Hope Air

Medical Travel Assistance

Hope Air relaunches Haul for Hope, in
Partnership with WestJet

a number of people wearing hope air t-shirts pulling a thick rope connected to a small plane behind them

Building on its exceptional success as a two-site pilot in 2023, Hope Air and its partners are bringing back a bigger and better Haul for Hope in 2024.

Last year, 200 participants on 20 teams raised over $100,000 at YTZ and YVR with strong quads, team spirit and a resolve to leave no patient behind on full display. With overwhelming positive feedback, and a need to continue to grow revenue to keep pace with skyrocketing demand for Hope Air’s services, Haul for Hope will be hosted in five cities in 2024.

The Toronto event, hosted at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, will continue to be supported by Porter Airlines. All four new Western Canada sites are presented by WestJet, with plans for stops in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Kelowna.

“Beyond connecting our guests to the people, places and moments that matter most to them, through our partnership with Hope Air, we are proud to remove barriers and facilitate critical air service to connect Canadians and their families to essential medical care and treatment,” said April Crane, WestJet, Director, Corporate Communications. “As the Western Canadian presenting partner for this year’s Haul for Hope, we look forward to building on the success of last year’s inaugural event and generating further support for Hope Air’s honourable commitment to ensuring Canadians have access to the healthcare they need.”

Teams are tasked with strategizing the best method to get an aircraft 100m and their challenge is felt by their hearts and hamstrings. For a Hope Air patient, the challenges of distance and cost when it comes to accessing vital medical care are felt in very real ways.

The need to rally new support through this event has never been greater. Hope Air serviced nearly 25,000 travel arrangements in 2023, a 144% increase over 2022, and the numbers continue to climb this year. In Hope Air’s annual patient survey, responses validated increased financial and logistical challenges patients living in rural communities experience when making a life altering decision to put their health first.

  • Without Hope Air, 87% felt they had no other travel options.
  • 48% would have to travel 9-13+ hours each way for care.
  • 65% would have gone into debt to manage travel costs, and 25% would have to borrow money.
  “Haul for Hope is a great event, and a symbolic acknowledgement of the challenges of distance when accomplishing any goal,” says Chief Hope Officer, Mark Rubinstein, “We’re grateful to have WestJet as a presenting partner in Western Canada and to have the support of Porter Airlines in Toronto. Both airlines do so much to ensure that our patients can access the care they need and are essential to our ability to serve communities across the country.”

Hope Air is grateful to acknowledge all airport authority partners, sponsors and teams including Uber Canada who is a gold sponsor at all five locations for 2024.

For more information on Haul for Hope and to register your team, visit www.hopeair.ca/haul.

Background:
  • Haul for Hope is a fundraising event in support of Hope Air, Canada’s only national charity providing free travel support through flights, accommodations, meals and ground transportation for Canadians in financial need who must access medical care far from home. Since its inception in 1986, Hope Air has provided more than 180,000 travel arrangements for patients regardless of age or medical need.
  • The charity is pursuing new avenues for fundraising in response to an overwhelming increase in demand. After fulfilling 24,998 travel arrangements in 2023, a 144% increase over 2022 and record for the charity, Hope Air is on track to provide more than 40,000 travel supports in 2024.
  • Hope Air would like to thank all sponsors, hosts and partners including:
  • WestJet as presenting partner in Western Canada
  • Porter as supporting partner in Toronto
  • YVR as host and site presenting sponsor in Vancouver, hosted at Signature Aviation on September 20
  • Aon and Uber Canada as Gold Sponsors
  • YYC and Million Air as hosts in Calgary on September 12
  • KF Centre for Excellence and YLW as hosts in Kelowna on September 18
  • Nieuport Aviation and PortsToronto as hosts at YTZ in Toronto on September 28

We acknowledge that we live and work on the unceded, traditional territories of many Indigenous peoples. We are grateful for the privilege of being on lands that these peoples have nurtured since time immemorial.