New research reveals rising costs of dementia care in Ontario
September 19, 2025
New report from ICES, supported by OBI's Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative, reveals the substantial health system costs of dementia care in Ontario, providing essential evidence for healthcare planning as Canada’s population ages.
Understanding the Growing Challenge
Nearly 770,000 Canadians live with dementia today, and prevalence is projected to increase by 66%, reaching 937,000 by 2031. To better understand the impact on health systems, researchers analyzed five-year costs for 164,640 Ontarians newly diagnosed with dementia and compared them with similar individuals without dementia, using linked health system databases.
Importantly, the study introduced a phase-based approach to track costs throughout disease progression — providing unprecedented insight into how care needs and expenses evolve.
Key Research Findings
- Highest costs occur in later phases, driven by inpatient hospitalizations and long-term care.
- Average net costs over five years: $48,077 per person, with long-term care accounting for $28,655.
- Gender disparities: women incurred higher costs ($50,158) than men ($44,800), underscoring the need for gender-sensitive policies.
- System strain: healthcare systems face challenges in providing timely, equitable access to dementia services.
These findings suggest that early investments in home care, community supports, and innovative care models could improve quality of life while helping contain costs.
Why This Work Matters
This research offers Ontario a roadmap for healthcare planning:
- Strategic planning that uses longitudinal data to guide resource allocation.
- Reframing assumptions by showing that costs peak in the terminal phase, unlike international patterns.
- Exposing inequities by highlighting gender differences and reliance on institutional care.
- Economic rationale that demonstrates the value of upstream prevention and interventions.
Looking Ahead: Preparing Ontario for the Future of Dementia Care
Understanding how dementia-related costs evolve across disease phases is crucial for building sustainable, innovative care models. Ontario must also be ready for emerging disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for Alzheimer’s disease, which promise to slow disease progression but require timely diagnosis and equitable access to care.
To address these challenges, through our CORTEX program, OBI is partnering with the Alzheimer Society of Ontario to advance the Canadian Dementia Registry. This initiative combines accessible cognitive assessments with the registry data to:
- Support earlier detection of dementia.
- Enable faster and more equitable access to care.
- Reduce wait times and close systemic gaps, including for marginalized and rural communities.
- Inform innovative care models that integrate home, community, and clinical supports.
These initiatives go beyond therapy access — they represent an evidence-driven strategy to improve quality of life for people living with dementia and their care partners, while building a sustainable healthcare system.
The comprehensive data and methodological innovations pioneered by ONDRI, accessible through Brain-CODE, equip researchers worldwide to drive new discoveries in neurodegenerative disease, enhance care delivery, and shape the future of dementia care.
About ONDRI
The Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative (ONDRI) was established to advance understanding of multiple neurodegenerative diseases through standardized data collection, rigorous research protocols, and open data sharing. Its decade-long work has created lasting resources and methodological standards that continue to support global research, inform healthcare planning, and accelerate discoveries in brain health.
> LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CORTEX & ASO DEMENTIA REGISTRY
Study Reference:
“Is Ontario Ready for the Health Costs Associated With Dementia?” by Susan E. Bronskill, Laura C. Maclagan, Luke Mondor, Longdi Fu, Jun Guan, Isabella J. Sewell, Andrea Iaboni, Richard H. Swartz, Colleen J. Maxwell, and Claire de Oliveira. Published by Longwoods Publishing (DOI: 10.12927/hcq.2025.27638), conducted with support from ONDRI through the Ontario Brain Institute.