Building Foundations for
Canada’s Health Workforce
Integrate. Optimize. Strengthen.
"Touchstone Institute plays an important upstream role in strengthening the foundation of the system, to ensure patients and communities receive safe, high-quality care."
Nizar Ladak
Chair of the Board of Directors
“Touchstone Institute supports internationally educated healthcare professionals to overcome barriers to practice, while also enabling Canadian trained professionals to meet ongoing learning and performance needs.”
Nicole Beben
Chief Executive Officer
Tackling health workforce challenges in 2025-26 by:
Expanding access to primary care, with 73 internationally trained physicians assessed through the Practice Ready Ontario (PRO) program. Since 2024, PRO has added 131 family doctors, enabling access to care for thousands of patients in underserved communities.
Unlocking talent, through partnerships such as an initiative with ACCES Employment to support internationally educated health professionals in applying their skills in new and needed unregulated healthcare roles
Preparing future residents, with more than 500 international medical graduates completing the Pre-Residency Program to establish shared competency expectations and system readiness.
About Touchstone
Supporting high-performing people, organizations and systems
Touchstone Institute launched in 2007 to provide the gold standard of competency assessment and orientation programs for internationally educated health professionals seeking to practise in Ontario. While this remains a core strength, today Touchstone addresses urgent health workforce challenges across the system by supporting both internationally educated and Canadian‑trained healthcare workers.
Through expanded assessment, learning and simulation capabilities, we support healthcare professionals and unregulated care workers to succeed at every stage of their career. We partner with governments to strengthen workforce capacity and performance, work with regulators to ensure professionals meet practice standards and are supported to continue developing when additional learning is needed, and support employers to optimize their health workforce strategies.
Touchstone Institute’s work is delivered by an integrated team of staff and expert advisors with deep system, clinical, and operational expertise, including:
- Health system and clinical leaders
- Assessment, learning, and simulation specialists
- Research, data, and analytics experts
- Digital, information systems, and technology leaders
- Corporate and clinical governance advisors
We deliver reliable assessments of clinical skills and readiness for practice. We collaborate with governments, regulators, medical schools and professional associations to tailor programs. Touchstone’s intentional approach to solving health workforce challenges, expanding access to care, and supporting a thriving workforce is outlined in our Strategic Plan 2025-2030.
Touchstone in 2025-2026
Collaborated with partners across 8 different health disciplines
Rendered services in new agreements with 4 organizations
Added new services to offer Instructional Design and Learning Management Design and Hosting
Addressing health workforce challenges over the years
Working with 11 different health disciplines
Offering 14 specialized services to assess, integrate health professionals
Administering assessments in 7 jurisdictions across Canada
2,800+ health professionals accessing Touchstone services annually
Supporting development and/or delivery of 23 learning or assessment programs
Assessed 37,000+ healthcare professionals since 2013
Publications and presentations in 2025-2026:
Language Assessment at the Intersection of Nursing Communicative Competence and Technology (chapter in “Technology for Medical Language Assessment”), by Daniel Grossutti, Senior Manager, Exams; Diane Hipkin, Examiner Trainer & QA Specialist; Andrea Strachan, Senior Director, Program Design & Development, published April 27, 2025.
Practice Ready Ontario: A Pathway to Practice in Family Medicine, presented at IMG Conference & Expo by Nicole Beben, CEO; Eric Wong, Clinical Director, Practice Ready Ontario, June 21-22, 2025.
Leveraging Technology to Integrate Internationally Educated Health Professionals into Practice: Nurse Ready App | Practice Ready Ontario posters, presented remotely at AMEE Conference 2025, by Nicole Beben, CEO; Julia Peters, Vice President, Strategy and Business Performance; Temidayo Ologun, Manager, Information Technology, August 23-27, 2025.
The Vital Role of Assessment for Alternative Pathways to Physician Licensure: Ontario’s Practice-Ready Assessment Program, presented by Dr. Eric Wong, Clinical Director, Practice Ready Ontario; Wendy Yen, Senior Director, Program Design and Implementation, October16-17, 2025.
The Future of Simulation and Digital Innovation for Mental Health Interprofessional training and education: Advancing simulation as a tool for interdisciplinary learning, teamwork, and competency building in mental health settings, presented by David Costa, Manager, Learning Programs; Karen Huszar, Manager, Simulation Program, at CAMH SIMposium of Minds, November 27, 2025.
Our work is guided by Touchstone's values
Connection | Impact | Integrity
“Together, the teams developed a culture of accountability, partnership and service-oriented leadership recognizing the importance of this work to health care in Canada. Touchstone staff’s commitment showed in the human-centred way they communicated, problem-solved and adapted in real time, as well as their reliable system performance. This culture made a measurable difference in how trust was built between the two teams.”
Elizabeth Sammon Williamson
Director of Assessment Operations (Acting)
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Building strong connections to advance system change
Touchstone fosters connections with partners across the system, including immigrant-serving agencies, bridging programs and educational institutions, to help ensure they can meet the needs of the people they serve.
For newcomers and others undertaking to work in their professions in Canada, our programs provide the needed foundations.
For example, with the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority, Touchstone developed and launched a series of interactive learning modules, hosted on our learning management system, to orient internationally trained applicants to the personal support worker role in Ontario.
In another collaboration this year, with our partners the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, we leveraged the expertise of Touchstone team members and utilized the organization’s purpose-built facilities to deliver high-stakes licensing exams for 17 specialties across 19 live exam days.
Continuous improvement to ensure meaningful impact
The needs of healthcare professionals and the environment in which they work are evolving, and impactful system solutions depend on responding to these changes.
Our programming draws on multiple streams of feedback to ensure programs and services effectively support candidates and meet the needs of our system partners. We intentionally gather feedback from advisers, facilitators and program participants, as well as from Touchstone’s assessment management platform, a best-in-class repository that leverages machine learning to enable real-time insights on the candidate experience.
“The health system in Canada is bolstered by the valuable contributions of international medical graduates, who represent a range of backgrounds. The Pre-Residency Program empowers these dedicated professionals to succeed by ensuring a shared understanding of the required competencies to meet patient needs and to deliver safe care.”
Dr. Carol Geller
Director of Academic Support
Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
Pre-Residency Program Instructor/Facilitator
“Internally, we're cultivating a culture of transparency, continuous learning and psychological safety where feedback is welcomed and growth is prioritized.
Externally, we're championing community partnerships, sustainability initiatives and inclusive business practices that reflect our values in the real world, our vision.”
Alex Tran
Senior Director, Assessments
Touchstone Institute
Upholding integrity
We brought Touchstone’s commitment to uphold integrity to life through an intentional focus on team experience and engagement. By shaping a supportive work environment, we ensured that integrity underpinned day-to-day interactions, was present at decision-making tables and was reflected in all projects.
Internally, we built clear processes for continuous feedback and two-way communication, to build trust and authenticity, and optimized internal governance for broadened perspective and improved decision making. Team members were supported through structured professional development opportunities, and the value of their hard work and dedication was acknowledged through our recognition program.
Accelerating effective entry into professional practice
From Entry to Practice and Beyond
We are grateful for the commitment of candidates to their professions and their crucial contributions to patient care and the health system more broadly. Our consistent, active focus is to support these program participants to succeed, from entry to practice across all stages of their careers.
In 2025–2026, amid extensive growth, we achieved solid results in Touchstone’s core assessment and orientation programs.
Practice Ready Ontario
As the program completed its pilot phase, Practice Ready Ontario’s (PRO) focus remained on quality and scalability to support more people in Ontario to receive care. Seventy-three internationally trained physicians were assessed through PRO in 2025–2026, with assessment sites spanning 19 communities. At a time of pressing need, PRO’s impact has been wide and momentous, connecting tens of thousands of previously unattached patients in underserved Ontario communities to a family physician.
Pre-Residency Program
Amid a shifting policy landscape, the Pre-Residency Program (PRP) experienced an unprecedented increase in enrolment. This surge reflected the significant growth in international medical graduates who were matched to residency positions in Ontario in 2025. The robust orientation offered by PRP builds a crucial foundation for candidates to thrive as they, in turn, work to strengthen the health system.
Canadian Medicine Primer
Enrolment rose by in the Canadian Medicine Primer, supporting more international learners—all highly trained clinical fellows and visa trainees who are transitioning to residency and postgraduate training—to understand the strength and opportunities of Canada’s health system.
Optimize health workforce practices for all
Enabling a skilled and reliable health workforce
Touchstone is committed to the continuous professional development and excellence of Canada's health workforce. In 2025–2026, we fostered new collaborations and strengthened relationships to support optimal practices. Some highlights:
- Co-developed and delivered workplace-based communication workshops, with ACCES Employment, to support internationally educated health workers in new and needed roles.
- Co-created and launched programs, with the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority, to assess role-specific competencies and orient internationally trained applicants to the personal support worker role in Ontario.
- Undertook curriculum development for the Northern Re-entry Registered Nurse Program for internationally educated nurses, working in a new and developing partnership with the University of Northern British Columbia.
- Administered the Canada-wide National Assessment Collaboration exam to 462 candidates, a 33% increase over last year, in partnership with the Medical Council of Canada. The exam assesses the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to enter postgraduate training or residency in Canada.
- Leveraged simulation-based training to enhance healthcare language and communication skills for internationally educated nurses through the leading-edge, AI-enabled Nurse Ready app.
Evolve for the future
Ensuring future-ready programs and processes
Touchstone is advancing our capabilities to deliver value in the system and lead impactful system improvements by drawing on our deep insights into the needs of healthcare professionals and organizations.
Here are examples of our innovation and operational efficiency:
In digital solutions
We leveraged machine learning to expand our proprietary assessment management platform, streamlining candidate support from application to final outcomes. We also continue to offer the Nurse Ready app, an artificial intelligence tool with over 28,000 downloads that customizes feedback to build communication competencies for internationally educated nurses seeking Canadian licensure.
Through a commitment to data-driven improvement
Strengthened our data and dashboard capabilities, including new system-level insights that drive continuous improvement in our programs to meet the needs of participants and our partners.
By tapping our specialized skills and services
Administered key credentialling exams, working with our partners and leveraging Touchstone’s purpose-built facilities and the support of our expert team. Exams supported include The Royal College of Dentists of Canada Fellowship Exam and multiple licensing exams from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
Governance
Touchstone Institute’s Board of Directors
Touchstone Institute’s Board of Directors represents a broad range of professional skills and in-depth knowledge of Canada’s health sector. The Board provides high-level oversight of the organization’s corporate operations and financial responsibilities.
Glen Bandiera
---
Executive Director, Standards and Assessment (Retired)
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Debra Boyce
---
Family Physician
Self employed
Ariana Bradford
(Vice-Chair, Governance and Nominations Committee Chair)
---
Executive Director,
Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
Ian Khan
(Finance and Audit Committee Chair)
---
Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA)
Nizar Ladak (Board Chair)
---
Chief Executive (Retired)
Ruby Philip-Katyal
---
Senior Counsel
Ministry of the Attorney General (Environment, Conservation and Parks)
Andrea Reed
---
VP Strategic Partnerships,
Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
Carol Timmings
---
Nursing Executive (Retired)
Touchstone’s expert advisors are key to maintaining robust, relevant processes and programs. Here are a few highlights of our accessible network of experts:
- Strengthened clinical advisory and partner collaboration on Practice Ready Ontario. Developments include formal establishment of implementation and strategic partner tables, comprising Touchstone Institute, Ministry of Health, Ontario Health, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
These changes sustain the program’s impact, with expanded reach to engage more candidates and address opportunities to maximize the delivery of primary care in rural and northern areas of the province.
- Curriculum Advisory Committee (CAC), bringing together representatives from all Ontario medical sites, including those in rural and remote areas, to provide medical and academic expertise, review program curricula, and advise on alignment with best practices in postgraduate medical training.
- Regular convening of the directors of Ontario Postgraduate Family Medicine programs to share program updates, ensure alignment on learner needs, and coordinate program decisions.
Looking forward
Accelerating meaningful progress
Touchstone will build on measurable progress with continued focus on solutions to accelerate meaningful improvements in Canada’s health workforce. Aligned with the core goals identified in our 2025–2030 Strategic Plan, in the coming year we will:
Financial statements
AT A GLANCE
2025-2026 Financial Performance
Revenue
Expenses
CONDENSED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
2025-26
| REVENUES | ||
| Ministry of Health | 16,848,974 | 12,447,136 |
| Examination, assessment, and application fees | 2,376,130 | 1,080,425 |
| Investment income | 247,654 | 497,904 |
| Other income | 168,718 | 132,760 |
| Amortization of deferred capital funding | 506,875 | 376,393 |
| 20,148,351 | 14,534,618 | |
| EXPENSES | ||
| Salaries and benefits | 5,566,124 | 4,602,843 |
| Examiners and support staff fees | 4,715,913 | 3,586,345 |
| Bursaries and stipends | 2,290,250 | 2,087,923 |
| Facilities | 1,850,837 | 1,776,671 |
| Administration | 1,763,184 | 1,514,149 |
| Information technology | 997,896 | 1,087,093 |
| Amortization | 781,034 | 582,209 |
| 17,965,238 | 15,237,233 | |
| . | ||
| Excess (deficiency) of revenues over expenses | 2,183,113 | (702,615) |
| Net assets, beginning of year | 2,348,054 | 3,050,669 |
| Net assets, end of year | 4,531,167 | 2,348,054 |
