Heart & Stroke

Toll-free: 1-888-473-4636

(Mon. – Fri. 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.)

General enquiries: heartandstroke.ca/contact-us/general-enquiries

heartandstroke.ca

Woman in their 40s smiling and putting her hands on her chest

Heart & Stroke

Toll-free: 1-888-473-4636

(Mon. – Fri. 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.)

General enquiries: heartandstroke.ca/contact-us/general-enquiries

heartandstroke.ca

Since Heart & Stroke was founded in 1962, their efforts have helped reduce the death rate from heart attack, stroke, and related diseases by more than 75%, saving thousands of lives. But heart attack, stroke, and related diseases are still the leading cause of premature death in Canada, resulting in one death about every five minutes. 

About 3.5 million Canadians live with heart disease or stroke, and nine out of every 10 Canadians has at least one risk factor for heart disease and stroke, such as high blood pressure, obesity, tobacco use, lack of physical activity, or diabetes. As our population continues to age, the number of people at risk or living with heart disease and stroke is only expected to grow.

The good news is that 80% of premature heart disease and stroke is preventable. But that only makes the work of Heart & Stroke more urgent.

One in four Canadians will lose their lives from heart disease and stroke. 

Click to see video transcript

Avril Goffredo:
Heart and Stroke Foundation really focuses on three key areas: preventing disease, saving lives and promoting recovery. Every seven minutes someone in Canada lose their lives from heart disease and stroke, and we want to actually prevent that, so that people can have more moments with the special people in their lives.

Bailey B:
I didn’t really have a time where I knew about my diagnosis. I was always just so used to going to the doctor, going to the cardiologist, having all those echoes. It was always just the normal for me.

Avril Goffredo:
One in four Canadians will lose their lives from heart disease and stroke. I’ve never met anybody who doesn’t know somebody who hasn’t been affected by one of these diseases.

Bailey B:
I try not to be fearful of the future. I have a few concerns, mostly having had a heart surgery. The second one didn’t go very nicely. And then the next is, when I have kids, I don’t know if my having the disease will then lead to my kids having these defects, and that is something I think about.

Avril Goffredo:
One of the areas that we’ve been focusing on right now is actually the area of healthy eating, and helping to make our food supply healthier for Canadians, and helping to give particularly children a healthier start to life.

Bailey B:
My fourth defect was being born with a bicuspid aortic valve. Those with bicuspid valves tend to get aortic valve disease in their forties or early fifties.

It’s a pill to swallow, but I’m actually a research student in a Heart and Stroke-funded lab, and doing my research project, I am learning more and more about my conditions.

Trying to play a positive, stay positive and hopefully my lab will come up with some solution before I have to go for surgery again.

Avril Goffredo:
With the money that we receive, the heart and stroke foundation funds life-saving research that has a really significant impact on the lives of Canadians. We fund over $32 million in life-saving research every year, and that funds over eight hundred researchers here in Canada.

Bailey B:
If I hadn’t been part of Heart and Stroke, I would definitely not be where I am today. Heart and Stroke definitely celebrated my condition, which I had not done before. I was empowered, I became a better speaker. I wouldn’t be doing a master’s, and I don’t know where I’d be .

Avril Goffredo:
Working with Federated Health Charities allows us to work in collaboration with so many other organisations, but also plays a role in helping to get these important messages out to others.

Eighty percent of heart disease and stroke is actually preventable, and so by being able to actually create awareness of our causes, it also can help prevent the disease as well.

Bailey B:
I’m sure if you really think about it, you know someone who’s been affected by heart disease an d stroke. That’s why Heart and Stroke is such an important organisation, because they aim to save lives, they aim to create survivors, and ultimately prevent disease from happening in the first place.

So I urge anybody who is considering donating money anywhere, to please donate it to Heart and Stroke; it’s an amazing organisation and does so many incredible things.

Heart & Stroke focuses on three key areas: preventing heart disease and stroke, saving lives, and promoting recovery. Thanks to the generosity of their donors, in 2022, Heart & Stroke invested $24.2 million in life-saving research and $31 million in advocacy, health promotion, and community programs throughout Canada, including Ontario. This included critical work to close the health equity gap in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of heart disease and stroke in different communities so that everyone in Ontario and across Canada can achieve the best possible health outcome.

In particular, Heart & Stroke is working to close the gender research gap in heart and brain health. Half of all women who experience a heart attack have their symptoms missed, which is one of the reasons why heart disease and stroke is the number one cause of premature death for Canadian women. Heart & Stroke is working to change that by empowering women to understand the risks and recognize the symptoms of heart disease and stroke. By partnering with healthcare professionals to develop new treatment models for heart attack and stroke in women, Heart & Stroke is transforming women’s healthcare journey to ensure all women in Canada get the healthcare and support they need for optimal brain and heart health. As part of this work, Heart & Stroke has committed to embedding health equity and Indigenous health and reconciliation lenses into each of these priorities to address systemic barriers.

Ontario’s provincial employees have been supporting Heart & Stroke and their fight against heart disease and stroke since 1972. ”

“Working with Federated Health Charities allows us to work in collaboration with so many other organizations, but also plays a role in helping to get these important messages out to others,” says Avril Goffredo, Executive Vice President, Fundraising & Marketing, Heart & Stroke. “80% of heart disease and stroke is actually preventable, and so by being able to actually create awareness of our causes, it also can help prevent the disease as well.”

You can learn about Heart & Stroke at Heart & Stroke.

Donate to Federated Health Charities today to support a healthier Ontario and life, uninterrupted by heart disease and stroke.

Click on the button below to make a donation to Heart & Stroke through Federated Health Charities

Heart & Stroke Logo
Federated Health Charities Logo
Federated Health Charities White Logo
Federated Health Charities White Logo

For general questions:

Sarah Wood
Executive Director
437-925-6227
sarah.wood2@ontario.ca

Address

315 Front St. West, 5th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 0B8

Federated Health Charities White Logo

For general questions:

Sarah Wood
Executive Director
437-925-6227
sarah.wood2@ontario.ca

Address

315 Front St. West, 5th Floor
Toronto, ON
M7A 0B8

Follow us

© 2024 | Federated Health Charities. All rights reserved. Privacy policy. Designed by Cristhian Arevalo Leon.