Toronto's 14 hospitals sign research collaboration agreement to speed discoveries into care

The 14 hospitals in the Toronto Academic Health Science Network (TAHSN) announced on November 3 that they have signed the Master Collaboration Agreement (MCA), establishing a common legal and operational framework for research collaboration. TAHSN says the agreement follows a one-project, one-shared-framework approach to reduce duplication and streamline administrative processes, while maintaining each organization's requirements for ethics, privacy, security and oversight, so that discoveries can move more quickly into improved care. (Cover photo is a file photo of Toronto.)

The 14 hospitals and the scale of the network

The participating hospitals, all affiliated with the University of Toronto, are Baycrest, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Humber River Health, Michael Garron Hospital, North York General Hospital, Scarborough Health Network, Sinai Health, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Trillium Health Partners, Unity Health Toronto, University Health Network (UHN) and Women's College Hospital. TAHSN describes the network as one of Canada's largest unified health research networks, with combined research funding of more than $1.7 billion in fiscal 2025.

From a two-hospital pilot to all 14 signed; phased implementation

The agreement was first piloted as a bilateral agreement between CAMH and UHN in December 2024; Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Unity Health Toronto joined in December 2025 to form a four-hospital pilot. According to TAHSN, all 14 hospitals had signed by August 14, 2026, and November 3 marks the hospitals' public announcement of the milestone. Through the pilot, the MCA is already supporting 43 collaborative research studies at various stages, addressing complex health challenges including cardiac health, cancer care and Alzheimer's disease. Sarah Downey, chair of TAHSN and president and CEO of CAMH, said signing is an important first step, with implementation now underway and adoption proceeding in phases across the network.