a conceptual policy analysis toolkit to “make sense” of a volatile digital health policy environment
•    Better understand how to navigate and shape the digital health policy landscape
•    Write short, concise briefing notes which synthesize academic articles, policy papers and reports as the basis for evaluating and recommending policy options
•    Value the need for a policy analytic approach

Course Details: 

Class schedule:

Section 1: Modular sessions from 9am - 1pm on Fridays between September 18 and Nov 20, 2026. 

Delivery mode: Online Synchronous

Estimated enrolment: 30 

Estimated TA support: None 

Section 2: Weekly 2-hour sessions betwee n September 14 to December 7, 2026. 

Delivery mode: Online Synchronous

Estimated enrolment: 50 

Estimated TA support: None 

Qualifications:

• A PhD or Masters level education with experience in health informatics, preferably in the areas of policy development, policy implementation and stakeholder engagement;
• A robust understanding of current, historical and emerging National and Provincial digital policies
• Past teaching experience related to health informatics, preferably at the graduate level;
• Prior experience in curriculum development and adult teaching-learning methods;
• Comfortable with electronic teaching tools such as Learning Management Systems (e.g., Quercus), PowerPoint, as well as on-line collaboration tools (Blogs, Wikkis, Discussion Boards, Webinars, or Video-conferencing).

Duties: 

• Course instructor for a professional graduate course using competency-based learning and assessment methods.
• Must be accessible to students outside of classroom hours.
• Available evenings and weekends.

Salary:

$9,997.47 - Sessional Lecturer I  

$10,699.21 - Sessional Lecturer I - Long Term  

$10,699.21 - Sessional Lecturer II   

$10,953.96 - Sessional Lecturer II - Long Term  

$10,953.96 - Sessional Lecturer III  

$11,228.90 - Sessional Lecturer III - Long Term  

Please note that should rates stipulated in the collective agreement vary from rates stated in this posting, the rates stated in the collective agreement shall prevail. 

Application: Please send your CV and cover letter, outlining additional value you will bring to teaching the course via e-mail to View email address on jobs.utoronto.ca.

Closing Date: June 29, 2026   

This job is posted in accordance with the CUPE 3902 Unit 3 Collective Agreement.

It is understood that some announcements of vacancies are tentative, pending final course determinations and enrolment. Should rates stipulated in the collective agreement vary from rates stated in this posting, the rates stated in the collective agreement shall prevail.

Preference in hiring is given to qualified individuals advanced to the rank of Sessional Lecturer II or Sessional Lecturer III in accordance with Article 14:12 of the CUPE 3902 Unit 3 collective agreement.

Please note: Undergraduate or graduate students and postdoctoral fellows of the University of Toronto are covered by the CUPE 3902 Unit 1 collective agreement rather than the Unit 3 collective agreement, and should not apply for positions posted under the Unit 3 collective agreement.