Although there have been a number of in-depth national, federal, provincial and territorial reviews of the health system in Canada, there has not been a systematic review of the current mission/mandate and future roles and responsibilities of Canada's Academic Health Sciences Centres (AHSCs) since the early 1990s--this despite the fact that the system has experienced profound change. With this in mind, more than 20 national health organizations and others have engaged in discussions about the importance of establishing a national task force to consider and develop recommendations that will focus on the future role of Canada's AHSCs.