Growing Need - Canuck Place Children's Hospice

Children and families need care

Canuck Place Children’s Hospice is the pediatric palliative care provider for BC and Yukon. Care is provided for children 0–19 diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and their families. Our expert clinicians help relieve suffering, improve quality of life, and offer families meaningful choices about where they receive care—in our hospices, or community-based in-home, in-hospital, or virtually. For families who experience the profound loss of a child, our specialist bereavement team provides compassionate support throughout their grief journey for up to three years.

The need for our services continues to grow significantly. Over the past decade, we’ve seen a 56% increase in the number of children and families on program needing care. Yet despite this growth, we know there are still more children and families who need our support.

Through the generosity of donors, Canuck Place raises over 60% of the funds needed to provide essential pediatric palliative care. Join us in our bold goal to reach every family caring for a child with a life-threatening illness who needs help in BC and the Yukon–so no one walks this journey alone.

Key Outcomes

Organizational excellence

In 2024-25, Canuck Place was recognized by leading sector accrediting bodies – Accreditation Canada (healthcare organizations) and Imagine Canada (charitable organizations) for our commitment to organizational excellence and meeting or exceeding sector-wide benchmarks and standards:

Accreditation Canada

In 2024, Canuck Place was awarded Exemplary Standing with Accreditation Canada, the highest level of recognition demonstrating our commitment to high quality, safe, person and family-centred care. To achieve this rating Canuck Place had to meet at least 95% of all assessed standards and criteria, including the criteria for 20 required organizational practices.

Imagine Canada

Canuck Place achieved Imagine Canada Accreditation, joining a network of leading nonprofits committed to excellence, transparency, and strong governance. This national recognition reflects our organization-wide dedication to ethical fundraising, accountability, and operational integrity. Following a rigorous peer review, Canuck Place met the highest standards and reinforces our reputation as a trusted leader in the charitable sector.

Bereavement care project

Through the Bereavement care project, Canuck Place identified a critical gap: the need for specialized child loss services in BC. The study outlined a clear path forward—developing a needs-based bereavement model, engaging family partners in service design, and improving access through greater variety, capacity, and flexibility.

Living our values

Family engagement framework

With your support, Canuck Place has implemented the recommendations of the Family Engagement Coalition, comprised of staff, families, and healthcare partners. Together, we co-developed an evidence-based framework and practical tools designed to ensure meaningful engagement with the children, youth, and families we serve. At the heart of this work is a clear vision: ensure consistent, safe, and respectful engagement that fully represents families’ diverse perspectives and insights, to support improved pediatric palliative care for children. This framework transforms the role of families from care recipients to include them as collaborators and co-designers of care and services. By actively hearing, valuing, and integrating family voices, we’re creating authentic partnerships that strengthen care at Canuck Place.

Improved access to specialist pediatric palliative care Over the last decade Canuck Place has seen a 56% increase in children and families connected to our program. (608 to 946)

Increased support for grieving families 3,755 total counselling sessions provided for children and families, a 19% increase. (3,143-3,755)

More care at home 1,069 In-home visits by nurses, nurse practitioners, and physicians since 2018, providing choices for the place of care for families. (3,143-3,755)

The Demand

Demand for pediatric palliative care

The demand for the essential services Canuck Place provides is high in BC.

56% Increase in children and families on program and with increased complexity of care since 2015

Demand for grief, loss, and bereavement counselling

In BC and the Yukon, Canuck Place is the only provincial specialized bereavement care provider for families experiencing childhood deaths.

19% Increase in counselling sessions for children and families over last year

Canuck Place recreation therapy activity with a family paddle boarding on a lake

Demand for recreation therapy

Where kids can be kids and families make memories to last a lifetime.

30% Increase in recreation therapy sessions for 3,326 children and family attendees

Therapy dog Gaia with Canuck Place child, Cherish

Demand for community-based care consults

Canuck Place offers a choice for place of care for children and families. By offering more choices for place of care, Canuck Place is recognizing the unique needs of our families, and their lives – whether those lives are measured in hours, days, weeks, or years.

6% Increase in community-based care consulations including 24-Hour Clinical Care Line, in-hospital, in-home, and virtual care

The Why

Why is Canuck Place providing pediatric palliative care?

Canuck Place is the pediatric provider for the province of BC and the Yukon. Without the Canuck Place program, there is no dedicated pediatric palliative care for children and families.

Canuck Place uses provincial health data (PopDataBC) to identify children living with life-threatening conditions in BC. In any given year, approximately 2,500 children meet these criteria, with a subset considered high-risk due to fragile and unstable conditions that often lead to unplanned hospitalization, ICU admission, or death. Currently, Canuck Place provides care for 67% of children in BC aged 0–19 who have conditions meeting internationally recognized palliative care criteria. The growing need for pediatric palliative care spans all care settings—tertiary hospitals and community and regional hospitals, and families’ homes.

Goals of Care

Goals of care for Canuck Place

Canuck Place defines high-quality pediatric palliative care as holistic support that improves quality of life, promotes comfort, and reduces suffering for children with life-threatening conditions and their families. Our approach addresses physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs through collaborative, child- and family-centered care delivered by an interdisciplinary team. This care spans the entire continuum—across all ages and stages of illness, through end of life, and into bereavement—and is grounded in honest, compassionate communication and respect for each family’s choices.

Canuck Place is focused on four key areas to assess the quality and safety of our clinical services: Access, service utlization, quality of care, and family experience.

2025–26 goals to meet the growing need

Access Goal: Inpatient hospice care is accessible and available 2,500

Implement hospice bed utilization strategy to support access to in-patient hospice care with a goal of 2,500 in-patient bed days

Service utilization goal: Children and families get care where they are 4,000

Pediatric palliative care community and hospital consults

Quality of care goal: Children and families receive grief and bereavement support during challenging circumstances 100%

of families referred for bereavement support receive contact from a Canuck Place team member within 7 days of referral

Family experience goal: Children and families receive care when they need it 100%

of requests met for urgent in-hospice admissions within 24 hours and family feedback report feeling supported and care is family-centred

Key Projects

Key projects through 2026

Collaboration and innovation Implement pediatric advance care planning project

Canuck Place is co-leading a provincial initiative with BC Children's Hospital, BC Children's & Women's Hospitals Indigenous Health, ChildHealth BC, and Perinatal Services BC to standardize Pediatric Advance Care Planning (pACP) across the province. Research shows that pACP improves children's quality of life during end of life while reducing caregiver stress and burden. The project team is developing a provincial form, clinical guidelines, and an education module for clinicians throughout BC—strengthening the integration of pediatric palliative care and improving the experience for families navigating this difficult journey.

Collaboration and innovation Improve access to evidence-based bereaved services

Canuck Place is addressing the growing demand for specialized bereavement care with a newly identified Needs-Based Bereavement Model and key areas for practice improvement including intake and assessment. Rooted in the belief that families have an innate capacity to grow resilience, the model offers personalized support that reflects each family’s unique journey to remember their child, process loss, and integrate grief within the context of their values, beliefs, and culture. Our deliverables for this year are to standardize our intake and assessment process to ensure families are connected to the services that meet their needs.

Knowledge sharing Launch of the Canuck Place learning management system

Canuck Place is developing a scalable learning platform to address the growing need in pediatric palliative care, complexity of care, and to support training on the Serious Illness Conversation Guide – Pediatrics© for clinicians globally.

Infrastructure Implementing an Electronic Medical Record

Canuck Place is implementing an Electronic Medical Record to improve the effectiveness of clinical documentation and support clinicians to have the information they need to best care for patients where and when they need it.

Cultural safety and humility

Canuck Place is committed to fostering a safe, supportive, just, and inclusive culture for everyone in our community of care—children, families, staff, and volunteers. We continue to advance Indigenous culturally safe care by implementing an Indigenous Cultural Safety and Humility learning pathway for clinical staff and building relationships to support the spiritual care of Indigenous children and families.

How can you help?

Join us in our goal to reach every family caring for a child with a life-threatening illness who needs help in BC and the Yukon - so no one walks this journey alone.

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