Canada is not prepared to deal with the rising rates of dementia as its population ages, according to a new study conducted by the senior advocacy organization CanAge. In the Dementia in Canada report, released on October 18, CanAge warned that Canada is facing a surge of dementia patients large enough to overwhelm the healthcare system from now until 2050. Meanwhile, Canada is lagging behind in the global race to address the complex needs of aging. According to 2021 census data, people aged 85 and older have now become one of the fastest-growing demographic groups in the country. Also, in most provinces, one in six people is affected by this disease. Therefore, while it is expected that one-sixth of the world’s population will be over 65 by 2050, Canada has already reached this milestone. In some provinces, the number is closer to one in four. The report also stated: “Given that the risk of developing dementia doubles by age 85 to 25 percent, the window of opportunity to overcome the impending healthcare crisis is dangerously shrinking.” Additionally, the report follows the release of the World Health Organization’s global action plan on dementia in 2017, which aimed to stimulate a coordinated global approach to address the projected increase in people experiencing cognitive decline. Laura Tamplen Watts, CEO of CanAge, explained that part of Canada's problem is the lack of healthcare providers trained in geriatrics who can diagnose dementia early. In 2016, only two out of five Canadian physicians felt well prepared to manage community dementia care. While there was one pediatrician for every 2,822 children in 2020, there was one physician for every 20,905 seniors. In this context, Tamplen Watts told CTV News on Wednesday: “We know that to the extent that treatments are available, they must be administered early, and this is because the few drugs we have only work in the early stages of diagnosis.” She added that other interventions, including social support, also work better when applied in the early stages of dementia. However, given the very small number of healthcare providers specializing in geriatrics and cognitive decline in Canada compared to the number of seniors, early diagnosis of dementia presents a challenge. The CanAge report found that dementia specialists tend to concentrate in major urban centers, placing the elderly populations in remote and rural communities, as well as other marginalized communities, at greater risk.