BackgroundCongenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is the most common cause of primary adrenal insufficiency in children. Current guidelines recommend the use of perioperative stress dose (supraphysiologic) glucocorticoids for children with CAH undergoing anesthesia, although a perceived difference in practice patterns among Canadian pediatric subspecialists prompted an assessment of perioperative glucocorticoid administration.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional survey of Canadian Pediatric Anesthesia Society (CPAS) and Canadian Pediatric Endocrine Group (CPEG) members via membership email lists to assess reported practice patterns to select clinical scenarios.ResultsResponses were collected from 49 anesthesiologists and 37 pediatric endocrinologists. Less than half of anesthesiologists reported they would provide stress dose corticosteroids for patients undergoing cystoscopy while a significant majority of pediatric endocrinologists reported they would recommend stress dose corticosteroid administration (45% vs 92% respectively, p < 0.0001). Twenty-one percent of anesthesiologists reported they would not provide stress dose corticosteroids for patients undergoing laparotomy. Pediatric endocrinologists reported they were more likely to refer to guidelines for management of stress dose steroids (84% vs 51%, p < 0.001), with many Canadian pediatric endocrinologists reporting to use institution specific guidelines.ConclusionsOur results demonstrate a clear difference in the reported approach to perioperative stress dose steroids between pediatric anesthesiologists and pediatric endocrinologists which may impact patient care. Further dialogue is required to address this apparent discrepancy in practice patterns and future research is needed to provide evidence-based practice recommendations.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13633-018-0063-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.