The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) is the national voice for nursing education. As an organization, we condemn racism. We also acknowledge the need to continue to ensure our organization and its voice is loudly anti-racist.
Alongside all of you, we witnessed anti-racist protests in many countries throughout the world, as well as heartfelt calls for an end to racial injustice in Canada, from those who have been victimized by it. CASN stands in protest of racism and intersecting forms of discrimination of any kind, interpersonal, institutional, and systemic; all longstanding issues in this country.
Schools of nursing are uniquely positioned to play a leadership role in combating racism in Canada. As professionals, we are charged with providing the best healthcare to all; care that is highly responsive to people’s social, ethnocultural or gendered locations. Nurse educators are called to create inclusive, anti-racist environments for students and create curricula that equips nurses to ensure the delivery of equitable healthcare to all. In keeping with Browne’s (2017) anti-racist stance, as leaders in nursing education we are committed to continue to engage with critical discussions of racism and racialization as key determinants of health and social inequities and equip nurses to take action to address them. Racism intersects with numerous dimensions of structural inequity, therefore we will continue to be engaged with strategies and actions at multiple levels to counteract the deleterious effects of racism. We also will look for opportunities to be more fully engaged in this work.
We encourage you to hold us accountable as we move forward. As an organization and the accreditation body for nursing in Canada, CASN stands firmly with the anti-racist movement.
Browne, Annette J. (2017). Moving beyond description: Closing the health equity gap by redressing racism impacting Indigenous populations. Social Science & Medicine, 184, 23-26.
Statement of Commitment – Anti-Indigenous Racism
Promoting Anti-Racism in Nursing Education in Canada
Apology to Indigenous Peoples of Canada for Colonial harms resulting from nursing education [2023]
