Canada’s healthy future: The critical need for investment in cohort studies and data-driven research

Every developed nation needs a sizeable population cohort to support health research and enable discoveries in healthcare. For Canada, that’s CanPath, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health.

CanPath is Canada’s largest population health cohort, following over 330,000 Canadians – almost one in every 100 Canadians – over time to study how various factors, such as our biology, behaviours, and environments, affect our health and influence the development of chronic diseases and cancers.

It traces its roots back to November 2006, when funding for the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control was announced. This initiative, supported by Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, led to the creation of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and the establishment of a pan-Canadian cohort to advance cancer research.

Over the past fifteen years, CanPath has evolved into a national network that brings together seven regional cohorts from across Canada: the BC Generations Project, Alberta’s Tomorrow Project, Healthy Future Sask, the Manitoba Tomorrow Project, the Ontario Health Study, CARTaGENE (Quebec), and the Atlantic Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (Atlantic provinces).

The dedication of Canadians who have contributed their health and biological data over the past fifteen years is crucial for advancing health research and innovation, making CanPath’s data and infrastructure irreplaceable.

However, limited sustainable operational funding hinders our ability to fully utilize this health, environmental, and genetic data. CanPath’s overall funding has been reduced each year, leaving Canada at risk of falling off the world stage for population health research.

“Sustaining deep and mature cohorts such as CanPath, which aim to leverage data to prevent and predict disease states, can lead to countless lives saved and yield significant economic benefits through both healthcare savings and avoiding productivity losses in Canada,” says Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Cancer Research Scientific Director Dr. Fei-Fei Liu.

Recent health emergencies have highlighted the need for agile data networks. CanPath’s data has been critical for tracking health threats, identifying vulnerable populations, and shaping public health strategies. This experience underscores the urgent need for continued investment in health data infrastructure.

“CanPath participants represent almost 1% of the population of Canada,” says Dr. Christine Williams, President (Interim) and Head of Implementation Science at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. “We have a commitment to these engaged Canadians to ensure we support this important research platform and are responsible stewards of the personal data they have generously volunteered to share to benefit future generations.”

Environmental health research is another area where CanPath excels. In collaboration with the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE), CanPath recently added 17 new datasets on environmental exposures and social determinants of health to the platform. This aligns with Bill S-5, recognizing Canadians’ right to a healthy environment.

The need for investment in cohort studies and data-driven research is clear. CanPath is tackling these challenges through strong collaborations with provincial cohorts, coordinated data collection, and linkage to administrative data resources.

For instance, CanPath and the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI) recently celebrated their partnership. This collaboration will integrate CIHI’s health services data—including hospital stays, emergency department visits, and stays in long-term care—with CanPath’s genomic, health, and lifestyle data to offer better insights into health trends and outcomes over time.

“It’s really made our hearts grow to see how CanPath has become a world-class research platform,” says Dr. Craig Earle, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, CanPath’s founding funder. “As a health services researcher myself, I know the importance of bringing information on social determinants of health and disease risk factors together with information about interactions with the health care system to get insights.”

The Canadians who make up CanPath consented to share their data because they believe in the power of research to improve health outcomes. They trust that their privacy will be protected and that their data will be used responsibly. CanPath operates under strict data protection and privacy standards, ensuring that all information is securely stored and used ethically.

Additionally, CanPath is developing a cloud-based research environment for central storage of data assets. This new technology brings the analysis to where the data resides, eliminating the need to move or copy sensitive data. It’s an exciting development that will enable commercial opportunities, such as new drug and therapeutic developments and informed diagnostic testing.

“This new platform will help drive innovations and allow CanPath to engage different research partners that we wouldn’t have been able to before, including partners in industry and healthcare,” says Dr. Philip Awadalla, National Scientific Director at CanPath.

By supporting and enhancing CanPath’s infrastructure, Canada will benefit from a powerful dataset that can drive uniquely Canadian research, innovation, and commercialization. This will have significant implications for Canadians and the healthcare system, ensuring that Canada remains at the forefront of health research and public health decision-making.

Public health is a non-partisan issue, and CanPath’s work underscores this principle. The need for sustainable investment in CanPath is clear. Ongoing investment in CanPath will foster collaboration and drive progress in health research, benefiting all Canadians.