Federated Health Charities was established in 1983, when a small group of Ontario public servants got together and formed a charitable trust to raise funds for Ontario’s health charities in the workplace the way the United Way raises funds for social service agencies. Since that first campaign, Federated Health Charities has grown into one of Canada’s largest and most successful workplace giving campaigns, raising nearly $60 million since 1983 to support healthier communities all across Ontario.

Federated Health Charities was operated by staff seconded from the Ontario Public Service (OPS) until 1996, when responsibility for administering the annual campaign was passed to the charities at the government’s request. Federated Health Charities hired its first full-time Executive Director in 1997, and a full-time Campaign Administrator in 1998. The Ontario Government Employees Charity Trust continued to report campaign revenues under its Charitable Registration Number until Federated Health Charities received its own in 1998.

Today, Federated Health Charities supports 21 charities through our annual campaign, which runs from April to the end of June, which raises funds through payroll pledges, one-time donations, special events, and our annual lottery in OPS ministries, provincial agencies and OPP detachments across Ontario. What hasn’t changed is the hundreds of provincial employees from across Ontario who volunteer their time, skills, and creativity each year to make our annual campaign possible. Federated Health Charities is tremendously grateful to all our volunteers, past and present, and the Government of Ontario for their ongoing support. We couldn’t do it without you.

Federated Health Charities is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to raising funds for its 21 participating charities within the Ontario Public Service to support healthier communities through health education and awareness, medical research, and client and patient services.

The Federated Health Charities Campaign is a workplace charitable campaign that allows provincial employees in participating OPS ministries, provincial agencies, and the OPP to support up to 21 health charities through payroll deductions, one-time donations , special events, and an annual lottery.

Federated Health Charities recognizes that many people in Ontario do not have timely access to healthcare and that members of communities at the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, physical and mental ability, and more, are statistically more likely to face inequalities in access to treatments and care. Federated Health Charities also recognizes that structural anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism in Ontario, in particular, has had an impact on health outcomes for Black and Indigenous communities that continues to this day. We recognize that more work needs to be done to ensure our membership is as diverse as the province we serve. We commit to ensuring that the principles of anti-racism, anti-oppression, accessibility, and health equity are part of the scope of our work and that we evaluate all aspects of our work through these lenses to ensure our practices support the health of all Ontarians.

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