Dense Breasts Canada (DBC) is a non-profit organization, founded in 2016.
DBC is made up of dedicated individuals and healthcare professionals who are committed to raising awareness and advocating for optimal breast cancer screening. DBC is volunteer-run. There are no salaries. DBC does not receive any funding from corporate entities. DBC's efforts to raise awareness are funded solely by donations from kind and generous Canadians.
Our Goals.
To increase awareness among the public and healthcare professionals of: 1. the risks associated with dense breasts and 2. the importance of screening, starting at age 40 and continuing past age 74.
To convince provincial breast screening programs to provide supplemental screening to women with Category C and D density.
To ensure the replacement of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, the National Advisory Committee on Preventive Health Care, includes expert and patient input and uses current, inclusive evidence and prioritizes the update of the breast cancer screening guidelines.
Why we are seeking change.
Optimal breast screening matters: With over 30,000 women diagnosed in Canada with breast cancer every year and 5500 deaths, we must do better to ensure all Canadians have the best chance to find breast cancer early.
Early detection of breast cancer saves lives and improves quality of life. Five year survival when diagnosed at Stage 1 is 99.8 percent, but at Stage 4 it is ~30%.
Early detection also can mean a better chance to avoid chemotherapy, mastectomy and axillary dissection.
Canadians need optimal breast cancer screening which includes: annual screening from age 40-49; screening every 1-2 years from age 50 and past 74, as long as a woman is in good health; and additional screening for women with dense breasts. It also means using the latest technology and AI to find breast cancer early.
Breast density matters: Over 3 million women in Canada, over age of 40, have dense breasts. DBC wants to educate women about the importance of knowing and understanding their breast density so they can be proactive in reducing their risk and have informed discussions with their healthcare providers about essential additional screening.
Advocacy Milestones and Impactful Changes
Since its founding in 2016, Dense Breasts Canada (DBC) has emerged as a leading advocate for improved breast cancer screening policies and public awareness across the country. Through tireless efforts, DBC has made significant strides in achieving policy changes that prioritize early detection and equitable access to screening for all women.
You can read about the latest policy changes below, as well as in our report:
Advancing Breast Cancer Screening in Canada: A Summary of Policy Wins and Progress
Breast Density Notification
Screening Age Lowered to 40
When DBC began, only four provinces/ territories (BC, NS, PEI, YT) were offering self-referral mammograms for women starting at age 40. DBC successfully advocated alongside medical professionals and patient advocates and in 2024/25, three additional jurisdictions (ON, NB, NL) lowered the screening age from 50 to 40. In Jan 2026, SK lowered the age to 43 and MB lowered the age to 45. SK will be at 40 in June 2026 and MB in Dec 2026. AB will lower the age to 40 April 2027. We are now only waiting on NWT and QC.
Supplemental Screening for Women with Dense Breasts
Before DBC launched, supplemental screening for women with dense breasts was not widely available. Through DBC’s advocacy, women with dense breasts in BC, AB, NWT, SK, and ON now have access to additional screening. A list of clinics offering supplemental screening is available on our blog page.
Challenging the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care Guidelines
DBC has led efforts to expose flaws in how the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care develops national guidelines. Through testimony to parliamentary committees and meetings with PHAC, DBC raised key concerns about governance, oversight, and the need for up-to-date evidence and expert input in Canada’s breast screening guidelines. This advocacy resulted in a review of the guideline development process and a suspension of the work of the Task Force. The Task Force has been replaced by the National Advisory Committee on Preventive Health Care, as of May 2026.
Raising Awareness
In addition to policy changes, DBC has made significant strides in raising public awareness about the importance of breast cancer screening. Through public education campaigns, social media outreach, and collaborations with medical experts, DBC has empowered women with the knowledge they need to take control of their health.
Public Support and Grassroots Mobilization
DBC has galvanized public support for better screening policies. Through its messaging and community engagement, DBC has amplified the voices of women across Canada who are advocating for better breast screening.
Meet Our Executive
JENNIE DALE
Founder, Executive Director
Jennie is the founder and Executive Director of Dense Breasts Canada (DBC). She volunteers full time for DBC, running daily operations. She lives in Ontario and was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer in 2014.
Jennie was inspired by the successful advocacy efforts of American organizations, areyoudense.org, densebreast-info.org and Joan Lunden's book "Had I Known." Jennie felt strongly that it was wrong to withhold potentially lifesaving information about breast density from women. DBC was founded in 2016 and Jennie began to learn about additional injustices and inequities in breast cancer screening in Canada, DBC's goals and mission expanded. DBC raises awareness and advocates for optimal breast cancer screening.
Jennie teamed up with breast cancer survivors and experts nationwide to advocate for optimal breast screening for all Canadians. Together, they have successfully advocated for almost 20 changes in breast screening practices in provinces and territories.
Successful advocacy has resulted in density notification across the country and most provinces/territories lowering the screening age from 50 to 40. It has also resulted in an increase in jurisdictions offering supplemental screening.
Advocacy continues on these goals: supplemental screening for individuals with dense breasts; self-referral for mammograms at 40 and past 74.
Jennie is a firm believer that your postal code should not determine whether breast cancer is detected early.
Jennie collaborates with Canada's leading breast screening experts in advocating on a federal level as well. She has met often with Ministers, MPs, and government officials to advocate for necessary revisions to the harmful national breast cancer screening guidelines and reform of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. Jennie has testified to the Federal Health Committee and Status of Women Committee about inequitable breast cancer screening practices and written numerous briefs.
DBC's actions have been instrumental in bringing forth significant progress. An External Expert Review was appointed by PHAC to review the outdated processes and methodology of the Task Force and the Health Minister placed a pause on the work of the Task Force. Jennie testified to the External Expert Review and was happy to see many of DBC's recommendations in the report by the review panel. Jennie is looking forward to the modernization of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care.
Jennie has published in the journal Current Oncology. Jennie has also joined forces with experts in many specialties who share similar concerns about their guidelines and is a member of the Coalition for Responsible Health Care Guidelines. She is also a member of the Patient Engagement Working Group for the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging and a patient partner advisor on research being performed at Sunnybrook Hospital and Lakehead University.
In 2021, Jennie was named a top 5 finalist in Charity Village's awards in the category of Most Outstanding Impact by a Volunteer.
Paula B. Gordon, OBC, MD, FRCPC, FSBI
Medical Advisor
Dr. Paula Gordon is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Radiology at the University of British Columbia. She is a passionate clinician, researcher, and educator.
In the 1980’s her research on ultrasound-guided breast biopsies led to it becoming a standard of care worldwide. This procedure enabled accurate diagnosis of breast masses, which had previously required surgery and allowed women to forego surgery for non-cancerous abnormalities.
During her career, Dr. Gordon has published dozens of articles in peer-reviewed journals. Her research in 1995 was the first to show that ultrasound could find cancers missed on mammograms. This has led to a paradigm change in the management of screening women with dense breasts that began in the USA in 2009, but has now spread to Canada, the UK, Asia, Australia and Europe.
She was a member of BC Women’s Health Centre’s Expert Task Force for a Breast Assessment & Diagnostic Partnership Pilot Program in 1996, and worked there until 2020, serving as Medical Director of the Sadie Diamond Breast Program from 2007 to 2019. During that time, she secured funding from The Diamond Foundation and the Provincial Health Services Authority to obtain the first tomosynthesis technology (3D mammography) in BC and to establish the Vancouver Breast Imaging Fellowship, to train the future leaders in breast imaging. She arranged for trainees to rotate through BC Women’s Health Care Centre, BC Cancer, and the office of Dr. Linda Warren & Associates to ensure exposure to multiple experts. Due to the reputation of the program she has also trained self-funded fellows from other provinces, the USA, and the Middle East.
With the acquisition of tomosynthesis, Dr. Gordon arranged for Vancouver to be among the first Canadian sites to join TMIST: the tomosynthesis mammographic imaging screening trial, an FDA-funded multi-centre trial, donating hundreds of hours participating in the planning and preparation of the trial as a Canadian lead-in site.
Dr. Gordon is widely appreciated for her mentoring of medical students, radiology residents, and fellows in breast imaging, as well as teaching her individual patients and the public. She is a popular instructor at "Hands-on workshops" at the Radiologic Society of North America where radiologists learn how to perform needle biopsies and other procedures with ultrasound guidance, and has done so every year since they were first introduced in 1993.
She is a sought-after speaker and moderator and panel member, and has given hundreds of invited lectures locally, nationally, and internationally, as well as participating on and chairing scientific panels throughout North America.
She volunteers as a reviewer for several medical journals, and is a volunteer medical advisor to Dense Breasts Canada, a Canadian patient advocacy group, and an American educational website: Dense Breast Info.
With colleagues from across Canada, she was a founding member of the Canadian Society of Breast Imaging.
Dr. Gordon has volunteered on and chaired dozens of committees:
- Member, Lower Mainland Innovation and Integration Fund Committee for Breast Health
- Chair, Early Detection Committee, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation 2020 Project
- Chair of the Early Detection Committee of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, BC/Yukon Division,
- Member, Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Breast Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment Clinic Advisory Board
- Chair of the Academic Committee of the Screening Mammography Program of British Columbia,
- Co-Chair of the Workforce Committee of the Provincial Breast Health Strategy, and a member of the Steering, Clinical Pathway and Prevention Committees of the Provincial Breast Health Strategy,
- Member of the Provincial Radiology Expert Committee, a reviewer for the Canadian Association of Radiology Mammography Accreditation program
- Reviewer for clinical practice guidelines for the American College of Radiology
- Reviewer for clinical practice guidelines for the Canadian Association of Radiologists
- Member, UBC Radiology Advisory Committee
And in addition to all the time she volunteers to better breast health, she also has volunteered as a Director of the Board of the Canucks for Kids Fund since 2006.
In recognition of her contributions to the field of breast imaging, she was made a Fellow of the Society of Breast Imaging, a society of the American College of Radiology, and volunteered on their Board of Directors for six years.
Her other awards and recognition include:
Officer, Order of Canada
Canadian Heads of Academic Radiology Development Award
BC Children’s and Women’s Hospital Award of Excellence in Education
A Killam Teaching Prize from University of British Columbia.
The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal.
The Order of British Columbia,
Honorary alumnus award from the UBC Medical Alumni Association.
Canadian Women’s Executive Network Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, Trailblazers and Trendsetters Award
Was called “one of the greatest Canadian specialists in breast cancer detection and diagnosis” by the Ministry for the Status of Women, on the occasion of the International Day of Radiology
Best Teacher – UBC Radiology Residents
2022 Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Prix d’excellence – Specialist of the Year award, Region 1
UBC Radiology 2022 Clinical Faculty Award for Excellence in Research/Discovery/Innovation
https://newsroom.royalcollege.ca/a-specialist-renowned-for-outstanding-patient-care-and-advocacy-in-the-community/
TWITTER HANDLE @DrPaulaGordon
Karen Goldenberg
Dense Breasts Canada announces Karen Goldenberg, CM, O.Ont Honourary Patron
Dense Breasts Canada is delighted to name Karen Goldenberg Honourary
Patron. Karen has worked tirelessly throughout her life to improve lives in
both the health and social service sectors. Karen is a recipient of both
the Order of Ontario and Order of Canada. Known as a compassionate and
strategic thinker, Karen is a change maker who led JVS Toronto and founded
COTA. She has had numerous roles in the health sector. Her affiliation with
Dense Breasts Canada has been ongoing.
Karen is delighted to be an Honourary Patron of Dense Breasts Canada: “I am
acutely aware of the need for proper screening of all women 40 and up. But
what drew me to Dense Breasts Canada was the fact that so many women’s
cancers were going undetected simply because of dense breast tissue. DBC has
advocated successfully to ensure proper notification to women with dense
breasts. The next step will be making ultrasound available to those who
require it. I applaud this mission and am happy to be associated with it.”
ANNIE SLIGHT
Director, Advocacy and Education, Quebec
Annie is the Director of Advocacy and Education in Quebec. She lives in Montreal. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2013 at age 42. After a normal mammogram, Annie discovered a lump six months later. As a breast cancer survivor, she feels strongly about giving back and advocating for women. She also is passionate about ensuring that women receive information about their breast density so that they can make informed healthcare decisions. Annie began working with DBC in 2018. For the past five years, Annie has been raising awareness through numerous interviews in the media, actively spreading the word on social media and speaking to women at events. She has been advocating intensively for policy change.
Quebec was the first province to make it mandatory to include breast density information in the mammogram report sent to the doctor. However, doctors are not relaying the density information to women and most women do not know to ask their doctor. The government committed to providing the density category in the Health Booklet in 2021, but this is not enough. Annie continues to advocate so that all women in Quebec will be told their breast density in their mammogram results letter, as is being done in other provinces. She is also advocating for screening at age 40 in Quebec, one of the last provinces to lower the screening age.
JOAN BUSH
Advisor
Joan Bush has served in a variety of capacities: as a Director of The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, a Director of Canada-Rwanda Board of Trade, member of the International Women's Forum (IWF) executive, and a board member of the Yee Hong Wellness Foundation, which supports culturally and linguistically appropriate care for over 15,000 seniors from different ethnic communities. She is also a member of the Women for Nature Initiative.
She has also served two terms as a governor on the Board of Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. In 2012, Joan became a recipient of Queen’s Diamond Jubilee for her outstanding community service. As a Director of the Kiani Foundation, she has contributed extensively to the community through numerous charities including hospitals, scholarships, youth education, and women’s shelters.
Joan is passionate about raising awareness of the risks of dense breasts and ensuring that women across Canada understand their density and the importance of additional screening. She understands the significance of dense breasts from her own personal experience when an additional cancer was masked by dense tissue and only seen on MRI.
EEVIN-LEIGH SCHLAMP
Graphic Design
Meet Our Advocates
