14 Canadian hospitals join forces to accelerate medical research

New agreement aims to reduce research delays, strengthen collaboration and bring medical discoveries to patients faster

Fourteen University of Toronto-affiliated hospitals have signed a landmark agreement designed to simplify collaborative medical research, reduce administrative delays and accelerate the development of new treatments.

The Master Collaboration Agreement, established through the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN), introduces a shared legal and operational framework that will make it easier for participating hospitals to conduct research across multiple institutions.

The initiative addresses a longstanding challenge in Canadian healthcare research: the complexity of coordinating studies involving several hospitals, each with its own administrative and approval processes.

Under the agreement, participating institutions can use a common framework for eligible research activities, reducing the need to negotiate separate legal arrangements for each collaboration.

Early results demonstrate significant improvements

The initiative builds on a pilot launched in December 2024 involving the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and University Health Network.

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Unity Health Toronto subsequently joined the initiative, creating a four-hospital pilot.

According to the November 3 announcement, average research study activation timelines in the pilot decreased by more than 75 per cent, from 448 days to 109 days.

The framework is supporting 43 collaborative research studies at various stages of implementation, including projects involving cancer, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

These early results demonstrate the potential for streamlined administrative processes to reduce the time required to initiate collaborative medical research.

Strengthening Canada’s research competitiveness

The agreement comes as Canada faces growing international competition for clinical trials, research investment and scientific talent.

According to the participating institutions, Canada’s clinical trial activity declined 11 per cent in 2024, while its international ranking for industry-sponsored Phase 3 trials fell from fifth to eighth.

The 14 hospitals participating in the agreement collectively represent a significant component of Canada’s healthcare research infrastructure.

Their combined research funding exceeded $1.7 billion in fiscal 2025.

Participating institutions include SickKids, CAMH, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University Health Network, Sinai Health, Women’s College Hospital, Trillium Health Partners and several other leading academic hospitals.

Implementation will take place in phases

Although all 14 hospitals have signed the agreement, implementation will occur gradually as institutions adapt their internal research processes.

The framework is intended to simplify collaboration while maintaining institutional requirements for research ethics, privacy, security and oversight.

For researchers, the initiative could reduce administrative duplication and make it easier to launch studies involving multiple healthcare organizations.

For patients, the longer-term objective is to support faster development and evaluation of new treatments and healthcare innovations.

The agreement also provides a potential model for other Canadian academic health networks seeking to improve research collaboration.

Source: Trillium Health Partners — November 3, 2026 announcement and TAHSN Master Collaboration Agreement.

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