Dementia: What Canada's doing

On this page

• Canada's dementia strategy
• Annual report to Parliament on Canada's dementia strategy
• Dementia funding
• Dementia research
• Data on dementia
• Programs and services by area

Canada's dementia strategy

Canada's first national dementia strategy, A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire, was released in June 2019. The strategy identifies common principles to help guide all those working on dementia-related initiatives. Its 3 national objectives are to:

• prevent dementia
• advance therapies and find a cure
• improve the quality of life of people living with dementia and caregivers

To develop the strategy, we engaged with many different people and groups.

Our goal was to understand more about the impacts of dementia. We gathered different points of view from a number of sources. These sources included the 6 stakeholder groups mentioned in the National Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias Act:

1. people living with dementia
2. family/friend caregivers
3. researchers
4. health care providers
5. advocacy groups
6. representatives of provincial and territorial governments

Activities included:

• in-person roundtables that brought together people living with dementia and caregivers
• a national dementia conference
• discussions with stakeholders

We also:

• commissioned expert reports
• reviewed stakeholder submissions
• started a dialogue with Indigenous organizations

We documented the results of our discussions in the What We Heard Report.

Developing the strategy also included gathering guidance from:

• the Ministerial Advisory Board on Dementia
• provincial and territorial governments
• other federal organizations

Annual report to Parliament on Canada's dementia strategy

Each year the federal Minister of Health prepares a report to Parliament on the national dementia strategy.

The 2022 Report to Parliament shares a Canada-wide overview of some of the many dementia-related efforts underway across the country. This report highlights how many different organizations, including the federal government, are supporting the strategy's national objectives and reflects the variety of those efforts.

Previous reports

• A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire - 2021 Annual Report
• A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Achieve - 2020 Annual Report
• A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire - First Annual Report to Parliament June 2019

Dementia funding

In 2018, we committed $20 million over 5 years and $4 million per year ongoing to launch the Dementia Community Investment.

This investment funds community-based projects that aim to optimize the well-being of people living with dementia and family/friend caregivers. These projects will develop, test, share and broaden the use of initiatives, knowledge and tools.

We are investing another $50 million over 5 years, starting in 2019–2020, to support key elements of the national dementia strategy. Of this money, $10 million will be used to support a better understanding of the impact of dementia in our communities through surveillance. The remaining $40 million for the Dementia Strategic Fund includes initiatives designed to:

• increase awareness by:
  • sharing information about preventing dementia
  • reducing stigma
  • encouraging communities to be more inclusive and supportive of people living with dementia and caregivers
• develop and share treatment guidelines and best practices for early diagnosis

Dementia research

We are providing $31.6 million over 5 years through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support Phase II of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging.

This initiative brings together people from across the country to advance research on dementia prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care.

Partners, including provincial agencies and non-profit organizations, are investing an additional $14.4 million. This brings total funding to $46 million.

Between 2014 and 2018, we invested over $200 million on dementia-related research through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. This federal agency supports a broad range of research on dementia, including the biomedical, clinical, health services and population aspects.

Data on dementia

We work with the provinces and territories to collect national data on dementia, using the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System. This work includes analysis and reporting on the number of Canadians:

• newly diagnosed with dementia
• living with diagnosed dementia

With the new dementia funding, we will work with the provinces, territories and other partners to explore ways to improve data on dementia in Canada. Better data will help us better understand how dementia is affecting Canadians.

Programs and services by area

• British Columbia
• Alberta
• Saskatchewan
• Manitoba
• Ontario
• Quebec (French only)
• New Brunswick
• Prince Edward Island
• Nova Scotia
• Newfoundland and Labrador
• Yukon
• Northwest Territories
• Nunavut

What else the Government of Canada is doing

• Examples of federal government dementia-related initiatives
• Government of Canada Invests in Projects that Raise Awareness of Dementia and Promote Dementia-inclusive Communities (News Release)
• Government of Canada Invests in Projects that Raise Awareness of Dementia and Promote Dementia-inclusive Communities (Backgrounder)

What other organizations are doing

• Examples of non-governmental, non-profit and international organizations contributing to dementia-related initiatives
• World Health Organization
  • Global Action Plan on the Public Health Response to Dementia 2017-2025 (PDF)
  • Global Dementia Observatory

Research

• Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging
• CIHR Dementia Research Strategy
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research: Dementia Research Strategy funding
• New Directions in Dementia Research

Data

• Dementia and ischemic heart disease comorbidity among Canadians aged 65 years and older
• Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System
• Dementia in Canada, including Alzheimer's (infographic)
• Canadian Institute for Health Information: Dementia in Canada
• Dementia in Canada, including Alzheimer's disease: Highlights from the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System
• Dementia and stroke comorbidity among Canadians aged 65 years and older