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Our Research Moves People

Arthritis Research Canada is a national leader in clinical arthritis research. We turn evidence into better care. And better care into better lives.

Arthritis is one of the most serious health challenges in Canada. It affects more than 6 million Canadians, more than heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and dementia combined. It limits movement, disrupts work, and changes lives. It is the number one cause of disability in Canada.

And yet, it receives only 2% of available research funding. That gap is exactly why Arthritis Research Canada exists.

As North America’s largest clinical arthritis research centre, we conduct world-class, patient-centred research that improves how arthritis and rheumatic diseases are prevented, treated, and lived with. We conduct research that changes how arthritis care is delivered across Canada and how people live with their disease.

Who We Are

A National Arthritis Research Hub

Founded in 1999, Arthritis Research Canada was built on a simple conviction: that rigorous, patient-centred research could transform the lives of people living with arthritis. More than 25 years later, that conviction drives everything we do.

Arthritis Research Canada is a multi-disciplinary research hub headquartered in Vancouver, BC. Our network connects scientists, clinicians, trainees, and patients across centres in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia, with partnerships spanning 11 major Canadian universities.

Our team of over 100 scientists and trainees brings together expertise across rheumatology, orthopedics, physiotherapy, kinesiology, occupational therapy, psychology, pharmaceutical sciences, epidemiology, health economics, biostatistics, and knowledge mobilization, among many other disciplines. That breadth is deliberate. Arthritis is complex, and the solutions it demands require every relevant lens.

We are the only organization in Canada that provides both the national infrastructure and the scientific environment needed to conduct clinical arthritis research at this scale and to ensure discoveries reach the people who need them most.

Our work spans a broad spectrum of clinical arthritis research, all grounded in patient experience:

  • epidemiology,
  • health services research,
  • randomized trials,
  • clinical research,
  • implementation science, and
  • qualitative work


Every study is designed with one goal in mind: improving lives.

What We Do

Practical Research for Everyday Living

We conduct research that improves how arthritis is prevented, treated, and managed, from the clinic to everyday life. With over 200 studies completed and underway, our work is practical by design. That means developing tools people can use today, improving the care models clinicians rely on, and generating the evidence that shapes health policy across Canada.

Our research has delivered discoveries that have changed lives.

We showed that effective treatment of inflammatory arthritis reduces the increased risk of heart attacks in people with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. We identified early osteoarthritis biomarkers. We created the world’s first program to help prevent job loss due to arthritis. These are just some of the ways our work has moved the needle for people living with arthritis across Canada.

Getting research into practice is as important as conducting it. We use proven knowledge mobilization strategies to ensure our findings reach clinicians, patients, decision-makers, and inform government policy and health system planning. This is how research becomes better care, and better care becomes better lives.

Patients at the Centre

At Arthritis Research Canada, patients are not just the focus of our research. They are active partners in it. 

Through our Arthritis Patient Advisory Board, patients help set priorities, shape study design, test tools, and bring the expertise of lived experience into every discovery. That partnership is what keeps our work grounded, practical, and deeply human.

Behind every study and every dataset is a person who deserves better care. That is the standard we hold ourselves to, and the reason our research stays connected to real life.

Our Mission

To transform the lives of people impacted by arthritis through patient-centred research and engagement.

Our Vision

A world where people living with arthritis can thrive.

Arthritis Research Canada is built on the belief that research changes lives.

Explore our work, meet our team, or find out how you can be part of the movement.

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