Life Sciences
Recognized for high-quality life sciences and health care solutions, Canada is home to a large pool of highly skilled life sciences professionals with a broad range of expertise. Canada offers an innovative environment for life sciences companies, with first-rate academic institutions, wide-reaching research networks, numerous partnership opportunities and low costs.
Bringing a global pharmaceutical development site to Roche Canada is a testament to our skilled and talented workforce and offers tremendous opportunities to solidify [Canada’s] reputation as a global research hub.
Pharmaceuticals in Canada
In 2021, the manufacturing portion of the sector employed an average of approximately 32,513 people and over the last 5 years, employment has grown by 8%. Canada’s commercially oriented research network takes innovation from lab to market; joint investment opportunities in research allow for R&D result optimization; and the responsive and efficient regulatory environment facilitates business operations.
Medtech in Canada
Canada’s strengths in the medtech sector include medical and diagnostic imaging, cardiovascular devices, and assistive and rehabilitative devices. As the country shifts its focus towards emerging medical devices, technologies such as robotic surgery, surgical simulation, mobile health and wearables are expected to experience significant growth.
Clinical trials in Canada
Canada captures 4% of global clinical trials, fourth in number of clinical trials sites, and is the G7 leader in clinical trial productivity (number of trials/population). The country’s multicultural population, world-renown research clinicians, leading education system and publicly funded health-care system make it an ideal testing ground for life sciences.
Investing in life sciences in Canada
Talent
Canada has one of the world’s best-educated talent pools. With 62% of Canadians aged 25–64 having graduated from tertiary education institutions, Canada ranks as the most highly educated country in the world. In 2019 alone there were 206,082 graduates in STEM and in health care. This represents a 15% increase compared to 5 years prior (2015).
Canada’s Global Skills Strategy allows employers to bring in highly skilled workforce from abroad in as little as two weeks. You’ll find the talent you’re looking for here.
Incentives
The Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program provides income-tax credits and refunds for expenditures on eligible R&D activity in Canada.
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) funds infrastructure to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development. Funding programs include the Major Science Initiatives Fund (MSI).
Genome Canada provides large-scale investments that develop new technologies, connect the public sector with private industry and create solutions to problems of national interest, including health.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is a funding agency composed of 13 institutes that collaborate with partners and researchers to support innovations that improve health and strengthen health care systems.
The Canada Brain Research Fund (CRF) is a public-private partnership that provides funding for Canadian brain science research.
Leading research institutions
- Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE)
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
- Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization (CPDC)
- Center for commercialization of regenerative medicine (CCRM)
- Institute for research in immunology and cancer (IRICoR)
- Canadian Centre for Aging & Brain Health Innovation
- Center for drug research and development (CDRD)
- Center for surgical invention and innovation (CSII)
- Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC)
- Montreal Clinical Research Institute
- National Research Council (NRC)
- Brain Repair Centre
- MaRS Innovation
- MEDTEQ
- NEOMED
You’re in good company












