Jason Field
President and CEO, Life Sciences Ontario
Most Canadians think of vaccines as personal protection. But there’s a broader story about economic resilience and Canada’s ability to compete in an uncertain world.
Canada is facing persistent productivity challenges, an aging population, and a rapidly shifting global landscape. Trade relationships are changing, and countries are competing more deliberately for investment, talent, and innovation. Prevention isn’t just a health-policy question. It’s part of a larger strategy for Canada to stay competitive.
When preventable illness keeps people out of work, disrupts caregiving, or reduces independence later in life, the costs extend beyond the health budget, showing up in employers’ operations, household stability, and Canada’s overall productivity. A recent analysis from Signal49 Research found that if 80 percent of Canadians 50 and older were vaccinated against shingles, the savings in health-care costs, productivity gains, and quality-of-life improvements would generate $1.69 in value for every dollar invested.
Uptake is where value is lost
Canada has extraordinary scientific and industrial capacity in vaccines and life sciences. But a vaccine that doesn’t reach the person who could benefit is unrealized value. Uptake matters.
A modern vaccine registry could identify coverage gaps, help clinicians and pharmacists recommend the right vaccine at the right time, and generate real-world evidence to measure impact, moving us beyond paper immunization records toward a system where patients, providers, and policymakers work from shared, current data.
A vaccine that doesn’t reach the person who could benefit is unrealized value.
Data readiness is also a matter of health security. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel’s digital health infrastructure enabled rapid vaccine uptake and real-world evaluation. Canada doesn’t need to copy that model, but the lesson is clear: strong data infrastructure becomes a strategic advantage when speed, trust, and evidence matter most.
Reframing the value of prevention
Ontario’s provincewide primary care electronic medical record is an important step, but vaccination doesn’t happen only in a family doctor’s office. Expanded scope of practice for pharmacists has made immunization accessible, and our data infrastructure must follow patients across those settings. Fragmented data can’t support informed, evidence-based decisions.
Counting only immediate program costs while ignoring downstream benefits, such as fewer complications, less caregiver disruption, better labour force participation, and reduced pressure on the health system, means we’ll consistently underinvest in prevention, which isn’t sustainable for an aging society.
The opportunity is to reframe vaccines as part of Canada’s productivity and healthy-aging agenda. This isn’t about choosing between health and the economy. It’s about recognizing that a healthy population is a foundation of a prosperous one. Life Sciences Ontario stands ready to work with government, employers, and health system leaders to build that more integrated approach. Prevention must move from the margins of policy to the centre of our competitiveness strategy.
Visit lifesciencesontario.ca to learn more.