Funding for the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI)

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)

March 2023

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 focussed 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.

About CABHI

CABHI is a unique collaboration of healthcare, science, industry, not-for-profit, and government partners whose aim is to improve quality of life for the world’s aging population. This allows older adults of all backgrounds and abilities to age safely in the setting of their choice while maintaining their cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being.

Since its establishment in 2015, CABHI has supported more than 345 projects, including over 275 unique innovative solutions. Examples of innovative solutions that have been brought to market include:

• Laser Walk, a device that can be affixed to mobility devices to guide safe walking for those affected by neurological conditions.
• IlluminAid, a motion-detection lighting system that attaches under beds and furniture and enables residents of Long-Term Care (LTC) to use the bathroom or walk out of their rooms more safely.
• MouvMat, an interactive game to promote exercise and socializing among residents in LTC.

CABHI-supported products, practices and services have involved over 78,000 participating older adults and their families/caregivers. Over 210,000 members of the public have been engaged in CABHI’s activities, and more than 130 unique trial sites have helped to accelerate innovation in aging and brain health while engaging over 20,500 clinicians and researchers.

Over $55 million has been directed towards supporting over 750 jobs, and innovators have generated significant additional investments to scale up and spread their solutions beyond the pilot phase.

More than 60% of companies in receipt of CABHI funding have received follow-up investment through commercialization programs, attracting an additional $274 million (and growing) in secured investments from private and public sources.

In addition to funding from the Government of Canada, CABHI also receives funding and support (cash and in-kind) from the Government of Ontario and various industry, academic, public sector and not-for-profit partners.

CABHI has engaged over 1,000 partners and collaborators, and has established partnerships in most provinces and territories across Canada. CABHI has established partnerships with national organizations such as the Canadian Consortium of Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA), Brain Canada, AgeWell, the Seniors Quality LEAP Initiative, and the Alzheimer Society of Canada, as well international innovation consortia and innovators from around the world (e.g., IBM, Quanta, Fuji, Sompo Digital Labs, Berkeley SkyDeck, 500 Startups, and MaRS Innovation).