Question Period Note: Cancer

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• Cancer continues to be the leading cause of death in Canada. The Canadian Cancer Society, in conjunction with the Public Health Agency of Canada and Statistics Canada, estimates that approximately two in five Canadians will develop cancer in their lifetime and one in four Canadians will die of the disease.
• Our Government recognizes that cancer is a health issue that impacts nearly all Canadians, either through a personal diagnosis or that of a loved one at some point in their lives.
• Our Government continues to fund the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer at close to $50 million annually. The Partnership is having an impact on the lives of Canadians through its work on cancer prevention, early detection, treatment and support for those living with cancer.
• We are also committed to supporting cancer research in these various domains. Through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), we invested more than $1 billion over the last five years toward cancer research and CIHR continues to implement the $30 million investment announced in Budget 2021 to fund targeted research on pediatric cancers.
• Additionally, the federal government conducts ongoing cancer-focused surveillance and research, and invests in community-based interventions that address the common risk factors for chronic disease, such as physical activity, healthy eating and tobacco use.

The federal health portfolio undertakes a range of activities related to cancer, including those led by Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.

Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) is a not-for-profit corporation that was created in 2006. CPAC is fully funded by the Government of Canada to provide a pan-Canadian perspective to cancer control and specifically to accelerate the implementation of the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control (the Strategy). The Strategy was built on the notion that enhanced cancer control could be achieved by providing governments, non-government organizations and Canadians access to research, information and decision-making tools in a coordinated fashion. Budget 2016 confirmed ongoing funding for CPAC at $47.5 million per year.

In 2018 and 2019, CPAC engaged with over 7,500 stakeholders to refresh the Strategy so that it would reflect the current cancer control and health system landscape. Released in June 2019, the refreshed Strategy, entitled the Canadian Strategy for Cancer Control 2019-2029: Doing together what cannot be done alone, was endorsed by the Conference of Federal/Provincial/Territorial (FPT) Deputy Ministers of Health. It focuses on five priorities spanning the entire cancer journey: (1) decrease the risk of people getting cancer; (2) diagnose cancer faster, accurately and at an earlier stage; (3) deliver high-quality care in a sustainable, world-class system; (4) eliminate barriers to people getting the care they need; and (5) deliver information and supports for patients, families and caregivers. Additionally, it focuses on three priorities specific to First Nations, Inuit and Métis: (1) culturally appropriate care closer to home; (2) peoples-specific, self-determined cancer care; and, (3) First Nations, Inuit, or Métis governed research and data systems.

Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
PHAC’s Healthy Canadians and Communities Fund (HCCF) invests approximately $20 million annually to support healthy living among Canadians who face health inequalities and are at greater risk of developing chronic diseases, including cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The HCCF supports projects and leverages funding from partners across various sectors to address the common risk factors (i.e., physical activity, healthy eating and tobacco use) for chronic disease, while aiming to create physical and social environments that are known to support better health
PHAC works with Health Canada to advance Canada’s Tobacco Strategy through the HCCF to fund projects that focus on tobacco cessation and prevention, with a particular emphasis on priority populations that have significantly higher prevalence rates of tobacco use. The HCCF is investing $4.25 million annually to support tobacco cessation and prevention projects under this strategy. Between 2016 and 2021, PHAC also invested nearly $6 million in the “Walk/Run to Quit” initiative to support the Canadian Cancer Society, in partnership with the Running Room, to help smokers quit by incorporating physical activity into their daily lives.
PHAC analyzes national data to monitor trends in cancer incidence and mortality over time (e.g., Canadian Cancer Statistics). PHAC leads the Cancer in Young People in Canada Program surveillance system and is a member of several CPAC advisory committees.

PHAC also supports the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care, an independent arms-length organization, to develop guidelines for primary care practitioners in Canada. The Task Force has produced evidence-based screening guidelines for breast, lung, cervical, colorectal and prostate cancers. The guidelines support clinicians in identifying cancers early and reducing morbidity and mortality.

Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, CIHR invested over $1 billion in cancer research, including $227 million in 2021-22.

Examples of recent investments include:
• In January 2021, CIHR and partners invested $4 million to fund 27 Spark Grants in Novel Technologies in Cancer Prevention and Early Detection. These high risk, high reward proof of principle grants seek to accelerate the development of novel approaches to cancer prevention and early detection, including in the sectors of artificial intelligence and digital solutions;
• $2.5 million in March 2020 for the development of research support infrastructure to facilitate multi-site studies for enhanced and expedited pediatric cancer research; and
• In April 2019, CIHR launched a Cancer Survivorship Team Grants funding opportunity in partnership with the Canadian Cancer Society. It represents a joint commitment of $10 million for at least 4 research teams that will address recently identified gaps in cancer survivorship research.
Budget 2021 committed $30 million dollars over two years to CIHR to support targeted research on pediatric cancer. With this new investment, CIHR has recently launched a research initiative on pediatric cancer, leveraging its Project Grant competition to support excellent research projects, and through a new funding opportunity, to catalyze the creation of a Pediatric Cancer Consortium. The Consortium will advance a shared vision to collaborate and produce research that can help inform policy and practice predicated on better science, better access, and better coordination to improve the lives of pediatric cancer patients and their families and caregivers. The announcement of the Consortium is anticipated in the coming weeks.

n 2022, an estimated 233,900 new cancer cases will be diagnosed in Canada.
• Four cancers - breast, lung, colorectal, and prostate – are expected to account for 46 percent of new cancer cases diagnosed in 2022. Canada continues to see an increase in the number of individuals diagnosed with cancer. This is primarily due to the aging and growing population.
• Cancer also occurs in children, with children under the age of five being twice as likely to be newly diagnosed with cancer than children 5-14 years old.
• Approximately 1,000 children are diagnosed with some form of cancer every year. Close to 84 percent of children survive a cancer diagnosis after five years, and this survival rate is expected to improve with new and better treatments.