Harmonious Healing: How Collaborative Investment Is Amplifying Music Therapy Across Canada

A new $1M investment is striking the right chord for healthcare

By Jess Wight | July 23, 2026

"Music connects you to a part of yourself that's well, and that's true no matter what patient population we're working with. Music remains, no matter the challenges a person is facing."

Music Therapist Lorrie Kubicek, Co-Director of the Katherine A. Gallagher Integrated Therapies Program at Harvard-affiliated Mass General Cancer Center, discussing the transformative effects of music therapy

Imagine a treatment that can soothe a newborn in the NICU, ease anxiety during a mental health crisis, and bring comfort to someone in palliative care – all without a single prescription. That is the power of music therapy (MT). And thanks to a huge new $500,000 multi-year investment announced this week from BMO, matched by the Jim Pattinson Foundation, this life-changing care is about to reach a lot more Canadians. This incredible funding boost is set to broaden the National Music Centre’s (NMC) reach, bringing evidence-based healing to hospitals and care settings across the country.

Ground-breaking healthcare isn’t always born in a lab; sometimes it’s found in melody. Expanding the NMC’s Music Therapy Initiative will not only allow more communities to access a modern evidence-based tool, but it will help to amplify awareness an often-overlooked strategy of healing.

MT is often dismissed as little more than a comforting complement to conventional treatment rather than being acknowledged as a clinical intervention in its own right. Most people recognize music’s ability to influence emotion: from listening to the mundane elevator music on the way into work to singing along to your favorite lyrics in the car on the way home, music quietly shapes our emotions throughout the day.

Historically, music has been used as a form of entertainment and expression. But when exploring the effects of music on the human body, it becomes clear that the function of music goes far beyond its cultural roots. As we listen to music, activity is sparked throughout the brain: brain imaging studies show that music activates networks involved in movement, sensation, memory, emotion, and higher cognitive functions.

Regions contributing to cognition, emotional processing, and autobiographical processes are just a few of the many brain areas that light up on imaging such as fMRI when listening to music. This array of activity is observed even more so during music production, engaging processes proven to support both psychological and physiological health.

Studies examining this brain activity have found that music as a stimulus activates the Auditory Cortex in the brain, which in turn interacts with the limbic system, specifically the amygdala and the hippocampus, where memories and context are integrated to generate emotional responses. This further activates the hypothalamus, which triggers a range of neurobiological pathways, each having a different effect on the body:

o   Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) – activates the parasympathetic nervous system, lowering heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and promoting muscle relaxation

o   Neuroendocrine Pathway – downregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis lowers the stress hormone cortisol, and raises feel-good hormones like oxytocin and endorphins

o   Neurochemical Cascade – activates the emotional and reward circuitry, including the oxytocin system, the endorphin system, the noradrenergic system and the dopamine reward system also raising levels of feel-good hormones

o   Pain Modulation in the Brainstem – reduces the nociceptive input and activates descending inhibition, overall lowering pain perception

The neurotransmitters released during music listening are all associated with positive psychological wellbeing, ranging from pleasure and rewards signals through the release of dopamine to improved mood regulation and elevation from increased oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins.

These neurochemical changes contribute to a wealth of benefits spanning both mental and physical health as identified by researchers. MT has been widely employed as a supplementary therapy alongside more traditional approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).

As one of the most researched practices in the mental health field, CBT has consistently demonstrated strong efficacy in treating a range of conditions through a considerable body of clinical evidence. A systematic review of these findings concludes that adding MT alongside CBT enhances depression treatment programs, with the combined approach lowering both clinical-rated and patient-reported depressive symptoms significantly more than CBT alone.

A more recent study published last year examining MT as an adjunct to CBT and also Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT) – another widely established depression treatment – examined the efficacy of the combined treatments with MT as a standalone treatment. Researchers found all three treatment approaches – both the combined protocols with MT and MT alone – significantly improved depressive symptoms for patients.

Importantly, researchers found MT alone to provide significant improvement. These findings are not unique to this study; rather they are consistent with a substantial body of literature demonstrating similar support for MT as a stand-alone treatment for a wide range of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and stress, as well physical symptoms like gait and balance in conditions like multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke rehabilitation.

As a medical practice, MT does not have the same reputation as well-established mental health treatments like CBT, however there is an abundance of research demonstrating its efficacy that deserves its moment in the spotlight. For example, as demonstrated in the chart below, a study directly comparing CBT to MT showed that both therapies yielded equally effective results when used to reduce anxiety among cancer survivors. Researchers found no superiority for CBT and reported clinically meaningful and durable improvements for both treatment options.

Chart illustrating the comparable efficacy Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Music Therapy (MT) in reducing anxiety in cancer patients found in a study published by Liou and colleagues in January this year

This study is just one of many examining the effects of music interventions on anxiety levels in cancer patients. Beyond its physical consequences, navigating a cancer diagnosis can have a profound psychological impact; this emotional burden often manifests as anxiety and depression. In attempts to address these mental health challenges, a multitude of studies have used MT to alleviate symptoms. A systematic review of literature in 2021 found music interventions to have strong positive effects on both anxiety and depression scores, further recognizing the therapeutic abilities of this underrecognized treatment.

Strikingly, researchers also uncovered the analgesic effects of MT in this systematic review: results spanning 12 different studies have reported pain-reducing effects of MT in cancer patients. Some of these studies also indicated an effect on fatigue and quality of life too, revealing the multifaceted benefits of music in a therapeutic setting.

Another systematic review documented the effects of MT on anxiety in patients awaiting surgery. Similar to those in cancer treatment, this preoperative stage can be a very anxiety-inducing time for patients – researchers recently reported that more than one in four inpatients find a hospital setting to be anxiety-inducing at a clinical level.

The analysis of 26 clinical trials allowed researchers to conclude that MT may provide a viable alternative to sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs. One study directly comparing sedatives to MT found that patients actually experienced a larger drop in anxiety through music than with medication. This is a significant discovery since it is of course desirable to reduce the amount of medication a patient is taking prior to surgery; this increases the predictability of anesthesia by eliminating drug-to-drug interactions and reducing the workload on the patient’s liver and kidneys.

When delving into the neurological mechanisms of music, researchers have revealed music penetrates deeper than the conscious mind. Recent research found patients in a Minimal Conscious State (MCS), a serious disorder of consciousness, experienced higher brain activity levels when exposed to music compared to conversation with family members. This research led to authors concluding that MT is crucial for reinstating communication between the central and peripheral nervous systems in MCS, helping to ‘wake up’ the nervous system. They recommend MT is applied to clinical settings to significantly improve neural reconstruction.

"Every day, we see how music can reduce anxiety, support recovery, strengthen communication, foster connection, and bring comfort during some of life’s most challenging moments.”

Jennifer Buchanan, founder of JB Music Therapy, a company partnered with NMC, describing the impact of MT she observes through her work

The evidence base supporting MT is extensive – the available literature extends far beyond the studies highlighted here. Rather than reflecting a lack of scientific validation, MT’s limited prominence appears to be driven by comparatively low awareness and recognition among the public and practitioners. Music has always been part of the human experience. Increasingly, the evidence suggests it should be recognized as part of modern medicine. This is the goal of the NMC’s Music Therapy Initiative, to increase visibility, accessibility and progression for MT across Canada. This major new funding represents an opportunity to not only prove that MT works, but to ensure more Canadians benefit from it.