A new resource to study the health of military families in Ontario

There are over 57,000 military families in Canada.4 Our research cohort is made up of 9,397 spouses and dependants of Canadian Armed Forces members and Reservists who have relocated to Ontario since 2007. The majority of families relocated to Ontario because of a new posting. 3 60% of our research cohort are dependents (age ≤18 years). The median age of the dependents in the cohort is 7 years (IQR: 3–12 years). The proportion of female to male dependents in the cohort is roughly equal (49% female). Accessing health care and maintaining continuity of care during mandatory moves remains a persistent challenge for military families.1,2 The re-establishment of medical services is the number one concern of military spouses for a new posting.2,3 In Canada, there is little population-based data on the health and health services utilization of military families, making it difficult to understand the health issues they experience. For the first time, we have identified a method of studying the health of military families in Ontario. Data are gathered from existing provincial administrative health care data sets housed at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and linked to administrative codes for provincial health care collected by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The following is a brief introduction to the variables available in this new resource, and its potential uses for future research.