MAPS Canada’s research initiatives aim to support Canadian psychedelic science and researchers.
Our Research Committee leads our efforts to support multidisciplinary psychedelic research in Canada, including raising funds for the MAPS Canada Research Grant, to support Canadian clinical trials on psychedelic-assisted therapies and other psychedelic-related research. We also conduct our own studies! Read more below.
MAPS Canada works to educate the public on important research taking place in Canada and around the world. Our goal is to present factual, balanced, evidence-based information about psychedelic science. Check out our Research Room , Webinars, and School of Psychedelics.
OUR STUDIES
The EXPAND Study
MAPS Canada launched our first research study in 2023, Examining the Special Access Program (SAP) for Therapeutic Access to Psychedelics in Canada Nationally – An Exploratory Study of the Determinants Impacting Access (The EXPAND Study).
About the EXPAND Study
Canada is one of the only countries with routes for legal access to psychedelics at the national level. Most psychedelics in Canada are federally scheduled and unavailable for sale for medical use. In 2022, psychedelics became accessible through Health Canada’s Special Access Program (SAP). The SAP considers requests for access to drugs that are unavailable for sale in Canada for treatment of patients with serious or life-threatening conditions when conventional treatments have failed or are unsuitable. Applications to the SAP must be submitted by licensed prescribers, and are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Information about SAP applications for psychedelics is not publicly available.
MAPS Canada designed a mixed-methods survey study to assess how factors related to patient characteristics, prescriber knowledge, professional background, and policy landscape influenced prescribers’ decisions to submit SAP applications for psychedelics.
Participants: Prescribers who were interested in making an SAP application but had not yet done so, and those who had already made an SAP application for psychedelics.
Research Question: How do medical and social factors impact prescribers’ perceptions of the therapeutic use of psychedelics and access through the SAP?
Survey Development: Prior to distribution, the survey was pilot-tested by members of a physician community of practice. The survey was created on RedCap and distributed online and included both closed-ended and open-ended questions.
This study surveyed licensed prescribers across Canada who had submitted or who had considered submitting SAP applications for psychedelics. Participants were recruited through direct outreach to physicians, nonprofit groups, and patient advocates, and targeted marketing. Data was collected via online survey using RedCap software, using a combination of likert scales and open-ended questions.
Status Update: The survey is now closed and data analysis is underway.
To learn more about MAPS Canada’s SAP community of practice, click here
For more information about the EXPAND study, contact us at
For more information about the study, to participate, or to learn more about the community of practice, contact us at research@MAPSCanada.org
FAQs
- We want to understand the factors that make it more or less likely for a prescriber to apply to the SAP for psychedelic medication.
- We also want to learn which elements of an application tend to be successful or unsuccessful.
- This knowledge will allow us to help prescribers manage barriers, make stronger applications, and potentially help inform drug policy pertaining to psychedelics.
- This study will have all of its relevant documents (i.e. study protocol, surveys, social media posts, emails) submitted to the Research Ethics Board (REB) for approval. The researchers will work with the REB to ensure that the study is up to REB standards. The study will not proceed without the approval of the REB.
- Read MAPS Canada’s Research Ethics Statement
- Participants will be given an explanation of the study purpose, risks, and benefits, and will be able to ask questions and talk about any concerns with the investigators.
- If they agree to participate, participants will be given a standardized consent form before beginning the study. This is confidential and will be protected to ensure the safety of prescribers and individuals involved with this study.
- Participants may withdraw consent at any time for any reason.
Survey data will be collected using PHIPA-compliant survey software designed specifically for research involving medical personnel. PHIPA, or the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) is Ontario’s health- specific privacy legislation which ensures the privacy of all healthcare information. PHIPA is substantially similar to PIPEDA, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, a federal act pertaining to information privacy. Find out more about PHIPA and PIPEDA.
Data will be stored on a password-protected drive, only accessible by the research team.
- Data will be analyzed for trends and common themes across responses. Preliminary themes will also be shared with participants to ensure the themes collected reflect their responses.
- We will also collect demographic data (age, gender, location, etc.) to look for differences in different subgroups.
- Data will be shared in a confidential manner, using encrypted software to ensure that there are no specific identifiers such as prescriber registration number and date of birth. However, the collection of demographic data will be used within the study to determine which categorical subsets may be correlated most with SAP approval or denial.
- We will publish an academic paper and present the findings at academic conferences as applicable.
- We also hope to use these findings to inform the creation of resources that prescribers can use to make stronger SAP applications for their patients (i.e. templates, infographics, flow charts, communities of practice).