# About Us

Building Canada’s pediatric rare disease clinical trial and treatment network

RareKids-CAN accelerates the development and access to pediatric rare disease clinical trials and innovative treatments across Canada.  

Only a small fraction of rare diseases have approved treatments and RareKids-CAN is working to change that by advancing clinical trial readiness and expanding opportunities to receive cutting-edge therapies. 

Mission

Advancing pediatric rare disease research and treatment through cross-jurisdictional collaboration - strengthening trial readiness, connecting patients and sites, and driving regulatory innovation to improve access to advanced therapies for children and families across Canada.

Vision

To ensure that every child, adolescent, and young adult in Canada affected by rare diseases has access to effective and innovative treatments.

Our strategy

RareKids-CAN’s 2025–2029 Strategic Plan outlines a national approach to strengthening pediatric rare disease clinical trials and improving access to innovative therapies for children and families across Canada. The strategy is focused on three priorities:

1

Strengthening pediatric rare disease clinical trial capacity and advanced therapy medicinal product readiness

2

Optimizing participant, site, and trial matching

3

Driving regulatory reform and system innovation

Read more about our strategy

What we do

Connect the community

We bring together researchers, healthcare teams, patients and families, and industry partners to simplify pediatric rare disease research across Canada.

Build research capacity

We strengthen Canada's rare disease research ecosystem to improve health equity, reduce travel burdens, and accelerate access to promising therapies for children.

Make research easier to access

We connect patients, families, healthcare professionals, researchers, and sponsors through shared expertise, streamlined processes, and improved clinical trial support.

Advance research readiness

We improve research readiness, clinical trial matching, and policy frameworks to help more children access research opportunities sooner.

Our network

16

Pediatric research institutions 

16

Clinical Trial Navigators

40+

Patient partners

180+

Research experts

Get to know the team

RareKids-CAN is powered by a national team of executive leadership, a coordinating hub, Clinical Trial Navigators, patient partners and sub-platform leads working collaboratively to support and advance pediatric rare disease clinical trials across Canada. 

Meet the Executive Committee

Meet the Coordinating Hub

Meet the Clinical Trial Navigators

Meet our Experts

Join our network of collaborators

Learn more about the organizations, institutions, and partners working alongside RareKids-CAN to advance pediatric rare disease research across Canada.

See current collaborators