Accrediting Together: Lessons From Canada's First Multi-Governed Ontario Health Team Accreditation Collaborative

This paper describes how the Huron Perth and Area Ontario Health Team implemented a multi-partner, single-survey accreditation collaborative across independently governed organizations. By reframing accreditation as a system-level integration strategy, the collaborative aligned governance, policies and quality improvement efforts across sectors. Key lessons highlight the importance of shared governance, trust, continuous improvement and coordinated leadership. Evidence shows reduced duplication, improved policy consistency and enhanced system-level risk visibility. The model demonstrates how collaborative accreditation can strengthen integration, support leadership capacity and advance high-quality, patient-centred care in complex health systems.