The Year Ahead: Health

1. A New Drug Will Revolutionize Alzheimer’s Care

Canada’s battle against Alzheimer’s has a new weapon. Health Canada has conditionally approved lecanemab, a lab-made antibody designed to slow early-stage Alzheimer’s by targeting amyloid plaques in the brain. Unlike existing drugs that only mask symptoms, lecanemab is the country’s first disease-modifying therapy, offering the possibility of changing the trajectory of the illness for patients diagnosed early. It’s no panacea: lecanemab cannot restore memories or reverse the disease, and eligibility is limited to those in the early stages who meet certain criteria. But with roughly 750,000 Canadians living with dementia, and treatment costs in the U.S. hitting  $26,500 a year, the drug will provide some measure of hope.

2. Generic Ozempic Will Flood the Market

Weight-loss drugs are about to hit the discount aisle. About a million Canadians already use GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, which mimic a natural hormone that curbs appetite and regulates blood sugar. In January, Novo Nordisk’s patent exclusivity will expire and, early next year, generic versions will hit Canadian pharmacies, slashing costs and expanding access. Big pharma companies will be lining up to sell cheaper versions, and the price drop could be substantial—from about $400 a month to under $100. Novo Nordisk, AstraZeneca and Pfizer will all fight for market share.

3. AI Will Do Doctors’ Dirty Work

Across Canada, health-care clinics are using AI scribes, which create medical notes in seconds and carve out more time for patient consultations. In 2026, Santé Québec will launch a major pilot to bring the technology to hospitals and family medicine groups, with Montreal startup Plume IA leading the charge. After recording patient visits (with consent), the app drafts detailed reports, freeing up doctors for higher-order tasks. Canada Health Infoway is also funding AI scribes for 10,000 clinicians across the country. Already, OntarioMD says physicians using AI transcription tools will cut time spent on paperwork by 70 to 90 per cent.

4. Western Canada Will Get Its First New Med School in Decades

Skyrocketing building costs, faculty shortages and poor planning have kept new med schools out of Western Canada for the last 50 years. Now, Simon Fraser University is breaking the curse: in the summer of 2026, it will welcome its inaugural class of 48 students at a temporary Surrey campus, while construction of a $520‑million permanent facility, slated to open in the fall of 2030, begins across the street. The school should help unclog a long-standing bottleneck, but it’s only one solution to B.C’s health-care problems; after all, it will take years before graduates hit the front lines. 

5. Preventable Diseases Will Make a Comeback

Measles is just the start. Other old-timey ailments, like mumps, are also making a comeback, fuelled by declining vaccination rates: as of 2023, only 83 per cent of Canadian children have received at least one dose of the MMR vaccine, far below the 95 per cent herd-immunity threshold. In 2025, Canada lost its measles elimination status. There were 5,000 cases, the highest since 1998, and one baby even died after being infected in utero. In 2026, health communicators will try to quash vaccine hesitancy and expand family-doctor access before we summon even more old foes (polio, anyone?).

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6. Ontario Will Go All In on Private Surgery Centres

Ontario is betting big on private clinics to tackle its health-care backlog. In 2026, the province will open new private orthopaedic surgical centres capable of delivering 20,000 surgeries over two years, as part of the Ford government’s push to provide procedures outside traditional hospitals. Private clinics will do the surgeries, and OHIP will pay the bills. The new plan includes 57 new MRI, CT and endoscopy centres, backed by $155 million in provincial investment. It’s much needed: the median gap from referral to treatment recently hit 23.6 weeks, the longest since we started keeping track in 1993.

7. Provinces Will Invest in Long-Term-Care Centres

Nearly one in five Canadians will be over 65 by 2030, and hospitals are gearing up for the silver tsunami. In Ontario, the former Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital site is being redeveloped into two LTC homes, with construction expected to start early this year. Out west, a new 200-bed LTC home is replacing Chilliwack’s 90-bed Bradley Centre. Oak Valley Health’s Uxbridge Hospital is getting a $8.9‑million expansion that includes a 192-bed LTC home on campus, integrating acute care, post-acute care and primary services. These kinds of long-term-care wings will soon become the norm, freeing up hospital beds and keeping our health-care system afloat. 

8. Alberta Will Double Down on Its Trans Health-Care Ban

Premier Danielle Smith has invoked the Charter of Rights and Freedom’s notwithstanding clause to enforce a ban on gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy for people under 18. Smith argues the ban is about protecting children from making life-altering decisions; critics say it forces transgender youth to endure the unwanted, irreversible changes that come with puberty. Last year, nearly 2,000 people province-wide claimed coverage for Lupron, which treats early puberty. Families who can afford it might look for new homes.

9. Ontario Med Schools Will Bar International Students

Starting in the fall of 2026, Ontario medical schools will effectively close their doors to non-Ontario students, reserving at least 95 per cent of spots for provincial residents. The idea is to train Ontarians first in order to retain more graduates in the province and tackle the province’s growing doctor shortage. Roughly 2.5 million Ontarians lack a family physician, a figure projected to nearly double in coming years. The provincial government will cover med-school tuition for students who commit to working as family doctors in Ontario, a carrot meant to keep homegrown talent from leaving. Just a handful of spots will remain for Canadians from other provinces, and international applicants will only be considered if those go unfilled.

10. Cervical Cancer Rates Will Rise

Rates of cervical cancer in Canadian women are poised to grow through 2026, even as deaths from lung, colorectal and other cancers fall. The culprit is clear: the leading cause of cervical cancer is human papillomavirus. There is a safe, effective vaccine against HPV, so this is one cancer we should be able to vanquish. But vaccine uptake and cost vary wildly by province, with many Canadians still having to shell out $600 for the shot. Add in plummeting screening rates during the pandemic and dwindling access to family doctors, and Canada’s pledge to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 will keep slipping out of reach.