Sleep is a fundamental determinant of health, and improving sleep can enhance the health and well-being of Canadians (Chaput et al., 2022). Yet much of our current understanding of sleep is based on research that has not adequately considered equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). As a result, important gaps remain in our understanding of sleep health and sleep disorders across Canada's diverse populations.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) requires the integration of EDI principles into health research. However, researchers may face challenges in applying these principles within their specific areas of expertise, particularly when guidance is limited or when gaps exist in the scientific literature.

To address these challenges, the Canadian Sleep Research Consortium established the Health Disparities, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (HD-EDI) Committee. The committee examined how Canadian sleep research can better represent and include all populations and identified exclusionary measurement practices in population-based surveys, limitations within sleep research methodologies, and analytic approaches that can obscure sleep health disparities among marginalized groups.

The committee reviewed existing EDI frameworks and translated their recommendations into a set of demographic and explanatory variables particularly relevant to sleep research, including factors such as discrimination and other social determinants of health. This work culminated in a national consensus meeting held on March 13, 2025, which brought together an interdisciplinary group of sleep and EDI researchers, trainees, knowledge users (including representatives from the Public Health Agency of Canada), members of the Consortium's Sleep Health Equity Working Group, the Canadian Sleep Society, the Sleep Research Society, and individuals with lived experience of systemic discrimination.

Together, participants reached consensus on a framework to support the integration of EDI principles into Canadian sleep research.

The Sleep EDI Framework presented here provides a practical, sleep-specific roadmap for advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion in research and aligning sleep science with CIHR's EDI mandate.