AGE-WELL’s three pillars: Charting the future 

Supported by three recent federal investments and partner contributions, AGE-WELL is driving impact across a trilogy of pillars – research, capacity-building and adoption. Together, these pillars support a strong innovation pipeline from foundational research to technology adoption.

As the premiere Canadian AgeTech research and innovation network, AGE-WELL is committed to working across these three interconnected pillars to solidify Canada’s role as a world leader in aging innovation.

The three pillars in our bold strategy:

Research – programs and services to strengthen and sustain Canada’s university-based AgeTech research ecosystem and deliver healthy aging solutions for Canadians. We will be announcing new opportunities for researchers in coming months. This pillar is funded through the Strategic Science Fund, jointly administered by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and Health Canada, and through matching funds from private and public sector partners.
 

Capacity building – programs to train the next generation of Canadian researchers and innovators. The EPIC-AT Health Research Training Program is powered by AGE-WELL, led by researchers from 11 universities and research hospitals across six Canadian provinces, and hosted at the University of Toronto. EPIC-AT is funded through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Health Research Training Platform (HRTP) Pilot.

Technology adoption – programs to support Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to commercialize their technologies and accelerate access to AgeTech for older Canadians, caregivers and health professionals. AGE-WELL and MEDTEQ+ co-lead envisAGE, a pan-Canadian initiative that provides resources and supports to SMEs to integrate their technologies at community sites. envisAGE is funded through the Strategic Innovation Fund – Stream 5, managed by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, with additional contributions from the Government of Quebec, industry, non-profits and other partners.

The interdependence of these three pillars is critical. No one pillar alone is sufficient to address the indisputable and urgent needs of our aging population.

As AGE-WELL transitions out of the federal Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program, we gratefully acknowledge these significant new federal investments and partner contributions that fuel our work as the recognized steward of Canada’s AgeTech sector.