Sector Highlight:

Where healthcare and technology intersect, you find the city of Halifax.

If digital health is the convergence of the digital and genetics revolutions within health and healthcare, then Halifax is a national nexus for digital health innovation. Halifax is the healthcare centre of Eastern Canada, with respected hospitals, universities, and researchers working together to improve healthcare delivery through technology.

Digital health is empowering us to better track, manage, and improve our own and our family’s health. It’s also helping to reduce inefficiencies in healthcare delivery, improve access, reduce costs, increase quality, and make medicine more personalized and precise. As healthcare in Canada evolves, it continues to be more and more personalized and self-directed. And that’s certainly the case in Nova Scotia.

A few of the names that define innovation in e-health in Halifax include The QEII Health Sciences Centre, the largest adult academic health sciences centre in Atlantic Canada; the IWK, engaged in leading-edge research into disorders and diseases affecting children, women, and youth; The Brain Repair Centre, a multidisciplinary collaboration linking world-class researchers and physicians specializing in ground-breaking brain repair treatments and technologies; Dalhousie University , one of Canada's leading research  institutions ; and The Rounds, a professional network created specifically for Canadian physicians to connect, communicate and collaborate.

The expression of digital health innovation in Halifax.

Collaborative research underway in Halifax—and digital health products and services being offered—include advances in the following critical areas.

Telemedicine and Telehealth – Nova Scotia’s 811 Telecare service offers remote clinical services by phone.

mHealth (mobile health) – medicine and public health practices supported by mobile devices and wireless infrastructure.

Big Data – data science techniques to analyze large and complex datasets, such as for genomics analysis for personalized medicine.

Wearables and implantables – wireless medical devices and biometric sensors gathering and interpreting medically useful information.

HealthIT – information processing for such things as electronic health records (EHR) and electronic medical records (EMR).

Halifax companies are leaders in the digital health industry.

ABK Biomedical
A medical device company that has designed imageable microspheres for minimally invasive treatment of cancerous and benign tumours.

DMF Medical
Creators of a  medical device that filters harmful byproducts during surgery.

Densitas
A digital health company that uses data analytics to screen medical images for better detection of breast cancer.

In Halifax, we foster digital health innovation with investment.

Companies in Halifax benefit from the Healthcare Venture Fund (which invests in innovative companies that improve healthcare productivity); Genome Atlantic (which provides up to 50% of project funding through research competitions); and the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program. These are in addition to other incentives like the Nova Scotia Payroll Rebate, Atlantic Innovation Fund, Industrial Research Assistance Program, Innovation Equity Tax Credit, and more.

Contact Discover Halifax to learn more!

Ready to learn more, or to start planning your event in Halifax?  Contact our sector expert today.