e-4084 (Health)

The Government of Canada is committed to improving the lives of people living with dementia, their families, and caregivers, and recognizes that older adults are one of the fastest growing age groups in Canada. As such, the Government has committed to providing $6 billion over ten years, starting in 2017-2018, directly to provinces and territories to better support home and community care services. Since 2017, the Government of Canada, through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), has invested $484.5 million in research related to aging. Of this total, over $227 million has been invested in dementia research, including through the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA), Canada’s research hub on neurodegenerative diseases that affect cognition in aging, including Alzheimer’s. The CCNA was renewed in 2019 for five years with $31.6 million in federal funding and an additional $14 million from partners. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has also invested $75 million in New Brunswick’s Healthy Seniors Pilot Project, testing innovative solutions to support healthy aging.

As of 2017-2018, almost 452,000 Canadians 65+ or older (6.7% of all Canadians 65+) were living with diagnosed dementia. In June 2019, the Government released Canada’s first national dementia strategy, A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire, which aims to understand dementia prevention and effective treatment, and to ensure that people living with dementia and caregivers feel valued, supported, and have an optimal quality of life. This goal is founded on the following national objectives:

• Prevent dementia;
• Advance therapies and find a cure; and,
• Improve the quality of life of people living with dementia and their caregivers.

Budget 2019 announced $50 million over 5 years, starting in 2019-2020, to support key elements of the strategy’s implementation, including a national public education campaign, targeted awareness raising projects, dementia guidance, and enhanced dementia surveillance. This is in addition to on-going annual funding of $4 million through the Dementia Community Investment (DCI) to support community-based projects that optimize the health and well-being of people living with dementia and family/friend caregivers, and increase knowledge about dementia and related risk and protective factors. Budget 2022 announced $20 million over five years, starting in 2022-2023, for CIHR to ramp up efforts to learn more about dementia and brain health, to improve treatment and outcomes for persons living with dementia, and to evaluate and address mental health consequences for caregivers and different models of care. Budget 2022 also provided PHAC $30 million over three years, starting in 2022-2023, for the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation to help accelerate innovations in brain health and aging.

Surveillance information is key to guiding prevention efforts. It can also be used to inform the development of policies and programs, health care planning, and service delivery to meet the needs of people living with dementia and their caregivers. As such, the Enhanced Dementia Surveillance Initiative (EDSI) funds projects that support the surveillance and data pillar of the national dementia strategy. Ten projects have been supported since the start of the EDSI through collaboration between PHAC, provincial and federal partners, as well as academic stakeholders, to explore risk factors for dementia, co-occurrence of dementia and other chronic conditions, and dementia in long-term care settings.

Furthermore, CIHR has a unique organizational structure with thirteen virtual Institutes, including a CIHR Institute of Aging and a CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Addiction. Each Institute has an Institute Advisory Board (IAB) that advises on Institute-specific issues, priorities and initiatives and are composed of a diverse group of national and international representatives of the public, private and non-profit sectors, including the research community and health practitioners.

Notably, in 2021, the CIHR Institute of Aging launched the Institute of Aging Older Adult Advisory Council (OAAC). The OAAC guides and informs the Institute on research matters related to the health and well-being of older adults, including the opportunities and challenges arising from a rapidly growing and increasingly diverse aging population. The OAAC includes older adults, aged 60 years and older, and caregivers to someone over the age of 60 from all regions across Canada, and has members from diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences.

Other federal investments are supporting improvements in health care relevant to dementia. Budget 2021 announced $3 billion over five years, starting in 2022-2023, for Health Canada to support provinces and territories in ensuring standards for long-term care are applied.

In Canada, provinces and territories are responsible for the administration and delivery of health care, including dementia-related services provided in various contexts, such as long-term care and home care. The Government is committed to ensuring seniors get the care they deserve, fostering aging-at-home, promoting age-friendly communities, and increasing the resilience of long-term care facilities.

The successful implementation of Canada’s national dementia strategy relies on the efforts of many organizations and individuals across the country, including federal, provincial, territorial, and local governments, advocacy groups, researchers, health care providers and academics. The Government is also committed to working collaboratively with people living with dementia and caregivers to ensure implementation is informed by their experience.

Of note, January is Alzheimer’s Awareness month in Canada, with activities supported and led by the Alzheimer Society of Canada. Canada also recognizes World Alzheimer Day, which takes place on September 21^st of each year.