May 19-20, 2015
Canada India Healthcare Summit 2015
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ORGANIZING PARTNERS Toronto Rehab Foundation – UHN Indo‐Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC)
Canada India Healthcare Forum 2015, Toronto, May 2015 - A Brief
Canada India Foundation (CIF) is pleased to announce the Canada India Healthcare Summit 2015 on
May 19-20, 2015, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and invites the participation of leading organizations and
professionals in the healthcare sector in India and Canada, as speakers, participants and sponsors. The
Summit will provide a platform for policy-focused dialogue between healthcare stakeholders in Canada and
India to discuss the respective strengths and challenges of the two countries in the healthcare sector and
explore opportunities for business-business, government-government and research collaborations between
them.
Canada India Foundation was established in 2007 by passionate Indo-Canadians who are successful
entrepreneurs, professionals and generous philanthropists, coming together to give back to the country of
their origin, India, while also enriching the country they now call their own, Canada. Towards this objective,
CIF meets with leaders of government and private sector regularly and also organizes specific theme
forums and other events highlighting opportunities for the two countries to collaborate.
The Canada India Healthcare Summit will be the fifth theme-based forum organized by CIF. Its previous
forums have featured Energy, Mining, Agriculture/Food Processing, and Infrastructure sectors and have
been held in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and Saskatoon. Participants in the past CIF Forums have included
former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam, Vice-Chairman of India’s Planning Commission, Montek Singh
Ahluwalia, federal and provincial ministers from Govt. of Canada, Ontario, British Columbia and
Saskatchewan as well as CEO’s and leaders from prominent private sector organizations in the respective
sectors. Each of the events has featured 60-70 speakers/panelists and have resulted in concrete policy
recommendations to the governments.
The Canada India Healthcare Summit 2015 will be CIF’s most ambitious and important event, considering
that healthcare is the basic need for every citizen. Additionally, as service sector, it offers tremendous scope
for the two countries to dialogue, learn from each other and collaborate for mutual benefit. Universal
Healthcare (Medicare) has long been one of the defining attributes of Canada as a nation and a source of
admiration and envy of many nations. On the other hand, while India has made remarkable strides in the
well-being of its citizens in the past decade, healthcare remains one of the biggest challenges for the nation
of 1.2 billion people. The present Government of India has demonstrated its commitment to healthcare by
taking up Free Drug Service and Free Diagnosis Service as a priority in its budget. It has also announced
creation of six new high caliber medical institutions (AIIMS), as well as drug testing laboratories and rural
health research centres. The recent Clean India (Swachh Bharat) campaign, launched by India’s Prime
Minister Shri Narendra Modi, will also create the right environment to achieve healthcare targets. The
proactive initiatives that India’s new government has announced provides Canadian/Ontario governments
and companies and their Indian counterparts the incentive to work together to address healthcare
opportunities and challenges.
Some of the key areas of healthcare which will be discussed in the Summit include:
Diseases prevalent among South Asians (Diabetes, Heart Disease, Stroke),
Rehabilitation including occupational therapy
Long-term care needs of the aging population
Children’s health, including maternal and new-born needs
Pharmaceuticals including generic drugs,
Specialty health (heart, eyes etc.),
Credential recognition and Research Partnership programs,
Health outreach to native and tribal populations including:
Telemedicine, Distance care through Mobile Hospitals, Alternative medicine
Wellness (including tapping into India’s traditional healthcare options, such as:
yoga and medical tourism.
As always is the case with all of CIF’s Canada-India Forums, the Canada India Healthcare Forum will also
crystallize the discussions into a set of action oriented recommendations for Canada-India collaboration in
this very important sector.
The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care in the Government of Ontario, Hon. Dr. Eric Hoskins has kindly
consented to deliver the Opening Address at the Summit. Also confirmed to speak is Hon. Dr. Kellie Leitch,
Minister of Labour and Status of Women, Government of Canada. CIF is also pleased to have the support of
the Toronto Rehab Foundation – University Health Network, and the Indo-Canadian Business
Chamber (ICBC), based in India, as Organizing Partners to ensure strong participation by Canadian and
Indian private sector and public sector agencies. The following organizations have been contacted regarding
the Summit and have expressed interest in participating:
National Healthcare Federation – India
NASSCOM (Healthcare IT Group) - India
Apollo Hospitals (India) – multipurpose hospitals
Narayana Hrudayala (India) – Heart specialty hospital
Arvind Eye Hospitals (India) – Eye specialty hospital
CIPLA (India) – Pharmaceuticals
Manipal Hospitals (India) – super specialty hospitals
Cognizant (India) – Healthcare Information Systems
Meenakshi Mission Hospital (India) – Rural Healthcare
PURA (India) – Rural healthcare
Toronto Rehab (Canada) - Rehabilitation
Apotex (Canada) – Pharmaceuticals
Bromed Pharmaceuticals (Canada)
Grand Challenges Canada – Health Innovation in developing countries
Trillium Health Partners Foundation (Canada) – Public healthcare
And many others
The Summit will be organized in the format of a Plenary Session and 8 Panel Discussion sessions, along
with 5 Keynote addresses, featuring more than 50 speakers over 2 days. Target attendance at the Summit
is 200. In the addition to the day events, a special dinner event has been arranged, with a target attendance
of 400.
Canada India Foundation appreciates your participation, as attendees, speakers/panelists and as sponsors.
A detailed Powerpoint Presentation attached provides sponsorship options available. Please mark May 1920, 2015 in your calendar.