CNISP Protocols & Publications
Quick Index
The Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP) is a collaborative effort of the Canadian Hospital Epidemiology Committee (CHEC), a subcommittee of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease (AMMI) Canada and the Centre for Communicable Diseases and Infection Control (CCDIC) of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). IPAC Canada has a representative in this program.
CNISP Surveillance Protocols
For protocols or documents not appearing below, contact CNISP: cnisp-pcsin@phac-aspc.gc.ca. The CNISP InfoBase page can be found here
for the CNISP InfoBase page to the IPAC website.
- Antimicrobial Utilization (AMU) Protocol (2024)
- CNISP Acute Care Point Prevalance Survey (2024)
- HAI Surveillance Case Definitions (2020)
- Hospital Antibiogram Protocol (2024)
- Surveillance of Surgical Site Infections Following Adult Cardiac Surgery (2024)
- Surveillance for Candida auris (2024)
- Surveillance for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI, 2024)
- Surveillance for Central Line Associated Blood Stream Infections (CLABSI) in Intensive Care
Units (2024) - Surveillance Protocol for Carbapenemase-Producing Organisms (CPO, 2024)
- Surveillance of Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) Shunt Associated Surgical Site Infections (SSIs, 2024)
- Surveillance Protocol for the Enhanced Hospital Profile (EHP, 2024)
- Surveillance of Surgical Sites Infections (SSIs) Following Hip and Knee Arthroplasty (2024)
- Surveillance Protocol for Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus ) Bloodstream Infections (MRSA & MSSA BSI, 2024)
- Surveillance of Surgical Sites Infections Following Pediatric Cardiac Surgery (2024)
- Surveillance Protocol for Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus (VRE) Bloodstream Infections (2024)
- Surveillance for viral respiratory infections (VRI) among inpatients (2024)
Protocoles de Surveillance PCSIN
- Définitions dés cas surveillance des infections associées aux soins de santé (IAS, 2020)
- Surveillance des infections à Staphylococcus aureus résistant à la méthicilline et sensible à la méthicilline (SARM & SASM) (2024)
- Protocole d’hôpital sur l’antibiogramme (2024)
- Surveillance de Candida auris (2024)
- Surveillance des infections du sang à entérocoques résistants à la vancomycine (ERV, 2024)
- Surveillance des infections à Clostridioides difficile (ICD, 2024)
- Surveillance des infections des site opératoires (ISO) après une chirurgie cardiaque chez les patients adultes (2024)
- Surveillance des infections des sites opératoires (ISO) après une opération cardiaque pédiatrique (2024)
- Surveillance des infections du site opératoire après une arthroplastie de la hanche ou du genou (ISO-HG, 2024)
- Surveillance des infections du site opératoire des voies de dérivation du liquide céphalorachidien (ISO-LCR, 2024)
- Surveillance des bactériémies nosocomiales sur cathéters centraux aux soins intensifs (BACC-USI, 2024)
- Protocole de surveillance des organismes producteurs de carbapénémases (OPC, 2024)
- Surveillance du profil détaillé des hôpitaux (PDH, 2024)
- Protocole d’utilisation des antimicrobiens (UAM, 2024)
- Surveillance des infections respiratoires virales (IVR, 2024)
Canadian Nosocomial Surveillance Program data are now available online to any acute-care hospital or Canadian looking for information on healthcare-associated infections (including antimicrobial resistant organisms) in a sentinel hospital network from across Canada:
- Healthcare-associated Infection (HAI) & Antimicrobial Resistant Organism (ARO) data
- Programme canadien de surveillance des infections nosocomiales (PCSIN)
CNISP Infobase
CNISP Infographics
- CNISP Infographic: Trends among healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial-resistant organisms (AROs) in Canada (2022)
- PCSIN Inforgraphie: Tendances des infections associées aux soins de santé (IASS) et des organismes résistants aux antimicrobiens (ORA) au Canada (2022)
- CNISP Infographic: Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (2020)
- PCSIN Inforgraphie: Programme canadien de surveillance des infections nosocomiales (2020)
About CNISP
The Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP) is a hospital sentinel network, which includes 90 acute care hospitals in 10 provinces and two territories. CNISP was established in 1995 and is a collaboration between the Public Health Agency of Canada including the National Microbiology Laboratory, the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada and sentinel hospitals across Canada.
CNISP collects national level data on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), antibiotic resistant organisms (AROs), antibiograms, and antimicrobial use. Through active surveillance and reporting, epidemiologic and laboratory data are used to inform infection prevention and control and antimicrobial stewardship programs and policies.
CNISP surveillance activities include:
- Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections (BSI)
- Carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPO)
- Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) BSI
- Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI)
- Central-line associated BSI (CLABSI)
- Hip and knee surgical site infections (SSI)
- Cerebrospinal fluid shunt SSI
- Pediatric cardiac SSI
- Antimicrobial use
- Candida auris
- Antibiogram
- Viral respiratory infections/COVID-19
- Point prevalence surveys
Permission has been given to IPAC Canada to provide CNISP information on the IPAC Canada website from our members. More information about CNISP projects may be found on the CNISP website
CNISP Objectives
- Establish ongoing national surveillance system to determine the epidemiology of nosocomial infections in Canadian hospitals
- Establish "benchmark" data
- Provide data that can be used to develop national guidelines for infection prevention CNISP Hospitals
- Predominantly teaching hospitals, with required expertise and commitment
CNISP Limitations
- Significant workload at hospital sites, particularly impacted by hospital capacity
- Currently not conducting surveillance in long term care facilities
CNISP Achievements
- Only national surveillance system in Canada collecting epidemiologic and linked microbiology data regarding healthcare acquired infections
- Network of hospitals that has worked in partnership with PHAC/National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) since 1995
- Has provided Canadian "benchmark" data for a variety of healthcare-associated infections as well as viral respiratory infections, such as Covid-19
Permission has been given to IPAC Canada to provide CNISP information on the IPAC Canada website for our members. More information about CNISP projects may be found on the CNISP website: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/surveillance.html#a6
CNISP Recent Publications
- Healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance in Canadian acute care hospitals, 2017–2021
- Device and surgical procedure-related infections in Canadian acute care hospitals, 2017−2021
- The Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program: Keeping an eye on antimicrobial resistance in Canadian hospitals since 1995
- Trends in Severe Outcomes Among Adult and Pediatric Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19 in the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, March 2020 to May 2022
- Epidemiology of Primary and Recurrent Healthcare-Associated and Community-Associated Pediatric Clostridioides difficile Infection in Canada, 2015-2020
- Cerebrospinal fluid shunt–associated surgical site infection with three-month versus twelve-month surveillance periods in Canadian hospitals
- Evaluation of the accuracy in the application of the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP) bloodstream infection surveillance definitions
- Healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance in Canadian acute care hospitals, 2014-2018.
- Device-Associated Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) in Canadian Acute-Care Hospitals from 2009 – 2018.
- Antimicrobial use in Canadian acute-care hospitals: Findings from three national point-prevalence surveys between 2002 and 2017.
- Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus sequence type 1478 spread across hospitals participating in the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program from 2013 to 2018.
- Patients in hospital with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in a network of Canadian acute care hospitals, Mar. 1 to Aug. 31, 2020: a descriptive analysis.
- Prevalence of Candida auris in Canadian acute care hospitals among at-risk patients, 2018.
- Trends in health care–associated infections in acute care hospitals in Canada: an analysis of repeated point-prevalence surveys.
- Response to Alert on Possible Infections with Mycobacterium chimaera From Contaminated Heater-Cooler Devices in Hospitals Participating in the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP).
- The evolving epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection in Canadian hospitals during a postepidemic period (2009–2015).
- Characterization of Healthcare-Associated and Community-Associated Clostridioides difficile Infections among Adults, Canada, 2015–2019.
Canadian Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (CARSS)
- Canadian Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (CARSS) Report 2022
- Antimicrobial Resistance in Canada: Findings from the 2022 Canadian Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System Report
- Antimicrobial use (AMU) in the Canadian community sector
Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR)
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