MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions

What MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions does

MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions is a non-profit academic research centre operating within the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, and affiliated with the University of Toronto. Founded as a provincial research entity and reorganized in 2015 under Dr. Stephen Hwang's directorship, MAP is positioned in the input data as Canada's largest research centre focused on health equity and the social determinants of health, employing approximately 42 direct staff alongside 34 scientists and more than 130 staff and students. Its research spans homelessness and housing instability, harm reduction and drug policy, access to essential medicines, primary care access, intimate partner violence, and Indigenous health, with flagship programs including the Navigator Project (hospital-to-community case management for homeless patients), Toronto's Drug Checking Service (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry drug supply monitoring since 2019), the CLEAN Meds randomized trial on free essential medicines, Our Healthbox smart vending machines, and a portfolio of mobile/web applications for HIV self-testing and violence prevention screening.

MAP's underlying technology mix combines traditional implementation science and clinical trial methodology with targeted digital tools: the OCHPP and ON-Marg data platforms for community health profiling and marginalization analytics, the DoseCheck smartphone application for drug checking, smart vending machines dispensing harm reduction and sexual health supplies, and mobile/web applications (WITHWomen, Pathways, PROMISE, Breaking the Cycle) for safety planning and self-testing. MAP does not sell commercial products; its outputs are peer-reviewed publications, policy recommendations, program implementations deployed through hospital and community health centre partners, and data services offered to government and community partners.

The centre's revenue model rests on three streams: philanthropic donations (anchored by St. Michael's Foundation and including a transformative $25 million Slaight Family Foundation gift in March 2026 for the Slaight Family Housing Lab, plus more than $3.3 million from the Even the Odds campaign with Staples Canada since 2021), competitive research grants (notably CIHR and Canada Research Chairs), and institutional support from Unity Health Toronto. MAP transitioned from provincial funding to a philanthropic model after 2015 and now serves government policymakers at federal, provincial, and municipal levels, hospital systems (St. Michael's, St. Paul's Vancouver, CHUM Montreal), community health centres, and populations facing homelessness, substance use harms, and healthcare access barriers across Canada.

Name

MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions

Legal name

MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions

Website

https://maphealth.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions is a non-profit research centre within Unity Health Toronto that conducts evidence-based health equity research on homelessness, harm reduction, and healthcare access, serving policymakers, hospitals, and marginalized populations across Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Health Equity Research and Implementation Science

NAICS

Social Assistance (624), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Primary Care for Underserved Populations (e.g., migrant, homeless, refugee clinics) (HLAFAGAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Health & Support Communities (BPAMABAL), Mobile & Street Medicine Primary Care Programs (HLAFAGAH), Public Health GIS, Geospatial & Environmental Exposure Analytics (HLAJAJAJ)

Keywords

• Health equity research
• Social determinants of health
• Homelessness research
• Harm reduction services
• Urban health solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Funding: MAP transitioned from provincial funding to a philanthropic model following loss of core provincial funding in 2015. Funded through donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate partners including St. Michael's Foundation and corporate campaigns.
2. Research Grants: Competitive research funding from government agencies including Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada Research Chairs, and other national research funding bodies.
3. Corporate Partnerships: Partnership with corporate entities such as Staples Canada's Even the Odds campaign for fundraising and awareness.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions is Canada's largest research centre focused on health equity and the social determinants of health, conducting world-leading research and translating it into real-world program and policy solutions. The centre operates across multiple health equity domains including homelessness, harm reduction, substance use, healthcare access, domestic violence, and Indigenous health, delivering research programs, intervention studies, data services, and digital tools in partnership with communities, researchers, and government leaders across Canada.

Product overview

MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions is a research institution, not a unified software product company. Its offerings consist of discrete research programs, intervention studies, and service initiatives spanning multiple health equity focus areas including homelessness, harm reduction, access to medicines, intimate partner violence, childhood health, and primary care. Key programs include the Navigator Project (hospital-to-community case management for homeless patients), Toronto's Drug Checking Service (drug market monitoring and harm reduction), CLEAN Meds (essential medicines access study), Our Healthbox (smart vending machines for health supplies), and various mobile/web applications for violence prevention and HIV testing. These operate as independent research initiatives rather than a unified platform architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Navigator Program: Hospital-based case management intervention pairing homeless patients with outreach counselors to improve health and housing outcomes
• Slaight Family Housing Lab
• Toronto Drug Checking Service
• Even the Odds
• CLEAN Meds
• Our Healthbox

Products and services

• Navigator Project A hospital-based case management intervention that pairs homeless patients with outreach counselors ('Navigators') who help them access health care, social services, housing, and other necessities during and after hospitalization. Implemented at St. Michael's Hospital (Toronto), St. Paul's Hospital (Vancouver), with planned expansion to CHUM (Montreal).
• Toronto's Drug Checking Service A drug checking service that analyzes substances from Toronto's unregulated drug supply using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to provide timely information on drug contents, helping users make informed decisions. Disseminates drug supply trends every two weeks. Partners include Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, South Riverdale Community Health Centre, Moss Park Consumption and Treatment Service, The Works at Toronto Public Health, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
• CLEAN Meds (Carefully Selected and Easily Accessible at No Charge Medications) A randomized controlled trial evaluating the distribution of essential medicines to people who cannot afford them, demonstrating that 86% of participants who received free medicines could afford basic necessities versus 29% in control group, with total healthcare savings averaging more than $1,000 per patient per year.
• Safe at Home An intervention that requires perpetrators of domestic violence to leave the family home, allowing survivors to remain in place with integrated health, social, police, and legal services support.
• Beyond Housing Network A co-designed and tested augmented Housing First approach focusing on access to services as well as addressing health, trauma, and community and cultural connections.
• NuRISH Project A study testing the effects of funded, centre-based childcare on childhood obesity, cardio-metabolic health, mental health, and development.
• Our Healthbox Smart vending machines dispensing free health supplies including HIV self-tests, naloxone kits, COVID-19 rapid tests, and other health products on demand. Funded through the Even the Odds campaign to expand to additional provinces.
• DoseCheck A smartphone-based drug checking technology being developed to expand access to drug checking services beyond Toronto's Drug Checking Service.
• I'm Ready Research Program A program distributing 50,000 HIV self-testing kits across Canada through innovative mobile apps that support testing and connections to care.
• WITHWomen Screening App A web application to help women discreetly connect to intimate partner violence screening and support services.
• Pathways Safety Planning App A web application supporting safety planning for women experiencing intimate partner violence.
• PROMISE App A web application supporting women experiencing intimate partner violence in connecting to services.
• Breaking the Cycle App An app developed to better support incarcerated people living with traumatic brain injury.
• Research and Evaluation Services (RES) Research and evaluation services offered by MAP to support evidence-based decision making for government and community partners.
• Ontario Community Health Hamilton Partnership (OCHPP) A data services initiative providing community health data and analytics for public health decision-making.
• ON-Marg A data services initiative focused on marginalization indicators and health equity data.
• Digital Information Platform for Early Pregnancy Loss A co-created digital platform connected with the Pregnancy and Infant Loss (PAIL) Network to provide guidance on early pregnancy loss care.
• Slaight Family Housing Lab A research initiative developing scalable, evidence-based systems to move people from homelessness and encampments into supportive housing, aiming to house 300 individuals. Backed by a $25 million gift from the Slaight Family Foundation.

Quantifiable outcome

• CLEAN Meds trial: 86% of participants who received free medicines could afford basic necessities vs 29% in control group
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• United Way Greater TorontocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2026MAP and United Way Greater Toronto partnered on the Slaight Family Housing Lab, combining MAP's research expertise with United Way's role in funding community organizations that work with people experiencing homelessness.
• Staples Canada (Even the Odds Campaign)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2021MAP and Staples Canada partnered on the Even the Odds campaign to raise awareness of inequity in Canada and fund development of program and policy solutions. The campaign has raised more than $3.3 million since 2021, supporting projects including Our Healthbox expansion, Clinique Mauve, APPLE Schools, and the Navigator Program expansion to British Columbia.
• Centre on Drug Policy EvaluationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Dan Werb's Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation at MAP conducts epidemiologic, implementation and policy research on addictions and drug policy, working closely with governments, affected communities and civil society.
• Moss Park Consumption and Treatment ServiceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHarm reduction partner in drug checking services and overdose prevention research.
• Parkdale Queen West Community Health CentreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity health centre collaborator in drug checking services delivery.
• South Riverdale Community Health CentreminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity health centre collaborator in drug checking services delivery.
• The Works at Toronto Public HealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerToronto Public Health collaborator in drug checking services.
• St. Paul's Hospital (Vancouver)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNavigator Program implementation expanded to St. Paul's Hospital, adapting the Toronto model for Vancouver's homeless population with Staples Canada funding.
• CHUM (Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPlanned expansion of Navigator Program to Montreal, marking national reach of the intervention model.
• Université de Montréal / Centre de Recherche en Santé PubliqueminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership for Clinic Mauve, a specialized clinic designed to meet the needs of racialized and migrant communities who are LGBTQI+.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC): British Columbia's provincial public health agency operating harm reduction and drug-checking services. Comparable to MAP's Drug Checking Service in harm reduction methods and as a regional counterpart in Western Canada.

Direct peers

• PHS Community Services Society: Vancouver-based nonprofit operating housing, harm reduction, and health services for marginalized populations. Comparable to MAP in mission around homelessness, drug policy, and supportive housing interventions.
• Inner City Health Associates (ICHA): Toronto-based nonprofit providing primary and mental health care to people experiencing homelessness. Comparable to MAP in target population (homeless and underserved), Toronto base, and partnership with St. Michael's Hospital.
• Wellesley Institute: Toronto-based applied research and policy institute focused on health equity, housing, and structural inequality. Highly comparable to MAP in mission, geography, and focus on urban health equity for marginalized populations.
• Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES): Ontario-based nonprofit health services research institute using administrative health data to produce population-level evidence. Comparable to MAP's OCHPP and ON-Marg data platforms and its focus on policy-relevant population health research.
• Maytree Foundation: Toronto-based foundation focused on poverty reduction, housing, and economic inclusion. Comparable to MAP in focus on homelessness and social determinants of health, with similar policy-advocacy orientation.

Broad incumbents

• Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI): National independent nonprofit providing health data, analysis, and policy insights. Comparable to MAP's data services (OCHPP, ON-Marg) in providing population health data infrastructure used by policymakers.
• Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA): National nonprofit providing evidence and guidance on substance use policy. Comparable to MAP's Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation in mandate around drug policy research and harm reduction.
• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH): Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital and research centre. A partner of MAP in drug-checking laboratory analysis, and comparable as a Toronto-based research institution working on substance use and population health.

Others

• Unity Health Toronto (parent network): MAP's parent hospital network. Included as the institutional context for MAP's research operations and the parent through which MAP accesses clinical infrastructure, patients, and philanthropic support via St. Michael's Foundation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/map-health

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions