Music Mondays

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We are excited to introduce a special six-week music therapy group designed for babies and young children (ages 0–5) and their parents and caregivers.

Join us Wednesdays at 9 a.m. on Zoom to connect, play, and f ind comfort in the healing power of music. These sessions create a safe and joyful space where families can bond through singing, movement, rhythm, and simple instruments.

Music helps support emotional connection and sensory exploration, all while making beautiful memories together. Whether you’re tapping along to a beat, sharing a lullaby, or simply enjoying the sounds, this group invites families to participate in ways that feel meaningful for them.

Come as you are and enjoy a fun, uplifting time with your child(ren), while building a sense of community alongside other Canuck Place families.

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Get ready for a spooktacular time at the Jack-o’-Lantern Jamboree!

Join us at 3 p.m. on October 31 for a special Halloween music therapy group on Zoom, where we’ll celebrate the season in the most uplifting way— through song!

Don your favourite costume, bring your festive spirit, and connect with others as we sing some delightfully fun Halloween tunes together. Whether you’re looking for a joyful way to embrace the holiday or simply want to share a moment of musical connection, this virtual gathering promises to be full of treats (and maybe a few friendly tricks).

Let’s make this Halloween one to remember!

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We are thrilled to launch a new six-week music therapy group for teens at Canuck Place. This supportive space is designed specifically for teens who may be struggling with feelings of isolation, navigating the grief of their illness, or feeling different from their peers. Through the power of music, this group offers a safe and uplifting environment to foster connection, encourage self-expression, and build community. Whether through songwriting, listening, or simply sharing experiences, participants will have the opportunity to explore their emotions in a way that feels comfortable and meaningful to them.

Throughout the six weeks, we will explore themes such as: finding your voice, navigating emotions, overcoming feelings of isolation, music as a safe space, and telling your story through song, reflection, and celebration. We invite your teens to join this unique group to find support, friendship, and creative expression through music.

This group is best suited for teens who feel comfortable expressing themselves verbally and through music, whether through songwriting, discussion, or sharing their experiences with others. Spaces are limited— reach out today to see if this group is the right fit for your teen!

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Our monthly program offers concurrent parent/carer and sibling groups to support families as they navigate grief together. While parents gather and connect, siblings join their own dedicated group to share their experiences and build connection through a variety of grief-related activities and ways of expression, including discussion, art, play, and music.

Topics may include learning about the nature of grief, feelings, sharing memories, or developing coping tools.

Please note: This is intended for families up to three years after the loss of a child and who are at least six months bereaved. Siblings ages 5-12 (with flexibility). Child minding for under 5.

Once registered, participants are asked to commit to regular attendance for the full series. Families are welcome to join at any time between September and May 2026.

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Cup of Tea

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You don’t have to walk alone.

Join other Canuck Place bereaved parents, carers, or grandparents walking at a relaxed pace with the facilitation of a Canuck Place bereavement volunteer.

Participants may explore their grief through the movement of walking, being outdoors in nature, and with other grievers in this supported group experience.

Walks will begin and end at Dave Lede House and continue around Mill Lake Park for approximately an hour.

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As the crisp autumn air settles in, we invite Canuck Place families to gather for a special evening of warmth, remembrance, and connection. If you’d like, feel free to bring a picnic dinner before settling in by the lake for a serene night together.

Come and enjoy sweet treats, hot chocolate, and shared laughter through silly songs and heartfelt stories. This gathering is about coming together—to honour the children we hold in our hearts and to find comfort in a community that understands.

Through guided activities, you’ll have opportunities to feel close to your loved one while embracing the support of others walking the journey of grief. Let’s light up the night with love, reflection, and togetherness by the water’s edge. We hope to see you there.

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Join us for a dessert night exploring grief and the couple relationship. A counsellor will provide education around strengthening the couple relationship and navigating grief together.

Often, couples tell us that they grieve differently and navigating these differences together can be a challenge. Come together if you can or come on your own to learn for yourself.

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This scrapbooking workshop will facilitate the creation of memory pages with images of your precious child and offers an opportunity to be together with other bereaved families in a safe, relaxed environment where you can share photos and stories.

All families and children are welcome.

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These individual sessions are partly psycho-educational material and engaging discussion.

Each session explores a different topic and the profound impact of grieving a child on all aspects of a person and family’s life: mind, body, spirit, sense of self, relationships, and emotions. Often families find guidance, reassurance, and information helpful in the early months of grief; and this can be supportive at any time along the way.

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The holidays can be very difficult after the death of a child. During these unique times, it may be harder to feel connected to the ones you love. Yet, connection with your child and loved ones can give comfort and support you when you need it most. This session will integrate group discussion around navigating grief at this time of year, followed by an opportunity to craft a unique holiday card that captures how you might tend to your grief through the holidays.

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Take time to stop and smell the flowers

How often do you take the time to literally stop and smell the flowers? How often are you bogged down, and forget to appreciate the small moments?

For families at Canuck Place, even the smallest moments are treasured. For families with children facing a life-limiting illness, there may be finite days, but love is boundless.

Aishalyn and Sebastian Sayer-Czarkowski were introduced to Canuck Place in 2021 when their son Zade was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) at just one week old. After two weeks in the NICU, baby Zade moved to Canuck Place to receive compassionate, end-of-life care.

“I never had a point in my life where I had even heard the term children’s hospice,” Aishalyn shares. “I was apprehensive at first, but was shown photos of the Vancouver hospice, and given lots of information on what was provided depending on our needs. It was all presented with care and compassion.”

The challenges were immense. While recovering from a c-section and caring for newborn Zade, the family was also managing their first-born daughter Harley’s aggressive cancer—Stage 4 High-Risk Neuroblastoma.

During their stay at the hospice, the family spent quality time with Zade surrounded by beautiful blossoms in Canuck Place’s garden while a photographer captured precious moments.

“Harley and our middle child, Levi loved to hold and cuddle Zade,” Aishalyn says. “We all shared those first cuddles together in the garden, only having minutes together, before Zade took his last breath in our arms.” These family photos would prove invaluable—not knowing that a year later Harley would succumb to cancer.

Spirited and full of zest, Harley had a love for all things f loral and pink. “Ever since she was little, she would always stop and smell the flowers,” Aishalyn shares. “Wildflowers will always remind me of Harley. The way they can grow, no matter how difficult the terrain—beauty still comes through.”

In summer 2022, one year after Zade’s death, Harley’s cancer relapsed. The family returned to Canuck Place for medical respite care, creating memories through recreation therapy outings, music sessions, crafts, and time in the garden.

“Canuck Place allowed us to completely put healthcare in the hands of their expert nurses and doctors,” Aishalyn says. “They allowed our minds to be muffled from the outside noise and really focus on what matters—our loved ones and making the most of our last days, hours, and minutes.”

In October 2022, Harley died peacefully at home with Canuck Place nurses ensuring her comfort. She took her last breath on her own terms—wild and free, independent and fierce.

“Having loved and lost Harley and Zade taught me to not take anything in life for granted and to truly appreciate what we have,” Aishalyn shares.

Research process engages family partners as co-creators of knowledge

Children can be expressive, especially when they are in pain. But when non-verbal children with serious illness are experiencing pain, how do parents, caregivers and clinicians know where it hurts?

That is what the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice Research Initiative (Research Initiative) is trying to determine—through the novel lens of patient-family research faculty.

The Pain and Irritability of Unknown Origin (PIUO) study is one of many projects being undertaken by Research Initiative, which was established in 2023. Funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) as part of the CHILDBRIGHT Network, this study aims to develop evidence-based guidelines for managing these difficult-to-assess symptoms often found in pediatric palliative care. Dr. Hal Siden, Scientific Director at the Research Initiative, says the conditions and care for children and families, as well as the trajectory of illnesses, are unique.

He notes that while the field of pediatric palliative care has grown significantly since its early days as a ‘cottage industry,’ dedicated research support remains limited globally, with perhaps only a dozen centres having fully committed research teams.

A key focus of the Research Initiative is understanding and addressing the complex needs of non-verbal children.

“How do you interpret pain signals? Are they just angry? Are they irritated? Are they bored? Or does something truly hurt?” says Dr. Siden, underscoring the difficulties in assessing their symptoms.

Dr. Siden’s lab is pioneering a model of patient-oriented research that engages family partners—parents and caregivers of children with life-threatening illnesses not only as participants, but as co-creators of knowledge. Their lived experience having children with complex medical needs helps guide research priorities, shapes study design, improves recruitment and accessibility, and brings meaning to data interpretation.

The Research Initiative prioritizes the meaningful involvement of families in the research process by integrating families into the initiative. Two parent partners, Candice Barrans and Laesa Kim, are team members of the Research Initiative.

Candice plays a key role in bridging the gap between academic research and the everyday realities of families. She also co-leads parent journal clubs that demystify complex academic findings, providing accessible resources and fostering deeper understanding.

“The ‘demystifying’ we offer parents is more about providing them with access to resources they may not otherwise be able to view, or even if they could, may be overwhelmed by the volume of information, or get lost in the medical or academic language,” says Candice.

These journal clubs create a unique space where parents are recognized as knowledgeable collaborators, drawing on their extensive experience within the medical system.

The value of this collaborative approach is evident in the Research Initiative’s research digest. Parent-authored commentaries on academic literature have become the most read publications, demonstrating the profound impact and value placed on family perspectives within the pediatric palliative care community.

Candice says this fulfills a crucial need for parents to use a difficult experience to better the system for other families and make impactful change.

As a Research Initiative family liaison, Laesa aims to ensure that research is not only informed by but also driven by the realities faced by Canuck Place families.

She consults on study questions, design and recruitment, consistently advocating for the patient and family perspective. Her contributions extend to co-investigating studies and leading interviews, bringing a unique lens to data interpretation.

“When I’ve interviewed families, for example, I can nod along with their experience and genuinely say, ‘I get that,’” says Laesa, emphasizing the rapport and richer data that this shared understanding can foster.

Laesa is also instrumental in shaping the implementation of the PIUO study, a crucial step in translating research findings into tangible improvements in community clinics. A key element of this work is the Parent Monitoring Board, comprised of parents who participated in the initial phase of the PIUO study. Their insights are invaluable in guiding how the new pain pathway will impact patients and families. Laesa highlights the profound sense of helplessness that families often experience when dealing with PIUO.

“These families want their child’s struggles—and their own—validated and understood, and to work with their health-care teams as partners,” she says.

The PIUO study aims to empower community pediatricians with the tools and support needed to navigate this challenging journey alongside families.

“Ensuring our community pediatricians across BC are trained and supported in caring for various complex conditions, such as PIUO, is an essential step in improving equitable health care in our province,” says Laesa.

A great step, with support and leadership from patientpartner researchers.