Advance Care Planning

Quick Links: Advance Care Planning • You & Your Loved Ones • Community Professionals • Our History

What is Advance Care Planning in Ontario?

We all hope to be able to make our own health care decisions until the end; however, many of us will need someone to make health care decisions for us at some point in our life.

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is about deciding who will make health care decisions for you if you are unable to, and having conversations with them about your wishes, values and beliefs to help them understand how you would like to be cared for.

“These types of conversations are valuable and important to not only your own life, but to the lives of others around you and your loved ones.”

– Waterloo Wellington Resident

In Ontario, Advance Care Planning involves two steps:

Deciding who will make future health care decisions for you if you are unable to. This will be your Substitute Decision Maker(s) or SDM(s). In Ontario there are two ways to decide about your SDM(s):

Step 1

Confirming your automatic future-SDM(s) from the hierarchy (a ranking list in the Health Care Consent Act) OR
Choosing someone else to act as your SDM(s) by preparing a Power of Attorney for Personal Care

Step 2

Having conversations with your SDM(s) and others to share information about what’s important to you, your wishes, values and beliefs, and anything else that you think will help your SDM(s) understand how you would like to be cared for. These conversations help to guide your SDM(s) to make healthcare decisions that are based on what you would want for your healthcare.

Who is my automatic SDM(s)?

Your automatic SDM(s) by law, is the person in your life who ranks highest on the list below:

Substitute Decision Makers

Watch this short video to learn more about the hierarchy of Substitute Decision Makers in Ontario.

Not happy with who your automatic SDM(s) will be?

If you want someone different than your automatic SDM(s), you can name someone else in a Power of Attorney for Personal Care. Read more about Powers of Attorney for Personal Care at Community Legal Education Ontario.

How do I decide who should be my SDM(s)?

Some things to think about when choosing your SDM(s) are:

Do you trust this person to make decisions the way you want them to be made even if they do not agree with your choices?
Will this person be open to talking to you about what you will want for your health care?
Is this person able to make decisions under stress?

What should I talk about with my SDM(s)?

Conversations get things started, and help you to share important info about yourself, your wishes, values and beliefs. This information will help to guide your SDM(s) to make healthcare decisions that are based on the choices that you would make. Provide your SDM(s) with information to become an expert on you.

Here are a few questions to help you get started:

What is important to you?
Do you have spiritual beliefs that are important to consider?
What brings quality to your life?
What do I need to know about you to ensure that you get the kind of care you would want?
What is a good day for you?

Learn more about why these are conversations worth having …