For more than 80 years, the Canadian Cancer Society has worked to improve the lives of people affected by cancer through research, advocacy, education, and support services for people with cancer, their loved ones, and caregivers.

When the Canadian Cancer Society was founded in 1938, the five-year survival rate for people with cancer (i.e. the number of people who lived for five or more years following their diagnosis) was about 25%. Today, the survival rate for Canadians with cancer has more than doubled to about 64%. For some cancers, like thyroid and testicular cancer, the survival rates are more than 95%.

“That’s the power of research,” says Nancy Yarmel, Director Leadership Giving, Canadian Cancer Society. “Everyone that’s affected by cancer in any community in Canada is supported through the research that the Canadian Cancer Society assists with.”

The diagnosis is like a bomb explodes in your life. 

Click to see video transcript

[Start of recorded material 00:00:04]

 

Sara Oates: Executive Vice President, Finance, People and Operations, Canadian Cancer Society 

The Canadian Cancer Society is the largest national cancer charity in Canada. We’ve been around for more than 80 years, and we support all types of cancer in a number of different ways by funding life-saving research, by providing support services, and also by advocating for healthy, public policies to reduce cancer and to provide increased supports to people who’ve been impacted by the disease. 

Our goal at the Canadian Cancer society is to unite and inspire people across Canada to take control of cancer.

 

Steven Hodges: Client, Canadian Cancer Society 

I was diagnosed with Stage 4 head and neck cancer in the spring of 2014. I had broken my arm in the fall of 2013 and unfortunately my arm wasn’t healing, so consequently they decided to do surgery at the end of February in 2014. I had noticed a bump – a large bump – that was starting to grow after the surgery, and then I was diagnosed in the spring of 2014 with Stage 4 cancer.

 

Sara Oates: Executive Vice President, Finance, People and Operations, Canadian Cancer Society 

Cancer is an issue which affects all of us. Almost half of all Canadians will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. So, this is a disease which impacts every family, every community, every workforce. When someone receives a cancer diagnosis, it impacts the whole of their life – their health, their finances, their job, their relationships with their family and their friends. Cancer really changes everything.

 

Andres Laxamana: Client, Canadian Cancer Society

In December of 2023, my husband passed away of sarcoma, and so, I’m very much deeply impacted by that. The Canadian Cancer Society was really helpful in that it provided not necessarily core medical or oncology services, but things like being able to network with other people who were going through similar journeys, and also connections and referrals to people who could provide counselling sessions and all of those types of things that are really supportive and really important to families going through this journey.

 

Sara Oates: Executive Vice President, Finance, People and Operations, Canadian Cancer Society 

The Canadian Cancer Society has been lucky to be partnering with Federated Health Charities for several decades. It started in the 1960’s when Ontario Public Services workers started selling daffodils to start raising funds for us. That relationship has evolved over the decades, and in 1983 we became part of the workplace giving campaign. So, we’re lucky to have members raising funds for us through workplace giving, through payroll deductions, through donations, through fundraising events. Without the donations, we wouldn’t be able to support the nearly 1.5 million Canadians who live with – and beyond – cancer.

 

Steven Hodges: Client, Canadian Cancer Society 

To the donors to the Canadian Cancer Society, I would first and foremost want to express my extreme gratitude. I have been someone who received assistance from the Canadian Cancer Society, so my gratitude is unending from that aspect. I see the good work that the entire Canadian Cancer Society does, and your money is being put to good use.

 

Sara Oates: Executive Vice President, Finance, People and Operations, Canadian Cancer Society 

To those of you who haven’t yet given but are considering giving a donation, any amount that you can give can make a difference. Addressing an issue as big as cancer takes all of us. By donating, you’re not just supporting those who’ve been affected by cancer today, you’re investing in the future where you and your loved ones and generations to come, can lead longer, fuller lives. Give a donation today and be part of changing the future of cancer for all of us. Thank you.

 

[End of recorded material 00:03:41] 

 

Throughout its history, the Canadian Cancer Society has played an instrumental role in improving the prevention, detection, treatment, and survivability of cancer. The Canadian Cancer Society is also the only charity that addresses and cares for people with every type of cancer.

“To me, [the Canadian Cancer Society] was, like, the place to go, the place to look for answers, the place to look for resources,” says Claudia, a Canadian Cancer Society client. “And one thing that I really appreciate, [is] all the research and all the interest that they show about all the different aspects of the cancer journey.”

The Canadian Cancer Society provides a nationwide support system for people with cancer and their family, friends and caregivers. Their programs support people undergoing cancer treatment throughout their cancer journey, from information specialists to help people understand a cancer diagnosis and treatments, to helping people travel to their cancer treatments through the Wheels of Hope program, to programs to provide wig and breast prostheses to people who cannot afford them. For a complete list of resources and services available through the Canadian Cancer Society, please visit Resources | Canadian Cancer Society.

Ontario’s public servants have supported the Canadian Cancer Society since the 1960s. Since that time, Ontario’s provincial employees have donated more than $4 million to the Canadian Cancer Society through Federated Health Charities.

You can learn about the Canadian Cancer Society at Canadian Cancer Society.

Donate to Federated Health Charities today to support a healthier Ontario and help us improve the lives of all those affected by cancer.

Click on the button below to make a donation to Canadian Cancer Society through Federated Health Charities

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