uwloo

HLTH 245Canadian Health Systems

Units
0.50
Faculty
Health
Subject
Public Health Sciences
Cross-listed
GERON 245

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 2 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This course examines Canadian health systems by considering organizational principles, health resources, service utilization, health care planning, and health promotion strategies. There is a focus on societal and political issues which affect the health of the society through the delivery system.

Prerequisites

  • Students must be in level 1B or higher

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 08128590 / 165Online or by arrangement
LEC 7011103156 / 9999Online or by arrangement

Reviewed on UW Flow

42% liked it68% easy62% useful

From 111 ratings and 29 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • This is the worst online course I have ever taken. It is so mind-numbingly annoying and the content is extremely generic. This course is essentially "Oooo racism! Ooo old age! Ooo intersectionality!" All of this might be fine for a course like HLTH 101, but when taking a course titled Canadian Health Systems, focus on Canada! It also glorifies Canadian healthcare (and socialist policies in general), and paints it as if everything is universally covered whereas this could not be further from the truth. Honestly, this course should be retitled to 'Socialist Health Systems', because I felt like there was a constant agenda trying to be pushed into my face. The TAs are also dumbasses who mark as…

    Mar 2024 · didn’t like it · 3 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Unfortunately just one of those courses where the material itself just doesn't lend itself to be very stimulating. Had it with Dr. Neiterman who admitted herself that it's pretty boring but did her best to make it engaging, nonetheless. Expectations were clear and the assignments were fair and interesting, though I found the tests to be more on the challenging side.

    Sep 2026 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I took this class for fun and I found it very interesting. Before taking this class, I didn't that much about the Canadian Healthcare System but after taking this class, I learned some new stuff in this class that I didn't know before. I had someone named Ashely Amson, this was her first time teaching this class and she did a wonderful job. Such a lovely professor and she makes the effort to get to know everyone in class. In terms of workload it's not that much at all actually. I don't know what it would be like for future classes for this, but we had a midterm, final, spotlight presentation, and an assignment. Overall, I found this class very engaging and would recommend students to take…

    Apr 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Had it online. The quizzes were so difficult for some reason, definetely not bird. The assignements were okay. Not a bird course.

    Dec 2025 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • The thing about this course is you either love it or hate it. If you are someone who enjoys policy and learning about the pieces that make up our healthcare system you will enjoy this class. A lot of people find this course really dry but it makes it a lot easier to do well if you enjoy the material and engage with it in class. Elena Neiterman is an amazing professor and she makes the course enjoyable even if you think the content is dry. My biggest tip is go to class and actively listen. Some topics are trickier than others but Elena does a great job of talking you through it and giving you great ways to remember topics for the midterm! Assignments in this course are marked generously and…

    Apr 2025 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

22 posts and comments in 19 threads mention HLTH 245, March 2017 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Spring 2024

Winter 2024

Fall 2023

courses for honours science? 1 point, 16 comments

“posted this a while back but no one responded so hopefully i could get some responses this time :( idk which courses to take for honours science, i just wanna take courses that could potentially …”

u/hamstrings10: “Taking biology courses offered by the health faculty is a good way but idk if it’d count for your program. Stuff like hlth 341 and hlth 310 were good courses imo”

u/Exit_exe_: “… ive also looked at hlth 245 and it seems like a cool course, so maybe i'll switch to that. …”

View on RedditRemove this

Bird HLTH courses 1 point, 1 comment

“Hi I’m wondering if anyone from faculty of health knows easy Hlth courses. Many of our courses say in person I’ve had courses that are fully assignment based and require very little course knowledge. …”

u/Soft-Presentation-95: “… HLTH 245 was fairly easy, though boring. HLTH 260 was easy. It was not necessarily based on assignments, but open book tests that were short plus a few assignments and participation marks. Dr. Anthony is also a great prof. …”

View on RedditRemove this

Winter 2023

Spring 2021

Winter 2021

I was enlightened today 127 points, 15 comments

u/feridumhumdullaphurr: “I'm in 2nd year. I took a course called HLTH245 last year, and till this date I thought IIRC meant 'Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada' After 2 years of joining reddit I have finally realized that it means If I Remember Correctly Feeling blessed.”

View on RedditRemove this

Fall 2020

Advice needed for a senior student about programs (Biomed science vs Health Studies) 4 points, 17 comments

“This is my first post on reddit so I'm sorry in advance if it's a bit low quality :') I've recently been applying to universities and have found myself wondering whether I should apply to Waterloo's …”

u/largewhiteegg: “I’m a health studies student who is about to graduate. The program was quite different from when I started to now, but message me if you have any specific questions :)”

u/largewhiteegg: “In first year I took: AHS 107 BIOL 130/BIOL 130L CHEM 120/CHEM 120L HLTH 101 HLTH 102 HLTH 245 PSYCH 101 CHEM123/123L Honestly, I chose health studies mostly because of coop, but also because I wanted to avoid calculus. …”

View on RedditRemove this

Winter 2020

Hlth 245 3 points, 1 comment

u/_loveebyxoxo: “Has anyone taken hlth 245 with Elena Neiterman? For the midterms, are the readings necessary?”

u/Hazelloverr: “I didn't take hlth 245 with Elena but I have taken 2 other courses with her, she usually puts a summary of the readings throughout her slides, just study her slides her questions are very straight forward, she doesn't try to trick you or anything she's actually one of my fav …”

View on RedditRemove this

Courses 2 points, 7 comments

u/ItsLit1719: “HLTH 102 HLTH 245 PSYCH 101 (Megan) and BIOL 273. Any tips or past experiences with these courses that I should know of? Thanks.”

u/LankanSlamcam: “Hlth 245 is pretty light and you're gonna love Elena. As for psych, it's not too bad just a content heavy course but I ended up doing decent without doing the readings.”

View on RedditRemove this

Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar