Investing in Brain Capital: A New Pillar for Canada’s Innovation Economy

Canada’s Innovation Strategy Starts with Brain Capital

In a time of geopolitical uncertainty, mounting productivity challenges and artificial intelligence (AI) advancement, Canada must reassess how it leverages its strengths, addresses systemic vulnerabilities, and activates its most underutilized asset: brain capital. Encompassing the cognitive, emotional, and social capacities of individuals and communities to adapt, innovate, and lead, brain capital is increasingly recognized as a foundational driver of economic resilience and innovation (Eyre et al., 2021).

Building on this recognition, the concept of the brain economy has gained global traction as a strategic lens for policy and growth. The McKinsey Health Institute defines the brain economy as “a resilient, thriving economic system, fueled by healthy brains to meet the growing societal demand for brain capital” (McKinsey Health Institute, 2024). This framing positions brain health not only as a public health priority but as an essential component of national economic strategy. Global organizations such as the World Economic Forum have similarly emphasized the importance of embedding brain capital into innovation and policy frameworks to build a future-ready economy (World Economic Forum, 2024a).

As global demand for innovation accelerates, Canada must adopt an integrated approach that connects health, education, technology, and economic development. Canada’s innovation strategy must reflect this interdependence.

Alberta is well-positioned to lead this shift. With a strong foundation in digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI), and a population that is both aging and demographically youthful, the province offers a strategic entry point for advancing the brain economy. Brain capital is emerging as a practical framework for economic development, workforce resilience, and population health. Alberta’s proactive stance can serve as a national model.

The Economic Case for Brain Health

Brain health is no longer a niche public health concern. It is a macroeconomic necessity. Poor brain health including cognitive decline, mental illness, and neurodevelopmental disorders reduces GDP, drives up healthcare costs, and hinders innovation.

According to the OECD (2021), the economic cost of poor mental health in high-income countries exceeds 4% of GDP annually. In Alberta alone, dementia costs are projected to reach $15.3 billion annually by 2050, while mental health and addiction issues add $5 to $6 billion each year (Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, 2023).

Every dollar spent on treating depression and anxiety can yield up to four dollars in improved productivity and health outcomes (WHO, 2016). In Canada, scaling mental health interventions could reduce the national burden of disease by 36% and generate nearly $88 billion in GDP impact by 2050 (McKinsey Health Institute, 2025).

Over time, investments in brain capital raise total factor productivity, a key determinant of long-term prosperity. Building a brain-healthy society is foundational to inclusive, future-ready economic growth.

The Cost of Poor Brain Health

Brain health challenges impose a multibillion-dollar burden on Alberta through rising healthcare costs, lost productivity, long-term disability, and GDP drag. Dementia alone costs over $83,000 per person annually, the highest in Canada, and total costs are expected to reach $15.3 billion by 2050 (CANCEA, 2023; Livingston et al., 2020). One in five Albertans experiences a mental health issue each year, with mental illness a top driver of workplace disability.

Alberta’s Innovation Edge

Alberta has the youngest average age among Canadian provinces (Statistics Canada, 2020), strengthening the return on investment in cognitive performance, education, and mental health. At the same time, nearly one in four Albertans will be over 65 by 2040, necessitating policies for dementia care and health infrastructure.

With strengths in AI, clinical research, and digital health, Alberta can serve as a testbed for proactive, data-driven systems shaped by lived experience.

Nordic countries illustrate this model in practice. Decades of investment in brain health, education, and social infrastructure have contributed to their high GDP per capita and world-leading well-being indicators (OECD, 2023). The World Economic Forum (2024b) affirms brain health as a national economic imperative, reinforcing the opportunity for Alberta to align its health, education, and innovation systems to unlock its full cognitive and economic potential.

A Platform for National Policy

To seize this opportunity, Alberta should establish a Provincial Brain Capital Council to coordinate investment across health, education, labor, and economic ministries. This council could bridge sectoral gaps, accelerate innovation, and prepare for AI-enabled brain health solutions.

This aligns with the Canadian Brain Research Initiative roadmap (Young et al., 2024) and global efforts such as the Brain Economy Action Forum organized by the World Economic Forum (2024a) and the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, which emphasize data interoperability and dementia preparedness. Alberta and Canada should actively engage in G7, G20, and World Economic Forum dialogues on brain capital and health equity.

Digital Infrastructure as Innovation Backbone

Alberta can build on models like the Ontario Brain Institute’s Brain-CODE platform to create secure, interoperable systems for cognitive and clinical data (Ontario Brain Institute, 2023). These platforms enable early detection, longitudinal research, and AI decision tools, while supporting commercialization in the bio-digital economy.

Digital brain health intersects with rural access, Indigenous health equity, and women’s health. Culturally adapted tools, neuroinclusive training, and public-private partnerships can reshape how institutions respond to burnout, aging, and mental stress.

A Call to Rethink Innovation

To reverse Canada’s innovation lag, we must expand what counts as innovation policy. The brain economy bridges health and productivity, prevention and prosperity, inclusion and competitiveness. It demands cross-sector coordination and long-term outcome tracking.

This is a near-term opportunity. Alberta can integrate neuroplasticity-based programs in schools and workplaces, enable billing codes for cognitive assessments, and set public-sector benchmarks for brain capital. With investment, Alberta could emerge as a global top three brain economy leader by 2055.

Nationally, we must recognize that brain performance is infrastructure. Just as we invest in roads and broadband, we must invest in cognitive capacity. Canada can lead in AI and health tech and in reimagining what a resilient, inclusive innovation economy looks like.

Expanding the Brain Capital Framework

Brain capital includes cognitive skills, emotional intelligence, and social connectivity. It encompasses both individual potential and the collective brain trust of communities.

As AI reshapes labor markets, brain capital becomes a core determinant of national adaptability. Prioritizing it equips nations to thrive amid rapid change (OECD, 2021).

From Local to Global Opportunity

What applies locally also applies globally. Brain health initiatives could unlock over $26 trillion in economic value and add 150 million high quality life years by 2040 (Eyre et al., 2024; McKinsey Health Institute, 2023). In Canada alone, scaling mental health solutions could generate $87.9 billion in GDP impact and 600,000 additional work years by 2050 (McKinsey Health Institute, 2025).

The World Economic Forum underscores this opportunity, emphasizing brain capital as essential to future-ready economies and urging its integration into workforce transformation and digital health strategies (World Economic Forum, 2024a). Alberta’s alignment with these frameworks can position Canada as a leader in cognitive economic development.

Toward a National Brain Capital Strategy

Canada must elevate brain capital to a national economic priority. Federal funds, provincial policies, and private partnerships must converge around a coordinated strategy.

Alberta can serve as the launchpad, but national collaboration is essential to unlock the full economic and societal return on brain capital investment.

References 

Brain Capital Alliance. (2024). Integrating brain skills into national digital and workforce strategies. OECD Brain Capital Alliance.

Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis. (2023). Economic impact of dementia and mental health in Alberta. Toronto, ON: CANCEA.

Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative. (2023). Dementia readiness and data interoperability: Global progress report. https://www.davosalzheimerscollaborative.org/

Eyre, H. A., Berk, M., Lavretsky, H., & et al. (2021). The concept of brain capital: A new investment approach for the future of society. Molecular Psychiatry, 26(1), 289–292. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-020-00905-w

Eyre, H. A., Hynes, W., Mangat, D., Smith, E., & Baghbanian, A. (2024). Building brain capital: A global strategy for economic resilience and societal well-being. OECD Brain Capital Alliance and Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative.

Livingston, G., Huntley, J., Sommerlad, A., Ames, D., Ballard, C., Banerjee, S., … & Mukadam, N. (2020). Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2020 report of the Lancet Commission. The Lancet, 396(10248), 413–446. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30367-6

McKinsey Health Institute. (2024). What is brain health? Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/mckinsey-explainers/what-is-brain-health

McKinsey Health Institute. (2023). Prioritizing health: A prescription for prosperity. https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/prioritizing-health-a-prescription-for-prosperity

McKinsey Health Institute. (2025). Scaling mental health: Unlocking economic potential in Canada. McKinsey & Company. (Forthcoming publication; citation based on advance release materials)

OECD. (2021). Fostering economic resilience through brain capital. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. https://www.oecd.org/

OECD. (2023). Better life index: Country insights. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. https://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/

Ontario Brain Institute. (2023). Brain-CODE: A data platform to support neuroscience discovery and innovation. Retrieved from https://braininstitute.ca/research-data-sharing/brain-code

Smith, E., Hynes, W., & Eyre, H. A. (2021). Brain capital: A new policy agenda for human and societal resilience. OECD Publishing.

Statistics Canada. (2020). Population estimates on July 1st, by age and sex. https://www.statcan.gc.ca/

World Economic Forum. (2024a). Brain health action forum. https://initiatives.weforum.org/brain-health-action-forum/home

World Economic Forum. (2024b). Health futures: Bridging health and economic policy through brain capital. https://www.weforum.org/

World Health Organization. (2016). Investing in treatment for depression and anxiety leads to fourfold return. WHO News Release. https://www.who.int/news/item/13-04-2016

Young, J., Linkenhoker, B., & Borthwick, C. (2024). The case for a Canadian brain research initiative: Policy roadmap and next steps. Canadian Brain Research Strategy.