In 1998, the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) published guidelines that recommended all women diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) should be screened 6 weeks to 6 months postpartum for type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) using a 2-hour 75g oral glucose tolerance test. We determined the rate of screening for type 2 DM at the Ottawa Hospital before and after the publication of this guideline and found that none of the women in either period had been screened following the CDA guideline recommendations although other screening tests that had not been recommended had increased in utilization. Since the publication of the CDA guidelines several studies have been published that demonstrate that identification of patients with an abnormal oral glucose tolerance test and early treatment prevents the onset of diabetes. This research and the recommendations need to be communicated to physicians.