By: Jasmine Rooke, Communications Manager, Bruyère Health Research Institute ​

For the first time, anti-amyloid treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are approved for use in Canada. This landmark decision from Health Canada came in the fall of 2025, sparking both hope and questions for patients and health care providers across the country. 

“This is the first new treatment for Alzheimer's disease in Canada in 20 years,” said Dr. Andrew Frank, cognitive neurologist with the Bruyère Health Memory Clinic and Investigator with Bruyère Health Research Institute. The memory clinic has been devoted to pharmaceutical trials for Alzheimer’s disease, while also supporting research on dementia care, technologies to support aging in place, and caregiver supports.

“It’s not a cure, and is not without risk, but anti-amyloid therapy can slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, giving people more time functioning independently. Now we need to ensure we have a health care system that delivers treatments in a safe, accessible, and equitable way, giving more families choice and hope.”

As rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s rise with the aging population, Bruyère Health is advancing a comprehensive dementia strategy to create a health care system that supports inclusive and accessible care for people living with dementia and their loved ones.

Part of that strategy is adopting groundbreaking therapies as they become available, and as the only dedicated academic clinic of its kind in Eastern Ontario, the Bruyère Health Memory Clinic will work with regional partners to ensure anti-amyloid therapies and future disease-modifying therapies are safely and equitably available to those who are eligible, as part of a comprehensive plan of care for those with Alzheimer’s disease.

The recently launched Canadian Alzheimer's Readiness (CARE) Initiative, led by Dr. Frank, is testing the Canadian-made Perceiv Foresight™ d​igital health platform in multiple provinces, to create a blueprint for safe and standardized patient care. The platform supports the logistical demands of identifying, tracking, and coordinating eligibility, treatment protocols, and potential side effects in real-time.

“This is just one step towards ensuring Canada is equipped to manage the complexity of the treatment process,” said Dr. Frank. “We hope this platform will also form a National Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment Registry, capable of monitoring the long-term safety and effectiveness of new Alzheimer’s treatments across Canada. This data will be invaluable over time, especially as new treatments may be introduced in the future.”

Alongside piloting much-needed infrastructure, continued research into early detection and diagnosis also remains at the forefront at Bruyère Health, knowing that anti-amyloid therapy is most promising for patients who are in the early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. New blood-based biomarker trials aim to help screen patients faster and less invasively than current standard procedures, such as lu​​mbar punctures and PET scans. 

Decades of research have led to the arrival of disease-modifying therapies, but more needs to be done to successfully treat and support Canadians living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. From pharmaceutical trials to innovative technologies, research is foundational to evolving care for patients and their loved ones, while strengthening the health care system we rely on.