Ottawa – The Government of Canada is committed to addressing the challenges of aging and brain health issues, including dementia. To this end, it is providing an additional $30 million to the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). This builds on previous federal investments of $44 million over six years (2015-2021) provided to Baycrest Health Sciences to help launch and implement CABHI.
In addition to federal funding, CABHI has received funding from:
- The Government of Ontario: $34.1 million over the last seven years, starting in 2015-16.
- Other funding sources include $1.4 million over the past seven years, starting in 2015-16, from various industry, academic, public sector, and not-for-profit partners.
CABHI also received in-kind contributions of approximately $60.4 million over the last seven years, starting in 2015-16, including $22.6 million from Baycrest Health Sciences, and $37.8 million from industry and other partner contributions.
This support, provided though a contribution agreement administered by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), will be used by CABHI to continue to support individuals and organizations across the country with promising innovations that help to address aging and brain health issues, including dementia.
The initiative will provide several benefits for Canadians. It will help to:
- Improve the health and well-being of older adults living at home, in the community, and in care settings, by testing, validating and scaling innovative solutions covering a range of issues. This includes supporting aging at home, cognitive health, care coordination, financial health and wellness. It also includes cross-cutting themes focused on the health and well-being of Indigenous, diverse, official language minority and rural communities, promoting social inclusion, and preventing stigma and elder abuse.
- Build a skilled workforce and improve system-level capacity in older adult care that mobilizes knowledge and innovation through a suite of programs that nurture ideas from point-of-care staff, and leveraging partnerships with industry and academic institutions. These programs will support students, researchers and entrepreneurs to test, validate and mobilize solutions in real-world healthcare delivery organizations, informed by valuable insights from people with lived experience.
- Build a more resilient, sustainable, and competitive economy by supporting commercialization and wide-scale adoption of aging and brain health innovations. This will be achieved by providing coaching and mentorship in innovation, increasing opportunities for innovators to diversify export strategies and secure additional investments, and engaging regional, pan-Canadian and international partners to enhance innovation adoption.
This initiative supports the Government of Canada’s commitment to improve the lives of people living with dementia, and their families and caregivers and supports the implementation of Canada’s first national dementia strategy, A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire.