Editorial Policy

Last updated: April 17, 2026

Our editorial mission

Surgency is Canada's educational resource for private surgical pathways and directory of private surgical providers.

Our website publishes educational content — procedure guides, recovery information, explainer articles, and interviews — to help Canadians understand their options when considering private surgery.

This policy describes how that content is produced, who reviews it, how we handle corrections, how we disclose our commercial relationships, and what our content is and is not intended to do.

What our content is — and is not

Surgency's content is general health information. It is designed to help readers understand procedures, recovery, and the private surgical landscape in Canada.

Surgency's content is not:

• Medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment
• A substitute for a consultation with a qualified physician
• An endorsement, recommendation, or ranking of any listed surgeon or clinic
• A guarantee of any outcome, recovery timeline, or wait time

Every patient's situation is different. All decisions about whether, when, where, and with whom to have surgery should be made between the patient and a qualified physician.

How our content is produced

1. Written by the Surgency Editorial Team

All articles published on Surgency are written by the Surgency Editorial Team. Our writers are not physicians. They are experienced in health and medical writing and draw on peer-reviewed literature, Canadian clinical registries, regulatory sources, and interviews with practicing surgeons.

Every article is:

• Researched against primary sources (peer-reviewed journals, Cochrane reviews, Canadian registries such as CIHI and CJRR, provincial ministries of health, Health Canada, and the relevant medical colleges)
• Written in plain, accessible language
• Cited inline
• Dated with a publication and reviewed date

2. Reviewed by Sean Haffey, Founder

Every article published on Surgency is reviewed by our founder, Sean Haffey, before publication.

Sean's review covers:

• Clinical accuracy of medical claims, checked against primary sources and current Canadian standards of care
• Accuracy and sourcing of factual claims
• Clarity, tone, and consistency with Surgency's editorial standards
• Compliance with Canadian advertising, privacy, and health-information regulations
• Alignment with this editorial policy

Sean is the founder and CEO of Surgency. He holds a medical degree and completed training in family medicine in Canada, which informs his review of clinical content. He does not practice clinically in connection with Surgency, is not involved in the clinical care of any patient who uses the platform, and has no clinical relationship with any surgeon or clinic listed on Surgency. Where an article discusses a specialty beyond his own clinical experience, Sean's review relies on primary evidence, Canadian registries, and specialty-society guidelines rather than personal clinical judgment.

What each byline means

Every Surgency article shows the people responsible for it at the top of the page. The bylines mean the following:

BylineWhat it meansReviewed by Sean Haffey, FounderOur founder reviewed the article for factual accuracy, sourcing, tone, and compliance with this editorial policy.Published / Last reviewedWhen the article was first published, and when it was most recently reviewed against current evidence and guidelines.

We do not publish content under a physician byline, and we do not use physician credentials as a marketing or trust signal in editorial content.

Review cadence

• Every clinical article is reviewed at a regular cadence
• The "last reviewed" date on each article reflects the most recent review
• Where review is overdue, the article is either updated, re-reviewed, or unpublished

Sourcing standards

For any clinical claim, we prefer sources in this order:

1. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and Cochrane reviews
2. Canadian clinical registries (CIHI, CJRR, provincial registries)
3. Peer-reviewed primary research in indexed journals
4. Guidelines from Canadian specialty societies and the Royal College
5. Provincial ministries of health, Health Canada, and the medical colleges
6. International specialty societies and equivalent public-health bodies

We avoid:

• Manufacturer or device-company promotional material as a primary source
• Non-peer-reviewed preprints as the sole source for a clinical claim
• Testimonials, anecdotes, or single-case reports

Canadian sources are preferred wherever possible. Where a Canadian source is not available, we indicate the jurisdiction of the source we relied on.

What we do not do

• We do not publish testimonials or patient reviews of individual surgeons
• We do not rank, score, or recommend any listed surgeon or clinic
• We do not publish "best surgeon" lists or superiority claims
• We do not publish before-and-after photos of patients
• We do not write about specific drugs, devices, or techniques in a way that could be read as an endorsement
• We do not accept payment for editorial content
• We do not adjust the order, prominence, or tone of editorial content based on listing status or revenue

Commercial independence and disclosure

Surgency is a commercial business. Surgency is free for individuals to use, but surgeons and clinics pay a flat fee to be listed on the platform. We believe our readers deserve to understand exactly how this works.

• Surgeon and clinic profiles on Surgency are paid listings
• Listing fees are flat. They do not vary based on the number of patient inquiries, consultations, procedures, or outcomes
• Surgency does not receive any fee, commission, or benefit tied to patient consultations, surgeries, or outcomes
• Editorial content is produced independently of listing revenue.
• Listed surgeons and clinics do not review, approve, or edit Surgency editorial content, and Surgency does not accept editorial input from listed surgeons or clinics in exchange for listing fees

Conflict of interest

Our founder, Sean Haffey, is the majority owner of Surgency and is the named reviewer on every editorial article. His review role is disclosed in the byline of every article. Sean does not practice clinically in connection with Surgency, is not involved in the clinical care of any patient who contacts a surgeon through the platform, and has no clinical relationship with any listed surgeon or clinic. Listing fees do not flow to Sean in any form tied to editorial decisions or to the volume of patient inquiries.

Where a writer, contributor, or interview subject has any other relevant financial interest (for example, consulting, speaking, research funding, or equity in a device company), that interest is disclosed in the article.

Advertising and third-party content

Surgency does not sell display advertising, sponsored content, or native advertising. We do not publish press releases, vendor-written content, or content funded by device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, or any other third party.

Any interview or contributed article published on Surgency is clearly identified, and the contributor's affiliations are disclosed.

Corrections and updates

We aim for accuracy. When we get something wrong, we fix it.

• Readers can report an error or request a correction by emailing info@surgency.ca
• Material corrections are noted at the bottom of the article with the date and nature of the correction
• Where a correction materially changes a clinical claim, the article is re-reviewed by Sean and the "last reviewed" date is updated
• Where an article can no longer be updated to current standards, it is unpublished rather than allowed to drift

Translated content

To make Surgency content accessible for French Canadians, our content is automatically translated via AI translation tool Weglot. Translated pages carry a clear notice that the translation is automated, that the English version is authoritative, and that readers should consult a qualified physician in their language of choice before making a medical decision. Readers are encouraged to report translation errors through a link on each translated page.

We do not rely on automated translation for our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, or other legal notices. Those documents are translated under human review where required by law.

Reader feedback

We welcome feedback on our content and our process. You can reach our editorial team at info@surgency.ca. We read every message.