Life Sciences & Research Industry

LIFE SCIENCES IN TORONTO: A ONE-STOP-SHOP FOR RESEARCH, CLINICAL TRIALS AND COMMERCIALIZATION

The Toronto Region is a rare global location for life sciences and research where innovative medical products can be built from idea to commercialization all in one place - shortening the development lifecycle to get new therapies to patients faster

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From discovery to adoption, the Toronto Region is home to a life sciences ecosystem that can help your business develop exciting new products, run them through clinical trials, and bring them to market – all in one place and at a lower cost than other major life sciences hubs.

Toronto’s Discovery District, a 2.5km² downtown research park and health innovation hub, comprises 7 million square feet of facilities representing Canada’s largest concentration of hospitals, research institutes, business incubators, and venture capital organizations, along with the University of Toronto. Within a 15-minute walk, 10 different clinical trial sites can be reached. The Discovery District invests over $1 billion annually into public and private medical research.

Canada's Life Sciences scene is growing rapidly, and the Toronto Region is a central location for this exciting industry with an emerging labour force of over 47,000 workers and over 16,000 STEM graduates each year. Join like-minded individuals, businesses, and startups in the Toronto region as they change the face of life science and research in Canada.

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What is the Life Sciences and Research Industry?

The Life Sciences Industry refers to organizations and companies centered around research, development, and manufacturing products focused on living things, such as animals, plants, and humans. These can include pharmaceuticals, biotechnology-based food and medicines, medical devices, biomedical technology, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals, food processing, and other products that help improve living organisms' lives.

Pharmaceuticals - Pharmaceutical companies develop and distribute medicines to cure, treat, and prevent diseases and health conditions.
Biotechnology - Biotech companies use the natural processes of living organisms to manufacture food and medicinal products.
Medical devices - Medical device companies develop and manufacture medical and surgical instruments that can be used to diagnose, prevent, monitor, and treat medical conditions. A medical device can be an instrument, machine, implant, apparatus, software, or a combination.
Biomedical technology - Biomedical tech companies apply engineering and technology principles to living and biological systems, focusing especially on human health and diseases.
Nutraceuticals - Nutraceutical companies develop and manufacture pharmaceutical alternatives which claim physiological benefits, such as dietary supplements and food additives.
Cosmeceuticals - Cosmeceutical companies develop cosmetic products with biologically active ingredients that claim to enhance skincare efficacy, such as sunscreens, retinoids, and antioxidants.
Food processing - Food processing companies treat food substances by changing their properties to preserve them and improve their quality using chemical, biological, and mechanical processes.

What is the Life Sciences and Research Industry?

Pharmaceuticals - Pharmaceutical companies develop and distribute medicines to cure, treat, and prevent diseases and health conditions.
Biotechnology - Biotech companies use the natural processes of living organisms to manufacture food and medicinal products.
Medical devices - Medical device companies develop and manufacture medical and surgical instruments that can be used to diagnose, prevent, monitor, and treat medical conditions. A medical device can be an instrument, machine, implant, apparatus, software, or a combination.
Biomedical technology - Biomedical tech companies apply engineering and technology principles to living and biological systems, focusing especially on human health and diseases.
Nutraceuticals - Nutraceutical companies develop and manufacture pharmaceutical alternatives which claim physiological benefits, such as dietary supplements and food additives.
Cosmeceuticals - Cosmeceutical companies develop cosmetic products with biologically active ingredients that claim to enhance skincare efficacy, such as sunscreens, retinoids, and antioxidants.
Food processing - Food processing companies treat food substances by changing their properties to preserve them and improve their quality using chemical, biological, and mechanical processes.

Sitting adjacent to the United States with a single payer healthcare system, the Toronto Region offers significant cost savings to your life science business.

Aerial photo of Toronto skyline with lake Ontario in background

Johnson & Johnson established its first JLabs location outside of the U.S. in Toronto.

Modern office space with three ladies chatting

With fewer regulatory roadblocks and streamlined processes, you can reduce clinical trial applications to just 30 days, compared to 52 days in Europe and 62 days in the APAC Region.

The Toronto Region is home to 250 ethnicities – which means you can conduct a globally diverse pool of trials from one location.

Scientists at the University of Toronto were the first to extract insulin and successfully treat diabetes in the 1920s. Four decades later, the discovery of stem cells came from a similar team effort at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital.

Sitting adjacent to the United States with a single payer healthcare system, the Toronto Region offers significant cost savings to your life science business.

Johnson & Johnson established its first JLabs location outside of the U.S. in Toronto.

With fewer regulatory roadblocks and streamlined processes, you can reduce clinical trial applications to just 30 days, compared to 52 days in Europe and 62 days in the APAC Region.

The Toronto Region is home to 250 ethnicities – which means you can conduct a globally diverse pool of trials from one location.

Scientists at the University of Toronto were the first to extract insulin and successfully treat diabetes in the 1920s. Four decades later, the discovery of stem cells came from a similar team effort at Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospital.

Regenerative Medicine

Our universal healthcare system is a boon to researchers using deep learning and biological data sets to solve problems in health. The Toronto Region is a leader in advanced imaging diagnostics and stem therapies.

Home to 53 of the world's top 100 life sciences companies and 16 of the top 25 global medical device companies, the Toronto Region has a critical and growing mass of top research talent, backed by our 37 research institutes, nine teaching hospitals, and the world-renowned University of Toronto. That's just one reason why we're excelling in growing fields like regenerative medicine and artificial intelligence for healthcare

Regenerative Medicine

RECENT INVESTMENTS IN LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY COMPANIES

Resilience (2021): Resilience received a $164 million investment from the Government of Canada to modernize and expand its 136,000 sq. ft. biomanufacturing facility in the Toronto Region, which strengthens Canada’s biopharmaceutical ecosystem.

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Sanofi (2021): Sanofi announced an investment of more than $600 million in a new vaccine manufacturing facility at its existing site in the Toronto Region. At their current facility, it produces millions of life-saving vaccines to more than 60 countries worldwide.

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Bora Pharmaceuticals (2020): Bora Pharmaceuticals is a premier international contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in OSD & liquids manufacturing. They choose to launch their flagship North American facility in the Toronto Region due to our world-class life sciences sector.

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Roche (2020): Hoffmann-La Roche Limited (Roche Canada) has announced a major jobs investment into Ontario’s life sciences industry that will bring up to 500 highly skilled and specialized full-time positions to the Toronto Region.

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Quanticate (2019): Quanticate, a leading global data-focused clinical research organization (CRO) announced plans to expand its presence in North America with the opening of a new office in the Toronto Region. By expanding its team, the company can meet the forecasted growth in demand across its clinical data services in the region for years to come.

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TORONTO ADVANTAGES FOR THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY

State-of-the-Art Facilities

Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness (2018): The new $500-million facility, located in downtown Brampton, brings together a broad spectrum of health care providers to provide specialized health care services – both traditional and alternative. The health centre offers innovative approaches to services, including high-tech diagnostics, an urgent care centre, rehab and wellness services, as well as mental health programs.
Lakeridge Health Bowmanville Hospital (2018): The Ontario government is supporting the redevelopment and expansion of the Bowmanville Hospital. The project will replace the hospital’s old north wing with a new patient tower, which will house a new emergency department, new surgical services, a critical-care unit and an in-patient unit, as well as diagnostic imaging.

Major Players in the Toronto Life Sciences Industry:

Amgen, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Teva, Johnson & Johnson. From ’Pill Hill’, the go-to destination in Mississauga for pharmaceutical companies, to leading biotech research firms in Halton Region to high-tech digital health in York and Durham Region, the Toronto Region has asserted itself as a leading location for the world’s largest and most innovative healthcare multinationals.

better return on investment

Thrive in a high quality, cost competitive business environment. From highly educated talent and efficient clinical trials infrastructure to the most generous R&D tax incentive programs on the planet, get a better return on your life science investment in the Toronto Region.

Best in Class Clinical Trials: Canada offers lower research and development costs, robust infrastructure and favourable regulations to conduct clinical trials, helping to advance innovations to market.

Submission Filing Requirements

Guidelines and Performance Standards

	Health Canada	FDA
Class II	15 days	90 days
Class III	75 days	90 days
Class IV	90 days	180 days

Advantages of the toronto region

Quality – Canada is a world leader in developing and implementing quality standards. Clinical trial sites are regularly monitored by Health Canada, the US FDA and industry sponsors to ensure compliance.

Speed – Fewer regulatory roadblocks and streamlined processes, reducing clinical trial applications to an average of 30 days.

Diversity – The Toronto Region is home to over 250 ethnicities and nearly half of its population is foreign born, providing an exceptionally diverse patient pool allowing you to conduct global trials from one central location.

Value – More cost-effective location than most major countries, including the U.S. and the U.K. Canada has the second-lowest cost among G7 nations in the management, design and coordination of clinical trials.

TALENT IN THE TORONTO REGION:

The Toronto Region has 44,000 students enrolled in a life science or health care degree program

17,500 graduate students in a range of life science-related disciplines in 2016-17

The University of Toronto graduated 3,300 life sciences Ph.D. graduates in life sciences between 2000 and 2015, including 550 in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals

The Toronto Region provides access to the volume and calibre of talent your business needs to succeed, with over 40,000 STEM graduates each year

TORONTO ADVANTAGES FOR THE LIFE SCIENCE INDUSTRY

State-of-the-Art Facilities

Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness (2018): The new $500-million facility, located in downtown Brampton, brings together a broad spectrum of health care providers to provide specialized health care services – both traditional and alternative. The health centre offers innovative approaches to services, including high-tech diagnostics, an urgent care centre, rehab and wellness services, as well as mental health programs.
Lakeridge Health Bowmanville Hospital (2018): The Ontario government is supporting the redevelopment and expansion of the Bowmanville Hospital. The project will replace the hospital’s old north wing with a new patient tower, which will house a new emergency department, new surgical services, a critical-care unit and an in-patient unit, as well as diagnostic imaging.

Major Players in the Toronto Life Sciences Industry:

Amgen, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Teva, Johnson & Johnson. From ’Pill Hill’, the go-to destination in Mississauga for pharmaceutical companies, to leading biotech research firms in Halton Region to high-tech digital health in York and Durham Region, the Toronto Region has asserted itself as a leading location for the world’s largest and most innovative healthcare multinationals.

better return on investment

	Health Canada	FDA
Class II	15 days	90 days
Class III	75 days	90 days
Class IV	90 days	180 days

Advantages of the toronto region

Speed – Fewer regulatory roadblocks and streamlined processes, reducing clinical trial applications to an average of 30 days.

TALENT IN THE TORONTO REGION:

The Toronto Region has 44,000 students enrolled in a life science or health care degree program

17,500 graduate students in a range of life science-related disciplines in 2016-17

The University of Toronto graduated 3,300 life sciences Ph.D. graduates in life sciences between 2000 and 2015, including 550 in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals

The Toronto Region provides access to the volume and calibre of talent your business needs to succeed, with over 40,000 STEM graduates each year

Did You Know?

Toronto is at the forefront of research in regenerative medicine. In 1961, stem cells were discovered right here in Toronto by Drs. Till & McCulloch. Over 160 researchers in the Toronto Region are working in the field of regenerative medicine, aided by our highly collaborative research culture and scientific leadership.

Toronto’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is the largest integrated cancer research, teaching and treatment centre in Canada, and is a world leader in stem cell research. The University of Toronto ranks 2nd in the world in terms of stem cell publications, while Mount Sinai Hospital ranks 4^th. The Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine recently opened the Centre for Cell and Vector Production, a GMP facility to manufacture clinical-grade cells for Phase 1 and 2 trials.