Danielle Martin is a Canadian physician, health care administrator and academic. She is a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. She is the Liberal Party of Canada candidate in the 2026 UniversityâÂÂRosedale federal by-election, called to succeed Chrystia Freeland in the House of Commons.
Martin completed her bachelor's degree in science from McGill University and her M.D. at the University of Western Ontario. She also holds a master's degree in public policy from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Currently, she is the Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine (DFCM), University of Toronto. Previously, she was the vice president, medical affairs and health system solutions at Women's College Hospital (WCH), and the founder of the WCH Institute for Health System Solutions and Virtual Care (WIHV). She is also a family physician in the Family Practice Health Centre at WCH, and professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Toronto. In 2016, she was awarded the CIHR-IHSPR Article of the Year Award for her work on the Estimated cost of universal public coverage of prescription drugs in Canada.
She has debated in favour of Canada's single-payer public healthcare system. On September 13, 2017 she publicly supported of Bernie Sanders' Medicare For All bill, which would seek to introduce a single-payer system of health care in the United States. On March 13, 2014 she testified at a United States Senate committee investigation on health care systems, specifically regarding issues such as single-payer and multi-payer systems and wait times. After her appearance at this US Senate Committee hearing, she was invited to be a candidate at various levels of Canadian government (municipal, provincial and federal) by various political parties.
In 2006, she started the organization Canadian Doctors for Medicare. She won the Canadian Medical Association award for young leaders. In 2013, the Toronto Star called her one of 13 people to watch.
Martin has also made several appearances on CBC Television's ' as part of its Checkup Panel segment.
Martin is the author of the book Better Now: Six Big Ideas to Improve Health Care for All Canadians, Penguin Canada, 2017.