The Hope Air “Fast Facts”
 National registered charity founded in 1986
 Dedicated to arranging free air transportation for Canadians
who are in financial need and require non-emergency
medical care outside their home communities
 53,000+ flights in 22 years
 Nation-wide service is unique – any age or illness group
 Close to 50% of our flights are for children and their escorts
 90% of all donations received are applied directly to our
mission
The Hope Air “Fast Facts”
 Requests come directly from clients/patients and their
families, as well as from professionals in the health care
and social service sectors
 Volunteers support our In-House Call Centre and provide
office support to staff – we are only 4 staff
 Hope Air will arrange over 2,300 flights this year
 We do one thing, and we do it well
Getting Canadians to getting
better!
What “need” does Hope Air address?
 Canadians rely upon the commitment to universal,
accessible health care
 For many Canadians, living in rural or remote areas means
distance creates a barrier to access
 For many Canadians, their lack of financial means creates
a barrier to access
Hope Air exists to ensure that no fellow Canadians
get left behind in Canada’s healthcare system.
Who does Hope Air assist?
 Canadians helping Canadians
 Need to travel for non-emergency medical care
 Flying is the “best” means to get to their medical
appointment
 Care is covered by their provincial health plan
 Financial need
 Escort may also fly
 Any age and any illness group
 Coast to coast assistance
How does Hope Air “qualify” its clients?
 4 stage process:
 Information gathering from the Client and/or social worker
 Client details
 Reason for flight
 Assessment of financial need
 Personal/family income level
 Community LICO rating
 Doctor confirmation: from both the referring doctor and the
appointment doctor (specialist/surgeon)
 Need & able to fly
 Need for a medical escort
 Flight inventory which can be utilized
 Commercial airlines
 Volunteer Pilots
Why are the Clients travelling?
9%
35%
56%
Assessment - to make or clarify a diagnosis
Treatment - surgical or drug therapy for the condition
Reassessment - follow-up to the treatment received
What if Hope Air is not able to help?
 For many of the Clients - they cancel their medical
appointments
 If the Client does go to their appointment:
 they have added to their already onerous financial
burden
 the alternative mode of transport will have been
many hours in considerable discomfort
 the Client arrives for medical treatment in a highly
stressed and tired condition
 several extra days away from home, school, family
& friends
The benefits Hope Air provides
 Reduce the stress of the client, and their family, at a critical
time when the uncertainty of illness prevails
 Relieve financial strain on already disadvantaged families
 Enable more timely and easy access to medical treatment
 Reduce absenteeism - air travel shortens the time people
are away from school, family, friends and work
 Ensure that the sophisticated technology & specialized
medical procedures, which are centralized in large cities,
are more easily accessible to all Canadians
Where Hope Air Flights originated
(2008 - % by province)
NS
4.66%
PE
2.89%
NB
4.91%
QC
4.26%
NL
8.76%
BC
33.54%
AB
4.51%
ON
29.58%
MB
0.61%
SK
6.28%
Examples of the “top routes”
 Prince George → Vancouver
 Sault Ste. Marie → Toronto
 Terrace → Vancouver
 Timmins → Toronto
 Moncton → Toronto
 Rouyn-Noranda → Montreal
 St. John’s → Toronto
 Prince Rupert → Vancouver
 Val-d’Or → Montreal
 Kapuskasing → Ottawa
 Fort St. John → Vancouver
 Thunder Bay → Toronto
 Happy Valley - Goose Bay → St. John’s
 Charlottetown → Toronto
 Saskatoon → Vancouver
 Halifax → Toronto
 Smithers → Vancouver
 Fredericton → Toronto
 Castlegar → Vancouver
How we help - our 2 principal flight programs
1. Commercial Airlines
 Inaugural flight on October 5, 1986
 Partnerships with many of Canada’s commercial airlines
2. Volunteer Pilots (“VPP”)
 Inaugural flight on October 25, 1999
 Strong partnerships with CBAA & COPA
Who provided the Flights? (2008)
Volunteer Pilots
8.51%
Central Mountain
Air
7.29%
Air Canada /
Aeroplan
25.33%
WestJet
38.99%
Bearskin Airlines
10.54%
Pacific Coastal
1.93%
Hawkair
Porter
3.44%
How we applied our donations
Administration
5%
Fundraising
5%
Mission
90%
Getting Canadians to getting
better!