Social Work and Primary Care in Canada: A Vision for the Path Forward

Topic(s):

Anti-Oppressive Practice

Health

Professional Practice

Webinar event date:

Jun 25, 2025 12:00 pm EDT

Webinar link

Webinar Presenters:

Keith Adamson, MSW, PhD, RSW

The webinar will be moderated by Keith Adamson, Associate Professor in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto and holds more than 20 years of progressive senior management experience in clinical, management and professional practice leadership roles in healthcare.

Rachelle Ashcroft, MSW, PhD, RSW

Rachelle Ashcroft, Associate Professor in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and cross-appointed to the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto with an expertise in interprofessional primary care.

Louis-François Dallaire, MSW, RSW

Louis-François Dallaire, Centre Intégré Universitaire en Santé et de Services Sociaux de la Capitale-Nationale, is a social worker and an educator in primary health care in Quebec and is past-Chair of the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC)’s Health Professional Educators in Family Medicine Group

Cayce Laviolette, MSW, RSW

Cayce Laviolette is a registered social worker in Gibsons, BC. He has been closely involved in the development of social work in primary care in BC through his work with Doctors of BC and the BC Association of Social Workers. Cayce is a social work educator with Vancouver Coastal Health and lives with his 3 children and wife in a small coastal paradise.

Description

Social workers in primary health care provide a breadth of services, enhance access, and improve comprehensiveness of interprofessional primary care teams. This webinar will also examine the state of social work in primary health care in Canada and discuss the CASW’s report outlining a vision for social work practice in primary health care. Our team will highlight experiences of social workers in different geographical jurisdictions in Canada to illustrate some of the important issues emerging for social workers in primary health care.

Webinar Key Objectives:

i) To highlight social work practice in primary health care across Canada;

ii) To review and discuss the vision for social work in primary health care outlined in the CASW National Report;

iii) To present examples of social work practice in primary health care;

iv) To discuss some recommendations to advance social work practice in primary health care in Canada.