Ottawa invests $61.5 million in aging study

OTTAWA – Filomena Tassi (pictured), minister of labour, on behalf of Patty Hajdu, minister of health, announced an investment of $61.5 million from the Government of Canada for the next phase of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). This funding includes $52 million from Canadian Institutes of Health Research and $9.5 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

The CLSA is the largest and longest study of its kind in Canada and includes over 50,000 Canadians between the ages of 45 and 85 whose health will be tracked for at least 20 years. Led by Dr. Parminder Raina at McMaster University, Dr. Susan Kirkland at Dalhousie University, and Dr. Christina Wolfson at McGill University, the CLSA is a collaboration between 160 researchers located at 26 institutions across the country.

“Congratulations to Dr. Parminder Raina at McMaster University and his team across the country for building a world-leading research platform. This funding will allow the CLSA team to continue to augment our knowledge of the social and health factors that affect how people age and support our government’s efforts to help all Canadians live long, healthy, and fulfilling lives. This important work will help support evidence-based decision making that will benefit Hamiltonians and communities across Canada.”

Since 2010, CLSA researchers have collected data from participants in the study at three-year intervals. This investment will ensure that the collection of this vital data continues. Researchers worldwide have been accessing CLSA data for insight into a wide range of areas such as healthy aging, mental health of older adults, and age-friendly environments.

“The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging is more important than ever before – with both an aging population, and the many impacts on the health and wellbeing of Canadians from the COVID-19 pandemic that will be felt for years to come. This investment will benefit all Canadians for many years to come,” said Minister Hajdu.

“CIHR is pleased to renew funding in the CLSA. This is a unique platform, not only in Canada, but worldwide for research on aging, collecting data that will benefit health research for years to come. We thank all participants and researchers involved in this study for their continued support in this wide-ranging and significant research on the health of our aging population in Canada,” commented Dr. Jane Rylett, scientific director, CIHR Institute of Aging and CIHR co-lead, CLSA.

By 2036, nearly one in four Canadians will be age 65 or older and the proportion of the oldest seniors (80 years and over) will also increase sharply.

To address this demographic shift, the Government of Canada, through CIHR, is funding the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging, a national study that collects information on the changing biological, medical, psychological, social, and economic aspects of the lives of over 50,000 Canadian men and women who were between the ages of 45 and 85 when recruited, for a period of 20 years.

CIHR is providing a new investment of $52 million over six years, bringing its total investment in the CLSA to $132.6 million since 2001. To date, the CFI has invested almost $19.8 million in infrastructure support for the CLSA.