Canada’s Moment: Building a National Brain Research Initiative

A broad coalition of stakeholders is united behind a vision for a national brain and mental health research strategy.

Across the globe, nations are recognizing that understanding the brain’s complexities — in health, development, disease and resilience — is crucial for thriving societies in the 21st century. This grand scientific challenge — perhaps the grandest — demands an equally grand and immediate response.

The United States, European Union, China, Japan and South Korea are among the science and technology powerhouses rising to meet this challenge. These countries have launched national brain initiatives to drive innovation, tackle critical public health challenges and strengthen their economic and technological standings. Their decade-long initiatives have funnelled more than $9.45 billion (U.S. $7 billion) into brain science, pushing the boundaries of human biology in ways that will benefit science and society for decades.

As a world leader in neuroscience, how should Canada respond?

Learning from global initiatives, charting our path

The first national brain initiatives began more than a decade ago. In 2013, the European Union introduced the Human Brain Project (HBP) and the U.S. followed with the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. Soon after, Japan launched Brain Mapping by Integrated Neurotechnologies for Disease Studies (Brain/MINDS).

These initiatives, primarily focused on basic research, are tailored to the unique scientific strengths and priorities of the nation’s leading them. For instance, the U.S. BRAIN Initiative concentrated on developing innovative research tools, while the E.U.’s effort centred on building computational models of the brain. Researchers funded by Japan’s Brain/MINDS are studying non-human primates to gain insights into human brain function.

These ambitious efforts have empowered thousands of scientists, driven the development of cutting-edge tools and generated troves of invaluable data, laying a solid foundation for future breakthroughs in neuroscience. Now, the time is right for Canada to build on this global momentum and create its national brain research initiative. But it must chart its own course, rooted in its distinct scientific strengths and national priorities.

Engaging Canada’s strengths

For the past three and a half years, the Canadian Brain Research Strategy (CBRS) has been creating a vision for a national brain research initiative from the ground up. CBRS led one of the most comprehensive consultation processes, engaging a wider and more diverse group of stakeholders than other nations — including early career researchers to senior scientists, Indigenous Peoples, people with lived experience, health charities, industry leaders, research funders and international experts. Worldview Studio, which has a track record of facilitating strategic planning for global initiatives, including in neuroscience, helped shape the CBRS consultation process.

This deliberate, grassroots approach, focused on closely listening to the community, has helped identify the strengths that will drive Canada’s success: collaboration, openness and transdisciplinarity. These qualities are the foundation for Canada to build a genuinely impactful national initiative. Harnessing these strengths can scale the nation’s research efforts and turn discoveries into real-world innovations that benefit Canadians.

Here’s what we learned and prioritized through our consultations:

A national scope: A successful Canadian brain research initiative must be genuinely inclusive, taking advantage of the unique strengths of institutions, regions and communities across the country. It should also build on the diverse expertise of Canada’s talented scientists in neurology, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, health systems, population health, social sciences and Indigenous Knowledges to drive the field forward. To achieve this, we need to create the infrastructure that will enable seamless collaboration across the country, facilitate data sharing, and ensure widespread access to new tools, such as A.I., that can accelerate progress. With this framework in place, we can ensure that discoveries benefit all Canadians and reflect the country’s diversity.

Transdisciplinary collaboration for impact: Canada’s collaborative culture is a powerful asset, but to accelerate progress in brain and mental health research, we need to be intentional about strengthening connections across the full research spectrum — from foundational science to clinical application and innovation. A national brain research initiative should focus on building these critical connections across disciplines, linking scientists, industry leaders, clinicians, people with lived experience, and Indigenous Knowledges Holders. Transdisciplinary training can achieve this. Specifically, by embedding collaboration and cross-disciplinary knowledge exchange into training programs, the initiative can develop brain research leaders capable of leveraging the latest innovations. In this way, Canada will ensure that the benefits of today’s investments accrue for decades, delivering both health and economic outcomes.

A holistic vision of brain health: Canada must adopt a more holistic approach to brain research that recognizes the deep interconnections between mental and neurological conditions and expands the definition of brain health beyond the absence of disease. Historically, the separation of mental and neurological research has hindered progress in research and clinical care. Indigenous Knowledges offer rich, holistic perspectives that can enhance our understanding of brain health and improve research effectiveness. A national initiative should dismantle traditional silos and, in addition to treating disease, prioritize mental well-being, neurodiversity, and flourishing as central to brain health.

The need for a coordinated strategy

Canada now stands at a critical moment — a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform brain research and health. A national initiative, with a strong emphasis on coordination, can drive this transformation by aligning and leveraging research efforts across the country. It would build on existing investments and position Canada to leap ahead of nations where brain research remains fragmented and disconnected, limiting its broader impact.

CBRS has crafted a national strategy uniquely suited to Canadians’ strengths and needs. The strategy’s emphasis on talent and infrastructure to foster collaboration, data sharing and open science will create the conditions for transformative discoveries in brain research and ensure that every institution, regardless of size or location, can contribute. The strategy will also prepare the next generation of researchers to work in transdisciplinary teams, equipping them to tackle the complex brain health challenges of the future.

Now is Canada’s moment to lead. With the appropriate investment and coordination, Canada’s brain research initiative can serve as a model for the world and bring new hope to millions of Canadians and others around the globe.