During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian researchers contributed to the development and refinement of genomic tools used to track SARS-CoV-2 variants internationally. Yet in many low- and middle-income countries, those tools could not be deployed at scale. Laboratories lacked sustained funding, data platforms were fragmented, and trained personnel were in short supply. Samples accumulated faster than they could be sequenced, and early warning signals arrived late. The limitation was not Canadian science, but the fragility of the global health systems needed to carry it into practice.

In an interconnected risk landscape, gaps in global surveillance create blind spots not only for countries most exposed, but also for Canada’s own health security. This experience underscores why research excellence alone is not enough and why policy choices about global health funding matter.

Recent federal announcements have created a striking policy contrast. While Canada is expanding support for domestic research and university-based innovation, it is reducing parts of its foreign aid, especially in global health and infectious diseases. One stark example has been a recent drop in Canada’s contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

This in turn generates a paradox that stifles impact.

Robust investment expands research infrastructure and deepens links to global knowledge networks. But when these investments occur alongside cuts to global health funding, it reveals a disconnect between the goal of building scientific capacity at home and Canada’s willingness to make an impactful contribution to the global systems that make that science effective.

Unlocking reciprocal benefit

Progress in genomics, epidemiology, climate modelling and environmental surveillance circulates internationally. These advancements inform global monitoring systems and shape how governments prepare for emerging risks. Canada both contributes to and depends on this shared scientific landscape, a reality reflected in the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s emphasis on international research partnerships as essential to improving health outcomes for Canadians.

Ottawa’s funding cuts for breakthrough scientific research hurts all Canadians

A coherent global health strategy would help Canada lead in the world

Yet research only achieves real-world impact when the institutions capable of applying the advancements it delivers are adequately resourced. A reduction in Canada’s contribution to global health programs has two negative consequences. First, it weakens surveillance networks, response capacity and health-system readiness in places facing the highest risk. In turn, this widens the gap between discovery and implementation.

Why does it matter?

Pandemics, antimicrobial resistance, food-system disruptions, climate-driven emergencies and ecosystem degradation cannot be managed through domestic strategy alone. Research done by Canadian institutions is indispensable in addressing these challenges. But to work, it needs to be connected to health systems worldwide, functioning multilateral institutions and policies that support the flow of data, tools and resources.

An example of this is genomic surveillance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadian research expertise proved indispensable, but its impact depended on functioning laboratories, data-sharing platforms and reporting systems beyond Canada’s borders to detect variants early enough to inform effective response.

Blueprints need builders

When domestic science budgets grow while global health commitments decline, the architecture that turns research into action becomes less effective. Scientific insight without operational capacity is like a blueprint without the builders or materials required to make it real.

By contrast, ensuring ongoing support for international entities such as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria actually helps optimize the impact of research excellence at home.

Going forward, this can be achieved not just by ensuring funding, but also by applying a more coherent approach that links new research investments to:

• Global risk priorities, ensuring that funded projects address cross-border threats.
• Long-term partnerships with institutions in low- and middle-income countries, so knowledge is produced and applied collaboratively.
• Systems that translate research into practice, including surveillance platforms, data-sharing mechanisms and public-health capacity.
• Equitable scientific policy, recognizing that global threats cannot be managed if only wealthy countries are equipped to study them.

In an era of intersecting global risks, science and global responsibility cannot move in opposite directions.

On top of that reality, Canada enjoys a strong reputation as a science-driven country on the world stage. To sustain that reputation, and to ensure Canadian research contributes meaningfully to global stability, scientific ambition must be matched with predictable and sustained global health commitments.