The CAN Health Network, a national non-profit organization based in Canada, has been working diligently since its inception in 2019 to aid innovative companies to grow and bring their products to market. The network’s main focus is to assist Canadian firms through the often convoluted and byzantine procurement routes in Canada. This assistance is desperately needed, particularly in light of ever-increasing impacts of the trade war ignited by former U.S. President Donald Trump. The ongoing conflict poses major hurdles for Canadian health sciences firms. They’ve always viewed the U.S. as their major market because the privatized nature of our healthcare system makes selling their products much easier.
Canadian companies are increasingly finding it difficult to sell their products domestically due to Canada’s complex and convoluted healthcare system. According to Dr. Karen Cross, "The procurement pathways here are very convoluted." This complexity understandably makes Canadian buyers wary of jumping into products until they’re battle-tested and proven factory standards in other markets. Consequently, startups have been and continue to be at a disadvantage when attempting to seed themselves in Canada.
Amidst these challenges, there is a growing hope that Canadian companies can spur procurement reform within healthcare organizations, including hospitals and provincial governments. This reform is potentially key to increasing the competitiveness of Canadian industry. It gives Canada the opportunity to become a global leader in the industry. Brett Belchetz emphasizes this opportunity, stating, "This is an opportunity to rectify past mistakes. One of those past policies is that we haven’t built homegrown strength and capability. We have not supported Canadian industry to go out and be world beaters."
The CAN Health Network is passionately accelerating “Buy Canadian” efforts. Their goal is to increase the uptake of Canadian-made products within the healthcare industry. This strategic effort is designed to bolster the life sciences industry. Today, this industry makes up less than 1 percent of Canada’s gross domestic product and a mere 0.27 percent of the S&P/TSX Composite Index. These figures highlight the sector’s disappointing contribution to Canada’s economy, a lost chance to support Canadian industries at home.
While challenges still remain, the CAN Health Network finds opportunity in the market chaos. The Trump administration's cuts to research funding in the U.S. have threatened the work of American researchers, creating an opening for Canadian universities to attract top talent. The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research has successfully recruited leading academics in artificial intelligence, such as Geoff Hinton, Yoshua Bengio, and Rich Sutton, who preferred Canada over the U.S.
Peter Zandstra captures this sentiment: "If we could have a way to create a home for that science and those people, it would be fantastic." Attracting leading research talent from the U.S. offers an extraordinary opportunity to enhance Canadian science and health security. Such a scientific endeavor would make Canada a world leader in scientific research and should be at the top of Canada’s global leadership agenda.
Dante Morra highlights the significance of these developments by stating, "If you think about where all the tax money is, the big industry and the big opportunity is health care." The hope is that by supporting Canadian health sciences innovators and attracting top talent, Canada can capitalize on these opportunities.
