CANFAR's latest news
Matt Hyams on PrEP, purpose, and the friends who changed everything
In August 2014, if you’d heard of pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, you were probably the only person in your friend group who had. The clinical evidence existed in the USA, where the medication, Truvada, was already available and anecdotally had been used on the “scene” as a prophylactic. But the public health messaging, the prescriber familiarity, the coverage, and most critically, the cultural conversation hadn’t yet arrived in Canada. As I spoke more openly about PrEP, I lost friends who saw it as pharmaceutical avoidance of curing an epidemic they’d fiercely advocated for from the start, and others who saw people on PrEP as risky sexual deviants.
“Starting Home Fires” HIV awareness campaign launches during National Indigenous History Month to promote HIV awareness
As communities across Canada recognize National Indigenous History Month and prepare to mark National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21, Indigenous leaders and HIV advocates are launching Starting Home Fires, a new Indigenous-led HIV awareness campaign designed to reduce stigma, increase knowledge, and support community-driven conversations about HIV.
CANFAR Responds to Manitoba’s HIV Public Health Emergency Declaration
“This declaration is an important acknowledgment of the urgency of the HIV crisis unfolding in Manitoba,” said Dr. Paul Sandstrom, CEO of CANFAR. “HIV is preventable, treatable, and manageable—but only when people can access the services and the supports they need. Across Canada, too many communities still face barriers to testing, stigma, racism, geographic remoteness, delayed lab results, and gaps in care. Addressing HIV requires an equity-focused response grounded in community leadership.”
Rapid TLC, a new initiative from St. Michael’s Hospital, brings same day HIV/STBBI testing and care to underserved communities across Canada
“CANFAR is proud to support the launch of Rapid TLC, bringing faster, more accessible diagnostics directly into communities,” says Dr. Paul Sandstrom, newly appointed CEO of CANFAR. “Aligned with our Bold Actions plan to end HIV in Canada, this initiative reduces barriers to testing and advances health equity for under-resourced communities. With donor support, we’re expanding rapid testing technologies and linkage to care initiatives through community partners such as Women’s Health in Women’s Hands to improve early detection and strengthen responses to HIV and other STBBIs.”
CANFAR’s 14th edition of Can You Do Lunch raises a record-breaking $400,000.
CANFAR’s annual spring fundraiser took place at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto on Friday, May 1st, 2026. Every dollar raised supports CANFAR’s efforts to increase access to HIV testing for priority and under-resourced communities.
From Curiosity to Calling—Mohammad-Ali Jenabian’s journey from veterinary science to global HIV research
Mohammad-Ali Jenabian did not initially set out to study HIV. In fact, he began his career as a veterinarian, completing his first doctoral degree in his home country of Iran. It was during these early studies that his interest in infectious and viral diseases took shape.