New, Canada-wide evidence from a late-2025 pulse survey of 648 acute care stakeholders-plus a 2026-2030 buyer roadmap on interoperability-as-a-procurement-gate, data sovereignty, and tightening renewal terms.
TORONTO, OH / ACCESS Newswire / January 26, 2026 / Black Book Research today announced the release of its complimentary industry report, Canada Acute Care EHR and Digital Health 2026: Demand Drivers, Pan-Canadian Foundations, Provincial Regulations, and Vendor Landscape, providing a Canada-specific, decision-ready view of the forces reshaping acute care EHR strategy and digital health investment through 2030.
The report finds Canada's 2026 acute care EHR and digital health environment is defined by three simultaneous forces:
(1)continued provincial-scale enterprise EHR modernization and optimization cycles,
(2) a strengthening national interoperability agenda built around FHIR-based specifications and conformance testing, and
(3) a materially altered procurement climate in which supplier eligibility, data sovereignty, and Canadian delivery footprint are increasingly decisive-particularly at renewal and modular replacement decision points.
Black Book's analysis incorporates a Canada-wide pulse survey of 648 acute care stakeholders across all provinces including IT professionals, clinicians and physicians, and administrative/procurement staff focused on adoption realities, implementation outcomes, selection criteria, renewal posture, and user experience.
National indicators: adoption is high; integration and exchange remain the constraint
The report highlights a mature adoption baseline alongside persistent interoperability and workflow friction:
95% of Canadian physicians use electronic medical/health records, yet 73% cite poor integration between systems as a major barrier.
Only 7% report using AI or machine learning technologies in practice, indicating substantial near-term upside if governance and procurement pathways mature.
39% of Canadians checked their health information online in 2023 (up from 32% in 2021), signaling accelerating consumer expectations for digital access.
Yet only 29% of physicians report being able to electronically share patient clinical summaries with providers outside their practice, reinforcing that interoperability and portability remain the principal constraints on connected care outcomes.
What is changing now: renewals and "contestable layers" move faster than core EHR swaps
Black Book's 2026 outlook anticipates that net-new "rip-and-replace" acute care EHR selections will be concentrated in provinces already running multi-year transformations. In contrast, the most visible near-term market movement is expected at renewal and optimization points, where organizations can reduce risk and accelerate outcomes without destabilizing core clinical operations.
Respondents point to accelerated change in "contestable layers" around the enterprise EHR, including:
Interoperability enablement (FHIR enablement, API management, integration engines, identity and consent services)
Digital front door consolidation (patient portals, scheduling, messaging, virtual care entry points) with emphasis on bilingual capability and Canadian hosting/support
Analytics and data platforms (operational intelligence, performance reporting, population health tooling) with prioritized portability and residency clauses
Clinical communication and workflow coordination tools
AI-enabled documentation and workflow automation, advancing from a low base with governance as the differentiator
Cyber resilience and identity modernization
Managed services and "operate-and-improve" contracts as workforce constraints tighten
Procurement eligibility and sovereignty are becoming first-order requirements
The report emphasizes that procurement decisions are increasingly shaped by policy and risk posture, not just feature comparisons. Examples include Ontario's Procurement Restriction Policy (U.S. Businesses) applying to designated broader public sector organizations (including hospitals), and British Columbia directives instructing ministries, health authorities, and core Crown corporations to reduce reliance on U.S. suppliers where viable. These dynamics are influencing both procurement gating and renewal renegotiations, with heightened scrutiny of ownership/control, Canadian workforce footprint, hosting location, cross-border access controls, and subcontractor supply chains.
Interoperability shifts from aspiration to procurement gate
A central finding is that interoperability is moving from a stated objective to testable procurement evidence. The report outlines how pan-Canadian direction-such as the Shared Pan-Canadian Interoperability Roadmap, CA Core+ FHIR profiles, and the Pan-Canadian Conformance Platform signals a growing expectation that vendors and jurisdictions demonstrate standards-based exchange and conformance artifacts, not narrative promises.
Satisfaction and implementation realities influence renewal posture
Black Book's survey and market synthesis indicate that long-term satisfaction and renewal intent are increasingly shaped by implementation execution and operating-model capacity, including: stabilization and performance consistency, downtime readiness, cross-boundary referral and transition-of-care workflows, training and hypercare coverage, analytics continuity after upgrades, privacy monitoring and audit transparency, and sustained post-go-live optimization resourcing.
Notable vendor-market signal captured in the survey
While respondents expressed broad caution toward U.S.-headquartered vendors under evolving procurement sentiment, survey commentary repeatedly cited Oracle Health as the most likely U.S.-origin EHR prime to maintain or improve positioning entering 2026 where Canadian residency and delivery expectations can be met reflecting installed-base realities, modernization narratives, and practical residency pathways in Canada.
What readers get: a buyer-ready framework and Canada-specific requirements checklist
The complimentary report is designed for senior health system executives, digital health leaders, and procurement stakeholders, and includes:
A Canada-adapted Strategic Fit Framework to structure requirements, clinical validation, and defensible scoring beyond feature checklists
A practical view of provincial and pan-Canadian foundations that shape interoperability and procurement requirements
A market outlook through 2030 focused on where change is most likely (and why)
A Canada-specific procurement checklist translating policy constraints, data residency, bilingual expectations, interoperability conformance, security assurance, and exit/transition provisions into contract-ready requirements
Complimentary download
Canada Acute Care EHR & Digital Health 2026 is available as a complimentary download
Download: https://blackbookmarketresearch.com/canada-acute-care-ehr-and-digital-health-2026
About Black Book Research
Black Book Research is an independent healthcare technology research and market intelligence organization publishing vendor-agnostic analysis to support evidence-based decision-making by healthcare providers, public-sector agencies, and technology suppliers. Black Book Research applies structured, repeatable survey methods to capture user-reported experience and operational outcomes for mission-critical health IT.
Media Contact
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Phone: 1-800-863-7590
Email: research@blackbookmarketresearch.com
SOURCE: Black Book Research
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/healthcare-and-pharmaceutical/canada-acute-care-ehr-and-digital-health-2026-whats-changing-now-in-a-1130601
