The Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health (CERH) has officially been announced as the winner of the Rural and Remote Community Cancer Screening Challenge.
The announcement was made Thursday afternoon by MaRS Discovery District and the Canadian Cancer Society at MaRS’s annual health tech summit called Impact Health in Toronto.
A media release from Gateway shared that the challenge was "designed to improve access to cancer screening for people living in rural, remote and underserved communities across Canada." It called for a "diverse group of innovators" including founders, researchers and community organizations, to develop practical solutions that reduce barriers to screening participation.
The CERH was selected among five finalists back in August of 2025, and all the finalists were given an initial $15,000 to test run their unique solutions.
Gateway's President Gwen Devereaux explained why the organization applied for the $100,000 grand prize, stating that in the rural area it serves, many people still can't access consistent primary care.
"In two of our counties, Huron and Perth, we have over 20,000 people who can not find a family physician. We have an older population and traditionally, that older population would look to their family physician for their direction in cancer screening and treatment," Deveraux stated at the event.
The Integrated Rural Screening Initiative piloted by Gateway was designed to "normalize cancer screening conversations in public, non-clinical settings," the media release shared. Gateway integrated breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening education into numerous community outreach avenues, which included in-person community events. This was also integrated into things like Gateway's SHED Talks and firefighter health screening programs already being done by the organization. Deveraux added that Gateway felt it was a perfect candidate for the challenge given the health challenges that are present in the area they serve.
"We have a higher rate of obesity, we have higher usage of tobacco and alcohol, and these are all risk factors for increased incident. So, we felt Gateway had the ability to have the reach to get to these people," she said. "By integrating screening facilitation within trusted community settings, the model aims to improve uptake, streamline pathways to diagnostic follow-ups and reduce strain onprimary care. We are excited about the opportunity this funding creates to continue advancing cancer screening initiatives in rural communities."
Going forward, Deveraux added that Gateway will now bring their team together and create consistent partnerships between nurse practitioners and pharmacies they work with to expand the outreach in Midwestern Ontario for cancer screening. She shared that it will continue to be done through community based events that fit into the rural communities the organization serves.
"One thing that we're doing very soon is we're participating in a fashion show where there are 22 models that are all cancer survivors, and they're going to share their story about early screening, early intervention and the difference it made in their lives," Devereaux stated proudly.
Deveraux ended by saying she believes that approaching cancer screening information is a net positive that will continue to improve the overall health of the population across Midwestern Ontario.
"I think approaching with positivity is so important. I think all everyone is hearing is this 'increased rate' of cancer and instead of looking upon that negatively, I think our message needs to be 'Isn't that incredible that we have the technology, we have the ability to screen early, to treat early and save people's lives,'" she concluded.
"We know that screening saves lives," said Annemarie Edwards, Vice President of Cancer Strategy and Innovation at the Canadian Cancer Society. "Through the Rural and Remote Community Cancer Screening Challenge, we have a real opportunity to increase screening participation across Canada, especially for people who face systemic barriers, so more people have the chance to detect cancer earlier, when treatment is more likely to be successful."
"This challenge focused on a strengths-based approach to solution-building, recognizing the deep well of knowledge that exists in rural and remote communities. We are proud of all the unique community-driven solutions the challenge inspired across Canada," added Shilpa Sharma, Senior Manager in Health Equity Innovation at MaRS Discovery District.
You can read more about the Rural and Remote Community Cancer Screening Challenge and the finalist solutions selected in August here: https://challenges.marsdd.com/news/announcing-the-rural-and-remote-community-cancer-screening-challenge-finalists/
