Early on in the winter of 2016, the group created and formalized its governance model, which involved a Steering Committee guided by a Terms of Reference. It also established ways to share information between the organizations and to support ongoing engagement.

Starting in the spring of 2016, the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority approached other First Nations organizations based in northern Ontario regarding a challenge they all shared: lack of access to meaningful, timely health data about the communities they serve. They applied for and were awarded funding to support an epidemiology alliance of seven organizations.