Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Health Sciences North Foundation

Health Sciences North Foundation (HSN Foundation) is the official fundraising and funding partner of Health Sciences North, the regional specialized referral and academic health sciences centre for Northeastern Ontario. By inspiring individual donors, businesses, community groups and lottery participants, the foundation mobilizes philanthropic support and channels it into priority needs at the hospital and at Health Sciences North Research Institute.

The foundation’s core funding areas include the purchase of innovative medical equipment, investments in future capital projects, and the advancement of life‑saving research. Through dedicated funds for priority needs, NEO Kids pediatric care, cancer care in the North, cardiac services, mental health, and research, the organization finances improvements that directly enhance patient care and clinical capacity across the region.

HSN Foundation focuses its support on patients and families served by Health Sciences North and 23 partner hospitals throughout Northeastern Ontario. Foundation‑funded projects benefit people requiring cancer treatment, pediatric and neonatal care, cardiac procedures, emergency and critical care, mental health and addictions services, nephrology, trauma and rehabilitation, and other specialized programs offered by HSN.

Impact is communicated through annual reports, community impact reports, and stories that highlight how donor dollars translate into new equipment, renovated and expanded care spaces, and strengthened research programs. Historic campaigns have helped fund major initiatives such as catheterization labs, critical care beds, MRI and diagnostic imaging, and targeted COVID‑19 support funds.

The foundation’s roots trace back to earlier hospital charities in Sudbury. The Laurentian and Sudbury Memorial Hospital foundations merged to form the Sudbury Regional Hospital Foundation (SRHF) when Sudbury Regional Hospital was created in 1998. In 2011, as the hospital became Health Sciences North, SRHF evolved into Health Sciences North Foundation. In parallel, the Northern Cancer Foundation (originally Northern Cancer Research Foundation, founded in 1992) and, later, the NEO Kids Foundation (created in 2016) focused on cancer and pediatric needs respectively.

These three foundations frequently collaborated on major campaigns that transformed healthcare infrastructure and services in the region. In October 2024, they formally united as a single, cohesive entity under the HSN Foundation banner, continuing the mission of all three by supporting patient care, research projects, and specialized hospital spaces for pediatric and cancer patients and for all residents of Northeastern Ontario.

HSN Foundation is a registered Canadian charity and publishes audited financial statements, T3010 filings, community impact reports and annual reports. It operates under a board of community volunteers and adheres to policies such as an ethical fundraising and accountability code, privacy policy, donor bill of rights, complaints policy, conflict of interest policy and code of conduct. This governance framework helps ensure that funds are allocated according to donor intent and institutional priorities, and that the foundation’s grant‑making and funding decisions remain transparent and responsible.