Hope Air

Medical Travel Assistance

Pledge your support for equitable access to healthcare in Ontario

Hope Air provides free medical travel supports for those who must leave their home communities to access specialized care.
With your support we can amplify our voices, advocate for change, and affirm our commitment to ensuring that where you live should not determine if you live, acknowledging that every Ontario resident deserves equal access to life-saving medical care.

Patients like Ivy who at just 25 weeks pregnant, gave birth to her baby girl, Elo. Being severely premature, Elo needed specialized care that wasn’t available in her hometown of Thunder Bay. But Ivy had no way of accessing that care without moving her family away from their support system.

Thanks to Hope Air she was able to reach her child’s vital medical appointments and help her grow stronger while staying connected to her home community.

No patient left behind

Barriers of distance and cost are significant issues that affect many people living in rural, remote, northern or under-served communities. By working together with government, partners and donors, we can reduce these barriers to health care access, leading to earlier diagnosis and treatment for thousands of patients in Ontario. This in turn leads to significant better health outcomes for people.

Hope Air supports patients needing to travel for specialty medical care in over 75 communities across the province. In 2024, it is projected that we will be asked to support over 4,000 medical travel arrangements including airline, hotel, meals and ground transportation. Without Hope Air, patients in financial need would be required to pay $2,000 or more per trip in out of pocket travel expenses, causing many people to cancel their medical appointments due to cost.
To meet the growing demand for medical travel support, Hope Air has been advocating for funding from the government of Ontario to ensure that we can deliver our programs and meet our mission of equitable access to health care for all. For more information about our advocacy efforts , please watch this recent news story on CityNews

Write to Your Elected Officials

We need your help to call or email your local MPP, telling them how important Hope Air is to northern communities, and that we need government funding now to support patient travel. By taking 10 minutes today, you will be ensuring that Hope Air will be there for your friends, family and neighbors, if travel for health care is needed.

Below is the list of MPP’s by provincial riding with email address and phone number:

If you live in a community not listed above, please contact your local MPP directly. Thank you for helping Hope Air help patients connect to health care. Thank you for ensuring that every patient can reach medical care regardless of distance and cost.
What would happen if Hope Air no longer existed in the province?

Hope Air Day

In June, 2025, Hope Air will celebrate Hope Air Day in Ontario. Hope Air Day unites the residents of Northern Ontario and its elected officials, corporations and key stakeholders, and affirm our commitment to equitable access to health care for all people.

Hope Air Day 2025 will be celebrated with a special live event to be hosted in Northern Ontario, featuring Hope Air patients, municipalities and towns, city leaders, volunteer pilots, partners and other key stakeholders. Please sign up for Hope Air Day 2025 updates to keep informed on the lastest news.
Join your city on June 7th to celebrate Hope Air Day:

Make hope take flight

Better Health. Reduced Poverty. Stronger Communities.

Better Health

Rob, Timmins, Ontario
“For the first time the fact that we lived in this beautiful part of the world meant we were at a disadvantage. Flying me back and forth meant I could focus on my health and recovery. Today I’m in remission.”

Reduced Poverty

Heidi, mother to Hope Air Patient Zoe, Windsor, Ontario
“We go every 10 days. It’s very costly, you’re wearing down your vehicle and between the cost of hotels and fuel it quickly adds up. Without Hope Air, that is what we would have had to do to save our child’s life.”

Stronger Communities

Keisha, mother to Hope Air patient Dean, Timmins, Ontario
“I wasn’t sure how I would get Dean to treatment; flying was too expensive, and driving was taking a toll on us. It was becoming impossible, especially in the winter.”

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.

Make a gift by December 31 to double your impact in helping patients travel to lifesaving medical care!
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