A robust life sciences strategy will generate national prosperity and support more resilient healthcare systems across Canada.

Hosted by the Resilient Healthcare Coalition (RHC), this dynamic virtual roundtable spotlighted the lifesciencescan campaign (www.lifesciencescan.ca) and its recent call for a National Life Sciences Strategy for Canada. It highlighted some of the specific steps Canadian policymakers and their sector partners should immediately take to demonstrate collaborative leadership. It also emphasized the importance of improving patient outcomes by accelerating and expanding access to health technologies, and by optimizing the collection, integration and analysis of health care data.

In Canada, there are over 170,000 charitable and non-profit organizations which contribute an average of 8.1% of total Canadian GDP, more than the retail trade industry and close to the value of the mining, oil, and gas extraction industry. This translates to two million Canadians working in the sector – supported by over 13 million volunteers. Providing essential support, education and engagement in the public policy issues of the day, health charities have always played an essential role in communities across Canada.

Over the past year, COVID-19 has forced leaders across the Canadian healthcare system to confront not only a massive public health crisis, but also a constellation of multiple pre-existing challenges each made exponentially worse by the global pandemic. Whether sitting in public health agencies or hospitals or community organizations or long-term care homes, these leaders were forced to confront health systems that were too often underfunded, underprepared and inflexible to deliver the patient care required in the face of the pandemic.