From New York to Ottawa: What UNGA Revealed About Canada’s Global Health Future

The energy of New York in September always lingers long after the official sessions of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) come to a close. While the headlines fade, the conversations about where global health is heading and what it will take to keep progress alive continue to shape the months that follow.

Beyond the official sessions, the week unfolded in the ecosystem that defines UNGA: early morning breakfasts, partnerships sparked over coffee, and late-night receptions where the next wave of collaboration quietly takes shape.

This year marked Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first UNGA and many were watching to see how Canada would signal its approach to global cooperation. An interview with the Council on Foreign Relations and the announcement of more than $200 million in new international assistance were encouraging signals at a time when the multilateral system is increasingly under siege. As we look toward the federal budget to be tabled on November 4, we hope this serves as a step toward reaffirming that health and rights remain central to Canada’s global leadership, and that the 10-Year Commitment to Global Health and Rights will be upheld through deeper, sustained investment.

Across UNGA, health was everywhere. From sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and maternal health to nutrition, mental health and the rise of non-communicable diseases, the message was clear: women and children do not experience their health in siloes, and our policies and investments cannot either.

At the UN High-Level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases and the Promotion of Mental Health, global leaders and advocates called for an integrated approach that recognizes how lives, systems and outcomes intersect. The momentum was real, but the financing remains fragile. The task ahead is to advance more comprehensive continuums of care that bridge prevention, treatment and well-being across the full spectrum of health needs.

We saw this theme reflected in conversations hosted by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, Fòs Feminista and MSI Reproductive Choices, where the urgency of protecting SRHR came through loud and clear. Hard-fought progress is at risk of slipping away. With funding pressures rising and political space narrowing, staying the course on SRHR is essential to every other health and development goal.

What also stood out was the renewed emphasis on proximity and trust. The women health workers staffing clinics, the youth advocates designing local solutions and the community organizations adapting services in crisis settings are not peripheral actors. They are the foundation of resilient systems. Ensuring that new investments reach and empower them will determine whether this moment of Canadian global health leadership delivers lasting impact.

UNGA underscored that the old playbook is no longer enough. Traditional models of aid and health financing are faltering as major donors pull back and the gap between global ambition and available resources widens. The conversations in New York pointed to the need for innovative, equitable financing modalities that move beyond short-term projects and power imbalances, and that channel resources where they will have the greatest impact. Re-imagining a global health system that is actually designed to leave no one behind is not a radical idea. It is a necessary one.

What comes next will define more than a policy cycle. It will reveal whether Canada is prepared to lead in building a global health system grounded in equity, trust and shared purpose.