Dementia in Canada: What the projections tell us
June 2026
Canada is facing a rapidly growing dementia crisis.
Right now, an estimated 772,000 Canadians are living with dementia. Every day, more than 414 people in Canada receive a new diagnosis, and according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada's Landmark Study the scale of what lies ahead is far greater than most Canadians realize.
More than statistics: the human reality of dementia
The Landmark Study, a series of research reports tracking dementia prevalence in Canada from 2020 to 2050, offers the most comprehensive picture available of what is coming. The projections are clear:
- By 2030, nearly 1 million Canadians will be living with dementia.
- By 2050, that number is expected to reach 1.7 million representing a 187% increase since 2020.
- An estimated 6.3 million Canadians will be diagnosed, living with, or dying from dementia over the next 30 years.
- By 2050, an average of 685 people will receive a new dementia diagnosis every single day
Who is most affected
The Landmark Study Volume 2: The Many Faces of Dementia in Canada makes clear that the burden of dementia does not fall equally.
Women bear a disproportionate share. In 2020, an estimated 61.8% of people living with dementia in Canada were women. By 2050, projections show that over 1 million women in Canada will be living with dementia reflecting both longer average lifespans and biological factors researchers are still working to understand.
The picture is also more complex across cultures and communities. By 2050, the number of Indigenous people in Canada living with dementia is expected to increase by 273%, from approximately 10,800 to over 40,300. Structural barriers to care, delayed diagnoses, and culturally misaligned support systems compound the challenge significantly.
Young-onset dementia, which affects people under the age of 65, is also growing. There could be over 40,000 Canadians under 65 living with dementia by 2050, up from an estimated 28,000 in 2020. For these individuals, a diagnosis collides with careers, mortgages, and children still at home. The support systems designed around older adults often do not fit.
The caregiver reality
Behind every person living with dementia is a caregiver. Often more than one.
Care partners of people living with dementia provide an average of 26 hours of care per week compared to 17 hours a week for caregivers supporting older adults with other health conditions. That gap reflects the intensity of the disease.
The case for early action
The projections are sobering. But they are also, critically, projections. They describe a future that can still be shaped.
The Alzheimer Society of Canada's research includes modelling on what changes with intervention. Delaying the onset of dementia by just 10 years could prevent more than 4 million cases in Canada by 2050, and reduce caregiving demand by almost 1 billion hours per year.
That potential is what drives researchers. It is also what makes sustained investment in dementia research so consequential. The window between where the science is today and where these projections say Canada is headed is exactly the space where research funding matters most.
The numbers are not just a forecast. They are a call to action.