Thank you, Ms. Wilson Cull.

A growing number of provinces in Canada have started offering cancer screening services starting at the age of 40 or have made announcements about expanding access to these services. While the provinces and territories are looking at the new national guidelines, the Canadian Cancer Society, or the CCS, is asking remaining administrations to include women 40 to 49 at an average risk for breast cancer in their breast cancer screening program. This change also reflects the new evidence that was released between the last update of the Canadian guidelines in 2018, and those that were presented a few weeks ago.

The data on participation in breast cancer screening programs in Canada will soon be updated by Canadian Partnership Against Cancer. For now, our data goes back to before the pandemic and the breast cancer screening programs do not meet the national objective of 70% participation. It is important to increase capacity to meet people's needs in Canada, while taking into account the needs of underserved populations, specifically individuals who are part of racialized or indigenous communities, as well as low-income individuals or those living in a rural or remote region, and adapting the services accordingly.

What is more, the CCS recommends that the federal government invest more in research in order to expand knowledge on screening and the risks associated with cancer. It is also important to fill the gaps in data in order to have a better understanding of the incidence of cancer in Canada. The Pan-Canadian Cancer Data Strategy and the Pan-Canadian Health Data Charter describe interesting possibilities for improving the data in the country.

Governments need to invest in breast cancer prevention, early detection and treatment and in reducing the effects of the labour shortage. These investments include many investments in human resources, in integrating new technologies, in digital infrastructure and in modernizing care trajectories to meet Canadians' current and future needs.

Thank you for taking the time to listen to our recommendations. We look forward to continuing to work together to better support people affected by cancer because it takes society as a whole to tackle cancer.

Thank you.