Welcome to the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation

The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation (CanLyme) was created to promote a more complete and comprehensive understanding of Lyme disease and related illnesses through research, education and advocacy to help reduce misdiagnosis and improve treatments for Lyme disease.

Get help for Lyme

Recognizing symptoms and learning how to talk to your doctor are the first steps towards treatment.

Learn more about Lyme

Understanding Lyme disease is the best way to prevent, diagnose and treat it.

Get the facts

Get the facts on ticks and tick-borne diseases. There are many myths! 

Recent dispatches

Remembering Jim Wilson

ByRossana MagnottaAug 12, 20243 min read

I first met Jim in 2004 after reaching out to CanLyme in the depths of despair, as my husband…

In memoriam: Jim Wilson

ByCanLyme TeamJul 23, 20242 min read

January 2, 1954 – June 28, 2024 We are heartbroken to announce the death of our founder, Jim Wilson,…

Remembering Jim Wilson

ByJanet Sperling, PhDJul 9, 20241 min read

The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation and the family of Jim Wilson are sorry to announce the death of our…

Researchers study ticks in Ottawa where residential zones border woodland areas

ByCanLyme TeamJun 17, 20242 min read

Canadian researchers compared the prevalence and infection rate of ticks in residential, woodland and residential/woodland border zones in Ottawa.1Logan,…

Where there are ticks, there’s often Lyme disease

Lyme disease is caused by an infection that is most often transmitted by ticks, but it can also be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy.

Ticks can attach to your body without being seen or felt, and diagnosis can be difficult due to symptom presentation, testing protocols and other challenges. 

Learn to protect yourself

You can support our work

CanLyme is a registered Canadian charity. We rely on the financial support of donors. You can help save lives.

Stay connected

Sign up and get our occasional updates, educational resources, and news from our community of experts.

All of the tools in the most fully featured tick removal kit are on display.

Tick removal kits

We are a volunteer driven, registered charity. All proceeds go to education, prevention, awareness, research, and support.
A diagram of tick hotspots hover over top of an image of a hiker carrying a backpack.

Prevention tips

Regular tick checks are a way to check your body for crawling or embedded ticks. Check everywhere including these hotspots.
Mother and child sit together tenderly in the beautiful light streaming into the kitchen through a multi panel window.

Donate now

Your donation helps us to fund research and education for health care providers, advance prevention and awareness of Lyme disease – and more.
Illustrations in four panels of how to remove a tick by using tweezers and grabbing way low down near where it's embedded on the skin and pulling straight up, and then washing the skin around where it was embedded.

Tick removal

If you’ve discovered an embedded tick on yourself or someone else there are a few important things to remember.
A microscopic view of borrelia burgdorferi, a corkscrew shaped bacteria.

Lyme basics

Although it is most commonly associated with a tick bite, many people who have Lyme disease do not recall seeing or feeling a tick bite.
A woman walks with her two dogs along a path near in the forest.

Prevention

By taking the right precautions and spreading the word, you can effectively protect yourself, and your family, from Lyme.

More news

Bartonella DNA more common in patients with psychosis

ByCanLyme TeamJun 14, 20242 min read

Researchers at North Carolina State University used DNA testing to show that Bartonella is more likely to be found…

Count me in

ByCanLyme TeamJun 13, 20246 min read

In order to be counted as a Lyme disease case by public health, very specific parameters must be met.…

Another young woman dies in the midst of ongoing confusion around Lyme disease

ByCanLyme TeamJun 8, 20241 min read

Another tragic story is emerging in Canada highlighting the ongoing confusion in this country around the diagnosis and treatment…

Finding Resilience: A Teen’s Journey Through Lyme Disease

ByCatherine KinsellaJun 6, 20243 min read

Finding Resilience: A Teen’s Journey Through Lyme Disease is a candid and moving account of Rachel Leland’s journey through…

Summer camp leaders, outdoor educators, teachers, and parents

ByCanLyme TeamMay 29, 20243 min read

Summertime means exploring in the outdoors. Being tick aware is an important first step, but bites can still happen.…

Clinician education grants available at CanLyme

ByCanLyme TeamMay 24, 20242 min read

When it comes to Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections, earlier diagnosis and treatment result in better patient outcomes.…

Why Canadian public healthcare fails Lyme patients and why they seek treatment elsewhere

ByCanLyme TeamMay 7, 20244 min read

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation. For the past two decades, CanLyme has…

CanLyme welcomes Dr. Vett Lloyd

ByCanLyme TeamMay 7, 20241 min read

The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation is excited to welcome Dr. Vett Lloyd to the CanLyme board. Dr. Lloyd is…

CanLyme: 20 years of Canadian advocacy

ByCanLyme TeamMay 2, 20243 min read

This year marks an important milestone for the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation – 20 years of Lyme disease advocacy.…

Footnotes