Grand Challenges Canada (GCC)

Grand Challenges Canada (GCC)

Grand Challenges Canada is dedicated to supporting Bold Ideas with Big Impact® in global health.

Mission statement

Grand Challenges Canada is dedicated to supporting Bold Ideas with Big Impact® in global health. We are funded by the Government of Canada and we fund innovators in low- and middle-income countries and Canada. The bold ideas we support integrate science and technology, social and business innovation – we call this Integrated Innovation®. We focus on bringing successful innovation to scale, catalyzing sustainability and impact. We have a determined focus on results, and on saving and improving lives.

Grand Challenges Canada works closely with Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Global Affairs Canada to catalyze scale, sustainability and impact.

Grand Challenges Canada takes an evidence-based approach to development innovation to save and improve lives in low- and middle-income countries. We are a platform for development innovation in Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) through our Saving Lives at Birth, Saving Brains and MNCH Stars in Global Health programs. We are also dedicated to improving the lives on the poorest and most vulnerable populations,, such as those living with mental illness who are the focus of our Global Mental Health program.

Since our launch in 2010, Grand Challenges Canada has supported a pipeline of over 700 projects in more than 80 countries. Our investments are producing results: Thousands of lives have been saved and over two hundred and eighty thousand lives have been improved, thus far. By 2030, these innovations have the potential to save hundreds of thousands of lives and improve millions of lives.

Summary of relevant work

Grand Challenges Canada’s Global Mental Health program supports innovative models to expand access to care and the effectiveness of services to improve mental health. Tens of thousands of people are currently receiving mental health care through Grand Challenges Canada-funded innovations, with the potential to improve an additional hundreds of thousands of lives by 2030.

The impact of this program was recognized in the United Kingdom All Parliamentary Group Report Mental Health for Sustainable Development, which stated, “The Canadian Government is funding the world’s largest body of global mental health research projects through Grand Challenges Canada”.

Key partners

  • Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
  • Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
  • Global Affairs Canada
  • Sandra Rotman Centre
  • Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Funders

Government of Canada

Details

Approach(es)
Training, education and capacity building
Region(s)
Africa
Asia
Central America and the Caribbean
Europe
Middle East
North America
Oceania
South America
Population(s)
Communicable diseases (e.g. HIV/AIDS, TB)
Disability
Families and carers
Humanitarian and conflict health
Maternal and neonatal health
Minority populations
Non-communicable diseases (e.g. cancer, diabetes, stroke)
Setting(s)
Community
Primary care
School
Specialist care
Workplace
Country(s)
Canada