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Unprecedented Investment in Research Talent Pipeline a Bold and Welcome Move by Canadian Government

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Research Canada is very pleased to see the Government of Canada seize this critical opportunity to attract 1,000 world-class researchers to our country. Today’s announcement of the Canada Impact+ Research Program, which is supported by a $1.7 billion investment, the largest of its kind anywhere in the world, reflects a clear understanding of the essential role research and innovation play in driving Canada’s economic and societal prosperity.

Research Canada has been actively advocating for a national strategy to attract international research talent, including through our recent pre-budget submission and the conferences and roundtables we have convened since the United States reduced federal support for health and research. We were pleased to attend today’s announcement with Ministers Michel and Joly, and we applaud the government’s commitment to establishing a concierge-style pathway that will help international researchers navigate immigration and begin contributing quickly to Canada’s research ecosystem.

The Government’s message today was clear: Canada is ready to invest in top  global talent. With some of the world’s leading universities and  research institutions, and a strong international reputation for  excellence, this initiative positions our country to build a stronger,  more resilient, and healthier future.

Research Canada looks forward to working with the government and our partners across the sector to ensure this unprecedented investment delivers real-world impact for researchers, institutions, and all Canadians.

Read the Government of Canada’s press release on the new Canada Impact+ Research Chairs program.

Advancing Breast Cancer Education to Improve Outcomes

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Despite significant progress in screening, prevention and treatment, an estimated 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer during their lifetime and 1 in 36 will die from it 1.

While most Canadians would likely tell you they know what “breast cancer” is, there remains a critical knowledge gap when it comes to its many variations, staging and available treatment options, as well as the importance of screening, early detection and risk of recurrence.

Education is vital to filling this gap. By empowering people with actionable knowledge about the disease, Canadians can have more meaningful conversations with their healthcare providers to facilitate early diagnosis and shared decision making.

The Ripple Effect of Early Screening
Early detection has a ripple effect that results in better diagnoses, more targeted and less intensive treatments, and, ultimately, improved overall survival rates and quality of life.

In addition to diagnosing early-stage breast cancer, screening provides an opportunity for patients to better understand their individual risk of recurrence. For the 1 in 3 women who will face a recurrence after 5 years2, this early knowledge is critical– it allows them and their healthcare teams to explore proactive options for minimizing that risk and managing their care effectively over time.

What’s more, early intervention and prevention strategies – such as provincial screening programs and emerging treatment options that can treat diseases earlier – help support system-wide economic benefits. For instance, the average annual health care cost per patient of treating early BC (stage I-III) cases in Canada has been estimated to be more than 3 times lower compared to treating metastatic BC (stage IV) cases.3

Improved Outcomes Start with Education
Evidence has shown that the more informed a patient is, the better the expected health outcomes. Not only will a patient ask more and better questions, but they are more likely to adhere to their treatment plans and trust their healthcare providers.4

This leads to reduced hospitalizations and better management of chronic conditions, and promotes healthier behaviours, such as smoking cessation, healthy eating and physical exercise. In turn, there is a decreased burden on the healthcare system, lowering costs while improving overall quality of care.3

A Shared Responsibility
For more than 35 years, Novartis has been at the forefront of driving scientific advancements for people touched by breast cancer and improving clinical practice in collaboration with the cancer community.

We also recognize that treatment is just one piece of the puzzle.

We have a shared responsibility in partnering with patients, caregivers, advocates, researchers and physicians to raise awareness, educating and empowering patients to make informed decisions and improve health outcomes.

Through collaboration with the breast cancer community, we can raise awareness and provide clear, actionable information to not only treat breast cancer but to help Canadians thrive beyond it.

Erin Keith, Vice President, Oncology, Novartis Canada

References:
1Canadian Cancer Society. (2024). Breast cancer statistics. Canadian Cancer Society. https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-types/breast/statistics. Accessed September 2025.
2Marques, M., Gambaro, K., Basik, M., Saad, F., Hassan, S. N., Boudreau, D., Vincent, F., St-Hilaire, E., Mackay, H., Abdelsalam, M., Guillemette, S., Leite, R., Caron, M.-A., Patel, C., & Batist, G. (2024). Evaluation of recurrence rate in Canadian patients with Stage II/III HR+/HER2- early breast cancer in the real-world setting. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 42(16_suppl). https://doi.org/10.1200/jco.2024.42.16_suppl.e23303.
3Brezden-Masley C, Fathers KE, Coombes ME, Pourmirza B, Xue C, Jerzak KJ. A population-based comparison of treatment patterns, resource utilization, and costs by cancer stage for Ontario patients with hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021 Jan;185(2):507-515. doi: 10.1007/s10549-020-05960-4. Epub 2020 Oct 16. PMID: 33064230; PMCID: PMC7867554.
4Alhassoon, B et al. The effectiveness of patient education in improving health outcomes. Journal of Population Therapeutics & Clinical Pharmacology. Vol.29No.04 (2022): JPTCP(2174-2179). www.jptcp.com/index.php/jptcp/article/view/5308/5162. Accessed September 2025.

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.