About Hope Air

Turning hope into reality

For many Canadians facing serious health issues, getting the care they need isn’t as easy as you’d expect. Vital medical appointments and treatments are often far from home. How do patients get there in a timely way? How do they afford the travel costs? These are things that those suffering from an illness shouldn’t have to worry about when they’re trying to focus on their health.

At Hope Air, we believe that all Canadians should have access to the healthcare they need, regardless of where you live or if you can’t afford to travel. Which is why we’re committed to easing the stress of getting there by providing families, from coast to coast, with free flights and accommodations.

How to Get Involved

If you’re someone in need or a caregiver, you can begin the process of getting assistance by filling out a patient application.

If you’re a social worker or medical professional, you can advocate for a patient by filling out our easy-to-use form.

Or, if you’re like thousands of Canadians who want to support us in our mission, you can donate in a number of convenient ways.

Our Vision

A world in which every Canadian has access to the healthcare they need, despite distance or cost of travel.

Our Mission

Providing Canadians in financial need with free travel to access medical care far from home.

How We Fulfill Our Mission

Hope Air supports patients throughout every stage of their journey to wellness with the generous help of our donors, partners and volunteers. To alleviate the stress of travelling long distances by car or train, we provide free flights – often through the generous donations of our airline partners and volunteer pilots – but 70% of the time by direct donations. We simply couldn’t do what we do without you.

To support patients once they arrive, we make assistance on the ground readily available from transportation between the airport and their medical appointments. We strive to provide all Hope Air patients with a home away from home with accommodations that help them relax and restore before and after their treatments. On our mission to continually expand the support we provide at every stage, we look to you to help us accomplish it.

By providing full service travel, we are helping save the lives of patients in need by getting them to their vital medical appointments.

Patients would travel by bus or car 4-12+ hours each way to reach medical appointments

Patients would cancel or postpone their appointments

History

In 1984, while working at Air Canada, Jinnie Bradshaw, C.M., learned of the Corporate Angel Network in the Northeastern United States, which used corporate planes to get cancer patients to treatment. She was surprised to learn that no similar service existed in Canada.

Around the same time at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, volunteer Joan Rogers saw cancer patients from the east coast arriving for treatment after spending 15 to 20 hours on a bus. Joan knew that there had to be a better way.

The stars would align in 1986 when Jinnie, who had begun devoting her efforts to helping Canadian cancer patients get to treatment, and Joan met through mutual contacts. Shortly afterwards, these two innovative women co-founded Mission Air Transportation Network (now Hope Air).

On a brisk day in November 1986, Hope Air arranged its first flight for a young New Brunswick girl who traveled to Toronto for cancer treatment. Since then, Hope Air has made more than 162,000 travel arrangements.

Over our three-decade-plus journey, there have been many incredible milestones. From the introduction of our Volunteer Pilot Program in 1999 to the launch of our amazing Give Hope Wing’s fundraising expedition in 2018, we have remained true to our mission of bridging the distance between home and hospital for Canadians in need.

Accountability

As a registered Canadian charity, Hope Air knows that transparency about how we conduct business and spend donations is important. Which is why we’re made our Annual Reports and Audited Financial Statements for the past five years available to you. To print a copy, open the report and click on the printer icon in the top-right corner. And to view our listing on the Canada Revenue Agency’s website, click here.

We’re here to help make travel for care easier.

Explore our new FAQ resource to find information about flights, eligibility, and how Hope Air can support you.