Staying the Course: Securing Canada’s Immunization Sovereignty
Monday 16 November | 8:00 - 17:00
The CAIRE 2026 Research Symposium will be held in November in Toronto, leading up to the biennial Canadian Immunization Conference (CIC). This year’s theme, Staying the Course: Securing Canada’s Immunization Sovereignty, invites reflection on how Canada’s immunization landscape may be evolving within a changing global context. Long-standing partnerships with the United States (U.S.) have played an important role in scientific, regulatory, and policy collaboration, and there is growing interest in how recent geopolitical and institutional shifts may influence these relationships. These changes raise questions about their potential effects on Canadian immunization efforts, including research, surveillance, policy development, program delivery and communication. At the same time, broader global dynamics—such as changes in WHO capacity and increased politicization of public health—highlight the importance of strengthening Canada’s independent capacity and resilience.
Against this backdrop, the 2026 CAIRE Symposium will bring together researchers, trainees, pharmaceutical industry representatives, policymakers, and public health practitioners to explore how Canada might respond. The program will open with a plenary session focused on key structural changes affecting immunization development, regulatory processes, and programmatic decision making in Canada. Subsequent sessions will consider evolving access to U.S. funding and training, approaches to supporting evidence-informed practice amid public uncertainty, and opportunities to rethink global partnerships. Interactive roundtables will support dialogue on strengthening domestic capacity, expanding collaborations, and identifying research priorities for the Canadian context. The symposium will conclude with a forward-looking fireside chat exploring how Canada can continue to build resilient immunization ecosystems through strong manufacturing, policy, and research infrastructure. Objectives
The overall symposium objectives are for participants to:
- Analyze the evolving geopolitical and institutional landscape affecting immunization research, surveillance, and policy in Canada, with emphasis on how recent changes in the U.S. and globally may alter traditional sources of guidance, funding, and collaboration.
- Consider how changes in credible information sources and public trust are affecting communication about immunization, and explore practical ways to support clear, trustworthy Canadian-tailored messaging and healthcare providers.
- Examine what reduced access to U.S. research, policy infrastructure (e.g., CDC/ACIP), funding (e.g., NIH), and training pathways means for Canada, and identify ways to strengthen Canadian vaccine research autonomy, data systems, and surveillance capacity.
- Develop practical steps to strengthen Canada’s immunization capacity, including diversifying global partnerships, expanding domestic capacity, and identifying new funding mechanisms and research priorities that can be advanced within Canada’s unique scientific and policy environment.
