The Complete Guide to Healthcare & Life Sciences Funding in Canada

Canada’s largest single source of R&D support for healthcare companies. SR&ED provides refundable tax credits on eligible expenditures including salaries, materials, subcontractor costs, and — as of Budget 2025 — capital equipment used 90%+ for R&D. Healthcare activities that qualify include developing novel assays, creating new medical devices, formulating therapeutics, designing diagnostic algorithms, and process innovation in biomanufacturing. The CRA uses a three-part test: technological uncertainty, systematic investigation, and technological advancement.

Canada’s federal health research funding agency invested $1.336 billion in 2024-25. CIHR funds the full spectrum of health research, from discovery to application, through competitive grant programs. The Fall 2025 Project Grant competition funded 421 grants totaling $413 million, with an average award of $980,000 over 4.5 years. Industry companies typically participate as co-applicants or collaborators alongside university researchers, benefiting from shared risk and access to world-class clinical infrastructure.

Canada’s premier innovation program for SMEs, with $562 million in total expenditures in 2024-25 (including $437 million in grants). IRAP is exceptionally relevant for healthcare companies developing medical devices, digital health platforms, biotech products, and diagnostic tools. It provides both advisory services through an assigned Industrial Technology Advisor (ITA) and non-repayable funding. Healthcare companies benefit from IRAP’s coverage of broader commercialization activities that SR&ED doesn’t cover, making the two programs ideal stacking partners.

Since 2000, Genome Canada has facilitated $4 billion in total research investment ($1.6B federal + $2.4B co-funding), producing 531 patents and 131 spinoff companies. The organization funds large-scale genomics projects through its six regional centres: Ontario Genomics, Genome Quebec, Genome BC, Genome Alberta, Genome Prairie, and Genome Atlantic. The Genomic Applications Partnership Program (GAPP) specifically funds public-private innovation. The $175.1 million Canadian Genomics Strategy (launched February 2025) and the $200 million Canadian Precision Health Initiative (March 2025) represent major new investment in health genomics and precision medicine.

BioCanRx is Canada’s immunotherapy network, bringing together researchers, clinicians, academia, and industry to move promising cancer treatments from the lab to the clinic. With $38 million from the Strategic Science Fund (5-year commitment), BioCanRx has funded 60 projects including 12 clinical trials and seven core facilities. The network has leveraged $115.2 million in partner contributions (4.2x leverage ratio). Companies participate through industry-academic partnerships, accessing non-dilutive funding, core facilities, and commercialization support through IRICoR. Spin-out companies like Virica Biotech have emerged from BioCanRx investments.

CFI funds research infrastructure at Canadian universities, hospitals, and research institutions. While companies cannot apply directly, healthcare innovators benefit significantly through partnerships. The Innovation Fund supports large-scale health research infrastructure. The John R. Evans Leaders Fund (JELF) provides up to 40% of projects costing up to $2 million. The Research Facilities Navigator lists 800+ publicly funded labs in 28 sectors, including life sciences, where companies can find collaboration partners and access equipment for validation and prototyping.

The Strategic Response Fund (formerly Strategic Innovation Fund) supports large-scale biomanufacturing and life sciences projects through its $5 billion program. Recent health investments include $62 million to Entos Pharmaceuticals for a biomanufacturing R&D centre for genetic medicines, $49 million to Aspect Biosystems for bio-printed tissue therapeutics, and $49.9 million to STEMCELL Technologies. Over $2.3 billion has been invested since 2020 in rebuilding Canada’s vaccine, therapeutics, and biomanufacturing capacity. Minimum SRF contribution is $10 million (minimum $20M total project cost).

The Digital Health and Discovery Platform (DHDP) is a $25 million federal investment administered through the Terry Fox Research Institute to build a pan-Canadian digital health data platform. Individual projects receive between $1 million and $7 million, focusing on AI-ready health data infrastructure, federated learning systems, and clinical decision support tools. DHDP specifically targets companies and research teams working on interoperable health data systems that connect across provincial health networks — a key gap in Canada’s healthcare ecosystem. Companies building health data analytics, clinical AI, or population health platforms should explore DHDP as a complement to IRAP (which funds the product development) while DHDP funds the data infrastructure layer.

Canada Health Infoway funds innovation projects that improve connected care and digital health adoption across the Canadian health system. The Connected Care Innovation Grant provides up to $40,000 per project for organizations implementing or scaling interoperable digital health solutions — including patient portals, virtual care platforms, e-prescribing systems, and health information exchange tools. While the individual grant amount is modest, Infoway projects gain significant credibility advantages: they come with access to Infoway’s clinical validation frameworks, their ACCESS Health network of health system adopters, and endorsement that accelerates procurement by provincial health authorities. For early-stage digital health companies, a successful Infoway project often unlocks larger IRAP or provincial funding by demonstrating real-world clinical adoption.

Beyond its flagship Project Grants, CIHR operates several specialized funding streams relevant to healthcare companies. The Health System Impact Fellowship embeds PhD and postdoctoral fellows directly in health organizations (including companies) with salary support of $50,000–$70,000/year for 1–3 years, providing companies with embedded research talent at no cost. CIHR’s Catalyst Grants ($25,000–$100,000, 1 year) specifically fund high-risk pilot projects that test innovative approaches to health challenges, ideal for validating a concept before pursuing larger IRAP or Project Grant funding. The CIHR-NSERC Collaborative Health Research Projects (CHRP) program funds interdisciplinary projects that bridge health and engineering — highly relevant for medical device, biomedical engineering, and health AI companies.