This document details Canada's mission to safeguard and improve the health and well-being of all Canadian children and youth and presents eight national goals through which Canada plans to fulfill that mission. The document is presented in three parts. Part 1 describes the development of national goals, including their origin in the underlying principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, a consideration of a broad view of child and adolescent health, the responsibility of federal governments acting on behalf of the public, the 4-year consultation process used to develop the goals, and the results of reviews by aboriginal communities in Canada. Part 2 of the document details eight national goals: (1) value all children and youth in Canada and share responsibility for their healthy development; (2) support families in their role as the primary caregivers of children; (3) make health promotion and prevention of disease, disability, and injury among children and youth a priority of healthy public policies; (4) reduce child and youth poverty; (5) protect children and youth from abuse, violence, inequity, and discrimination; (6) ensure that young people have opportunities to participate in decisions about their healthy development and encourage them to make healthy life choices; (7) strengthen the capacity of communities to promote and improve healthy child and youth development; and (8) develop collaborative, cost-effective strategies to achieve measurable improvements in health outcomes for children and youth. Part 3 of the document describes initiatives at the community, provincial, and federal levels to meet these national goals. (KB)