Question Period Note: Dementia

Dementia is a set of symptoms affecting brain function. It is often characterized by changes in memory, mood, judgment, and other cognitive functions. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form. In 2020–2021, almost 477,000 Canadians aged 65 and older were living with diagnosed dementia. This number is expected to increase with Canada’s growing and aging population.

Federal investments are supporting the implementation of Canada’s national dementia strategy.
Through Budget 2022, an additional $50 million is being invested to advance research and innovation efforts in dementia and brain health. This includes $30 million over three years for the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation.
This funding builds on over $227 million invested between 2017 and 2022 to advance research on dementia, and over $70 million since 2018 to support dementia awareness raising, surveillance, guidance, and community-based projects.

On June 22, 2017, the National Strategy for Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias Act came into force. A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire was released in June 2019, with three national objectives: prevent dementia; advance therapies and find a cure; and improve the quality of life of people living with dementia and caregivers. An annual report to Parliament is required by legislation. Since 2015, the Government of Canada has invested more than $400M in initiatives that align with the objectives of the national dementia strategy, including investments made prior to the strategy’s release. Examples of these investments include:
Budget 2018 announced an investment of $20 million over five years, and $4 million per year ongoing for the Dementia Community Investment (DCI). The DCI funds community-based projects that seek to improve the wellbeing of people living with dementia and family/friend caregivers; and increase knowledge about dementia and its risk and protective factors. The DCI has funded 31 projects to date. This includes the Canadian Dementia Learning and Resources Network (CDLRN), which is a knowledge hub that facilitates a community of practice for all DCI-funded projects.
Budget 2019 announced $50 million over five years to support the strategy, including a national public education campaign, awareness-raising projects, dementia guidance, and enhanced dementia surveillance. The Dementia Strategic Fund has funded 39 projects (25 awareness-raising projects, 11 dementia guidance projects, and 3 provincial / territorial projects to improve online information resources). The Enhanced Dementia Surveillance Initiative has funded 15 projects to better understand how dementia affects Canadians. Several provinces, in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), are implementing projects to enhance surveillance through the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System.
A total of $74 million in federal investments has been made from 2015-2025 for the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). CABHI supports promising innovations across the country that help meet the needs of older adults and people living with brain health issues, including dementia.
Budget 2022 also provided $20 million over five years for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (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. Between 2017-2018 and 2021-2022, CIHR invested over $227 million in dementia research. This includes contributions through the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, which is Canada’s research hub on neurodegenerative diseases that affect cognition in aging. This hub was renewed in 2019 for five years with $31.6 million in federal funding and an additional $14 million from partners.
Internationally, Canada has endorsed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Action Plan on a Public Health Response to Dementia (2017-2025) and is a member of the World Dementia Council.

In June 2019, Canada’s first national strategy on dementia, A Dementia Strategy for Canada: Together We Aspire, was released. Federal investments in dementia research, surveillance, awareness initiatives, community-based projects, and guidance are supporting the implementation of the strategy. The 2022 annual report to Parliament on the strategy was tabled on December 12, 2022.