Welcome to HI³
The Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence & Innovation in Infectious Diseases
The Canadian Hub in Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases is a coalition of over 90 academic, hospital, research networks, industry, government, not-for-profit, and community partners with a mission to collaboratively bolster Canada's biomanufacturing capacity to ensure a fast and coordinated response to future pandemics and infectious health threats.
HI³ is one of five national hubs established through the Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF).
Welcome to HI³
The Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence & Innovation in Infectious Diseases
The Canadian Hub in Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases is a coalition of over 90 academic, hospital, research networks, industry, government, not-for-profit, and community partners with a mission to collaboratively bolster Canada's biomanufacturing capacity to ensure a fast and coordinated response to future pandemics and infectious health threats.
HI³ is one of five national hubs established through the Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF).
Welcome to HI³
The Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence & Innovation in Infectious Diseases
The Canadian Hub in Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases is a coalition of over 90 academic, hospital, research networks, industry, government, not-for-profit, and community partners with a mission to collaboratively bolster Canada's biomanufacturing capacity to ensure a fast and coordinated response to future pandemics and infectious health threats.
HI³ is one of five national hubs established through the Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF).
Latest news
RE³: REconnect, REdefine, REbuild, an industry-focused roundtable forum, brings together leaders and visionaries from across HI³’s life sciences and biomanufacturing ecosystem
NEWS | 30 October 2025
On October 29, 2025, our RE³ Roundtable Forum brought together brilliant minds from industry, academia, start-ups, government, and non-profits to REconnect, REdefine, and REbuild the path forward for Canada's life sciences and biomanufacturing ecosystem. The discussions, insights, and connections that emerged throughout the day captured exactly what makes our ecosystem so dynamic.
PREPARED launches rapid testing for respiratory viruses such as COVID, Influenza A, Influenza B, Adenovirus, and RSV
NEWS | 30 September 2025
PREPARED in a national research project to help prepare Canada for the risk of another pandemic in the years to come. Rapid testing can be accessed at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto, and pharmacies in Calgary and Edmonton. Testing will expand into British Columbia, Manitoba, Quebec, and Newfoundland this fall.
INSPIRE is leveraging its wastewater pathogen surveillance network to support Health Canada's new drug surveillance initiative.
NEWS | 17 September 2025
INSPIRE is leveraging its wastewater pathogen surveillance network to support Health Canada's new drug surveillance initiative. Their interactive visualizations of new and emerging psychoactive substances combines data from multiple sources, including drug samples submitted by law enforcement, wastewater monitoring, and monitoring online forums.
Western’s new $44M Pathogen Research Centre to advance infectious disease innovation
NEWS | 3 September 2025
Western University is taking infectious disease research to the next level with a $44M Pathogen Research Centre, opening in 2027. The Centre will integrate the existing ImPaKT Facility with new CL3-compliant GMP and microbial transmission testing capabilities, enabling accelerated development of vaccines and therapeutics and real-world virus transmission studies. This milestone is a major leap […]
Predict, Prevent, Contain: Inside U of G’s Fight Against Avian Flu
NEWS | 3 June 2025
University of Guelph researchers are joining forces across campus to combat avian flu -- a virus with the potential to spark the next human pandemic. Led by Dr. Shayan Sharif at the Ontario Veterinary College, the team is working to understand, predict, and prevent outbreaks through vaccine development, AI-driven surveillance, wildlife monitoring and on-farm biosecurity.
University Health Network (UHN) ready to welcome the world's leading early career scientists
NEWS | 8 April 2025
UHN's ambitious Canada Leads 100 Challenge will recruit 100 world-leading early career scientists to Canada's No. 1 hospital. UHN seeks to attract the world's most promising scientists in medical research to drive health innovation and fuel economic growth. To ignite this transformational opportunity, UHN, with the support of UHN Foundation, has already secured an initial investment of […]
CBRF Hubs attend the Health Emergency Readiness Canada (HERC) Innovation Symposium 2025 and co-host the inaugural CanPIVOT Workshop in Ottawa
NEWS | 4 March 2025
These events brought together the Hubs and CBRF2-BRIF2 Program Directors with key stakeholders from across Canada’s biomanufacturing and life sciences ecosystem. It was an invaluable opportunity to share our latest initiatives, engage in meaningful discussions, and explore collaboration opportunities that will drive innovation forward.
BioHubNet launches VentureConnect Grant and VentureLift Grant to support professional development for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at BioHubNet partner institutions
NEWS | 15 February 2025
The EQUIP VentureConnect and VentureLift Grants provide strategic financial support to trainee-entrepreneurs to turn their breakthrough innovations into impactful ventures in the biomanufacturing space. These grants support various stages of commercialization, from making initial connections to operational planning and sustainability.
AstraZeneca expands global R&D hub in Ontario, driving province’s leadership in life sciences
NEWS | 23 January 2025
Invest Ontario is partnering with AstraZeneca to expand the company’s global R&D hub in Mississauga. This will create 700+ highly skilled jobs and allow the company to integrate advanced technologies like AI to strengthen their R&D capabilities and enhance clinical trial design in oncology, immunology and infectious diseases.
U of T's Health Innovation Hub (H2i) accelerator to host new national hub to advance life sciences breakthroughs
NEWS | 5 January 2025
A $32M investment has been made by the Government of Canada to expand Lab2Market – Canada’s national network for innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship skills training – through the creation of a national health hub based at University of Toronto and six regional hubs across Canada. The national health hub will develop and deliver programs to […]
Team to track instances of avian flu in Windsor-Essex birds
NEWS | 18 November 2024
A $150,000 Canadian Institutes of Health Research Catalyzing One Health Research on Avian Influenza grant, sponsored by the CIHR Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies, will fund the establishment and validation of a novel and sustainable surveillance platform in the Windsor-Essex region, an area that acts as a critical gateway for the […]
New Nature paper from INSPIRE team member, Trevor Charles: Genomic surveillance of Canadian airport wastewater samples allows early detection of emerging SARS-CoV-2 lineages
NEWS | 8 November 2024
Sampling wastewater at airports allowed for early detection of variants of concern and individual mutations emerging in Ontario. On average, the emergence of novel lineages at the airport preceded clinical detections by 1-4 weeks, and up to 16 weeks in one case, illustrating the efficacy of wastewater surveillance at transitory transportation hubs.
Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases awarded $72 million to strengthen talent development and health intelligence
NEWS | 6 May 2024
Four research programs in the Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases (HI3) have received $72 million in federal funding from the Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF) and Biomedical Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF), bolstering the country’s biomanufacturing capacity and readiness to respond to emerging health threats.
Support for HI3 and the four funded research programs through the CBRF and BRIF is part of a larger investment in Canada’s Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy.
Canada’s biomanufacturing and life sciences research hubs unite over shared vision to develop lifesaving vaccines and therapeutics
NEWS | 28 January 2024
On January 17, 2024, leadership teams representing Canada’s five biomanufacturing and life sciences research hubs came together to set the stage for a new wave of biomedical innovation in Canada. The goal of the session was to deepen collaboration across the five research hubs as they work to enhance Canada’s pandemic preparedness and biomanufacturing capacity, and to shape the hubs’ collective strategy for addressing the most pressing health challenges facing Canadians. The five hubs were announced in March 2023 as part of Canada's Biomanufacturing and Life Sciences Strategy.
Jen Gommerman in the Toronto Star—“We know there will be another pandemic. Here’s what four leading Canadian scientists are doing about it”
Toronto Star | 28 March 2023
Jen Gommerman, a professor of immunology at U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, worries momentum to ward off future pandemics, gained during the COVID years, will soon fade. Like most scientists, she agrees that lessons learned during the 2003 SARS outbreak were quickly forgotten.
“We can’t give up. We can’t just keep doing more of the same,” says Gommerman, who holds a Canada Research Chair in tissue-specific immunity. “We have to strive for better vaccines, the 2.0 versions of vaccines and therapeutics that will help us deal with what’s going to come next.
U of T home to new hub that will strengthen Canada’s pandemic preparedness and increase biomanufacturing capacity
U of T News | 4 March 2023
A new national hub focused on enhancing Canada’s ability to respond quickly, effectively and equitably to future pandemics has become a reality with $2 million in funding from the Canada Biomedical Research Fund.
Led and anchored by the University of Toronto, the Canadian Hub for Health Intelligence and Innovation in Infectious Diseases (HI3) is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary and multi-sector coalition of more than 80 partners. It will provide a powerful network to support a robust domestic pipeline of life-saving vaccines and therapeutics targeting existing and emerging infectious threats.
Government of Canada establishes new research hubs to accelerate Canada’s vaccine and therapeutics production
Canada.ca | 2 March 2023
Today, the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, and the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced an investment of $10 million in support of the creation of five multidisciplinary research hubs. This investment, made through Stage 1 of the integrated Canada Biomedical Research Fund (CBRF) and Biosciences Research Infrastructure Fund (BRIF) competition, will bolster research and talent development efforts led by the institutions, working in collaboration with their partners.