CAN-PACT Annual Event 2025

Arthur J.E Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Calgary, AB - October 16 - 17, 2025

The inaugural CAN-PACT National Network Meeting marked a major milestone in Canada’s psychedelic-assisted cancer therapy landscape. Held at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Calgary, the two-day gathering brought together more than 60 attendees from across the country, including patient partners, clinicians, researchers, trainees, educators, and policy leaders.

The event theme, “The Past, Present, and Future of Psychedelic-Assisted Cancer Therapy,” was brought to life through keynote presentations, patient narratives, committee workshops, and rich interdisciplinary dialogue.

Across two days of collaborative learning, the Network explored:

The roots and evolution of psychedelic-assisted cancer therapy
Lived experience perspectives from patient partners
Lessons from clinical trials, policy work, and stakeholder attitudes
The development of national training, research, and policy pathways
Committee-led planning for CAN-PACT’s next phase of work

The atmosphere was a blend of intellectual curiosity, meaningful connection, and shared purpose — setting the stage for a transformative year ahead.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

CAN-PACT Overview & Network Introductions

Presented by: Dr. Linda E. Carlson

Dr. Linda Carlson opened the meeting with an inspiring overview of CAN-PACT’s mission: advancing psychedelic-assisted cancer therapy through collaborative research, capacity-building, clinical trials, education, stakeholder engagement, and policy development. Attendees from each province introduced themselves, showcasing the network’s national reach and diverse expertise.

Click the button to watch the presentation!

WATCH NOW

"Warrior Wisdom"

Diane Gratton's Story

Patient partner Diane Gratton RN shared a deeply moving account of her psilocybin-assisted therapy experience. Through themes of courage, identity, embodiment, and surrender, Diane described her therapeutic journey, symbolized by the Goddess Athena “warrior” figure that accompanied her through cancer treatment.

Her reflection, “I have cancer, but I am not ill,” resonated widely and grounded the meeting in lived experience.

Presentation release date: November 25, 2025

Cultural & Historical Perspectives

Presented by: Dr. Ron Shore

Dr. Shore offered a powerful talk on psychedelics across cultural worlds, emphasizing Two-Eyed Seeing, the integration of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems. He highlighted connection, context, and community as the foundations of psychedelic healing and invited clinicians to practice cultural humility and self-awareness in their work.

Presentation release date: December 2, 2025

Clinical Trials Insights

Presented by: Dr. Anthony Back

Dr. Back shared lessons from leading clinical trials of psilocybin-assisted therapy for people with cancer, including facilitator dynamics, safety considerations, and the emotional terrain of working with end-of-life populations. His insights are guiding CAN-PACT as it prepares for its multi-site pilot trial.

Clinical Trials Revolution

Presented by: Dr. Harriet Richardson & Dr. Michael McKenzie

Dr. Harriet Richardson and Dr. Michael McKenzie highlighted the evolution of the Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG) Supportive Care Committee, showcasing how it has become a leader in patient-centred trial design. With experience across more than 500 national and international trials, they emphasized that patient engagement and quality-of-life outcomes are now central to how trials are conceived, conducted, and reported.

As CAN-PACT prepares for its own multisite trials, these principles are being woven directly into study design — from proposal development and recruitment strategies to outcome selection and dissemination — ensuring that future psilocybin-assisted therapy research is meaningful, equitable, and grounded in what matters most to people living with cancer

Presentation release date: December 9, 2025

Stakeholder Attitudes

Presented by: Haley Schuman, MSc

Haley presented findings from her mixed-methods study exploring attitudes toward psychedelic-assisted therapy among more than 700 Canadians. Her work revealed a diverse landscape of hope, curiosity, hesitancy, and uncertainty across patients, clinicians, and health administrators. Key barriers included policy ambiguity, limited evidence, clinical hesitancy, and concerns around safety and ethics. Opportunities emerged in targeted education, improved communication, and collaborative implementation. Her findings provide essential groundwork for CAN-PACT’s education, trial design, and policy priorities moving forward.

Presentation release date: December 9, 2025

Clinical Trials Committee

Refined pilot trial protocols, emphasized demoralization syndrome as the primary outcome, and explored hybrid delivery models to maximize real-world feasibility.

Education & Training Committee

Developed the framework for national curriculum modules, discussed terminology (e.g., “psilocybin therapy”), and proposed competency-based clinician training with bilingual delivery.

Policy Committee

Outlined a strategic roadmap involving engagement with policymakers, regional considerations, Indigenous health contexts, and KT outputs such as policy briefs and webinars.

COMMITTEE BREAKOUT SESSIONS

LOOKING AHEAD

Building on the momentum of the 2025 meeting, CAN-PACT’s next priorities include:

Finalizing the psilocybin-assisted therapy pilot trial protocol
Continuing development of clinician and patient education modules
Advancing policy engagement and knowledge translation
Launching the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership (PSP)
Strengthening cross-Canada collaboration through ongoing committee work
Preparing for next year’s national network meeting in Fall 2026

ANNUAL EVENT GALLERY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This event was made possible by the dedication of CAN-PACT’s PIs, Steering Committee, patient partners, educators, trainees, policy contributors, and clinical collaborators across Canada — with special thanks to the Calgary administrative and trainee team for seamless event execution.