With the federal government unveiling its national artificial intelligence strategy as well as strategic investments in health data, the University of Ottawa is stepping up its support of Canada’s commitment to healthcare by launching an innovative new interdisciplinary collaboration to help position Canada as a global leader in health AI.
HALO – Health AI and Law in Ottawa – unites expertise in health AI, data and law from uOttawa’s faculties, research institutes and specialized centres, bringing together the university’s world leading experts in health data, law and policy to support the efforts of governments and industry.
"Canada's AI strategy arrives at a pivotal moment for our health system," says Dr. Kumanan Wilson, professor in the Faculty of Medicine and CEO and Chief Scientific Office of the Bruyere Health Research Institute. "HALO exists precisely to answer the questions the strategy raises: How do we maximize the health and economic impact of Health AI? How do we adopt AI in health care safely and equitably? How do we protect health data sovereignty and privacy? These are legal and governance questions as much as technical ones, and we are ready to help answer them to help Canada succeed."
Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Accountability
Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system and diverse society has provided the country with one of the world’s most valuable health data assets. But much of the world’s digital infrastructure is consolidated between American and Chinese technology giants.
Leading researchers from health AI and policy are joining forces with HALO to provide legal and policy guidance with the goal of improving care, fostering economic growth while ensuring safety, equity, and accountability, and maintaining Canadian sovereignty over health data and its health care system.
HALO will leverage uOttawa’s strengths by uniting the Faculty of Medicine’s expertise in big data, clinical trials, and knowledge translation with the Faculty of Law’s expertise in AI governance, privacy, ethics, and data sovereignty. It will also tap into leading expertise on health data and responsible technology design in the Faculty of Arts and the Telfer School of Management.
This vast interdisciplinary strength and leadership in health AI policy across uOttawa should provide guidance for policy makers and innovators as they aim to leverage Canada’s AI strengths in cybersecurity, privacy, and data sovereignty.
Critically, HALO will connect academic expertise to the extraordinary clinical and research ecosystem within Ottawa and across Canada, including the research institutes and medical organizations whose groundbreaking work must inform any credible governance framework.
A Direct Response to the Federal Strategy
The federal government’s flagship health investment — up to $100 million to expand the Vital federated health data project across eight provinces — illustrates both the opportunity and the governance challenge HALO is built to address. HALO will provide the legal and governance expertise to ensure that infrastructure serves patients and the public interest.
More broadly, the strategy's six pillars — sovereign AI infrastructure, scaling Canadian champions, skills and adoption, public trust, safety, and improved public services — each have direct health system implications that require the kind of interdisciplinary analysis HALO is designed to produce.
"The federal investment in health data is an important signal that Canada is serious about health AI," said Vanessa Gruben, professor of law and director of the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics at the University of Ottawa. "But a commitment to investing in health data and health AI – is only as strong as the multistakeholder governance infrastructure supporting it. HALO is building that infrastructure for the health sector — connecting academia, hospitals, government, and innovators in the capital of the country where that work belongs."
Developed by the Faculty of Medicine, the Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics and the Centre for Law, Technology and Society, HALO also includes the expertise of the Ottawa Medical AI Research Institute (OMARI) and the Ottawa Academic Health Network (OAHN) plus researchers from Ottawa’s leading medical organisations. Key national stakeholders are set the join the endeavor.
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