 In 2000, McPhedran was appointed by the Minister of Health for Ontario to chair the Special Task force on Sexual Abuse of Patients by the Health Professionals in order to review the impact of the Regulated Health Professionals Act, and its related codes and policies, in the response of health professionals to situations involving sexual abuse of patients by regulated health professionals in Ontario.McPhedran was the Chair of the Forum on Women's Activism in Constitutional Democratic Reform  held in the Parliament Buildings of Canada in 2006; the Executive Coordinator of the Summit of Women Leaders of the Americas for Mental Health in Washington D.C. in 1996; and a Co-Chair of the International Multidisciplinary Teaching to Promote Women's Health Conference at the Women's College Hospital in Toronto in 1996.On October 27, 2016, McPhedran was named to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sit as an independent.