Funded primarily by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Ontario Training Centre in Health Services and Policy Research (OTC) is a consortium of six Ontario universities that offers graduate training leading to a Diploma in Health Services and Policy Research at Lakehead, Laurentian, McMaster, Ottawa, and York universities or to an equivalent qualification through the Collaborative Graduate Program in Health Services and Policy Research at the University of Toronto. 

The program, which is competency-based, includes the following features:  student stipends, course availability at any of the 6 participating universities; summer institutes; distance learning opportunities; linkages with students and faculty across universities and disciplines; and field placement opportunities in policy and research settings across the province. 

Additional funding for student stipends and varied projects has been provided by several branches and agencies of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (Mental Health and Rehabilitation Policy Unit, Health Human Resources Policy Branch, Research Unit of the Health System Planning and Research Branch, Nursing Secretariat, Ontario Women’s Health Council, and Local Health Integration Network Liaison Branch), the CIHR Institute for Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR), Health Canada’s Health Human Resources Strategies Branch, the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, MITACS, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), the Ontario Rehabilitation Research Advisory Network (ORRAN), the Population Health Improvement Research Network (PHIRN), the Ontario Mental Health Foundation (OMHF), the Provincial Centre of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health at CHEO, and the Ontario Research Coalition of Research Institutes/Centres on Health and Aging (ORC). Supplementary funding to support its EXecutive Training for Research Application Program (EXTRA) has also been provided by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF).

Launched in July 2002, the OTC has been successfully operating for nine years and has to date admitted nine cohorts of highly qualified graduate students: 23 in 2003, 28 in 2004, 19 in 2005, 24 in 2006, 29 in 2007, 26 in 2008, 18 in 2009, 19 in 2010, and 20 in 2011 for a total of 206 students.  One hundred students have graduated so far, 49 have completed the basic requirements of the program (pending only their thesis), 49 remain active, and eight have withdrawn.

As the OTC enters into its tenth year of operation, an active exploration of options for long-term sustainability is currently underway with the involvement of the OTC Principals and Advisory Board, and the input from other Regional Training Centres and the CHSRF’s Capacity for Applied and Developmental Research and Evaluation in Health Services and Nursing (CADRE).

A special issue of Healthcare Policy (available online free of charge) provides a comprehensive view on the development of health services research capacity via Regional Training Centres.