In Ontario the need for guidance on the ethical issues pertaining to an influenza pandemic has been widely acknowledged. As word of our work on an ethical framework for Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Science Centre (S & W) became known, we were invited to join other hospitals' pandemic planning efforts. There was also broader sectoral interest in ethics, and we were invited to join the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care's (MOHLTC) efforts to design a pandemic plan.