Health charities fear a slow pandemic recovery will undermine research programs

A year into the pandemic, Canada’s health charities are still struggling as a result of massive declines in donations, and fear is mounting that their ability to support scientific research — a core part of their missions — will be jeopardized for years to come.

Leading into Budget 2021, the health charities called on the federal government for temporary support — specifically, for a $131-million funding program that would include $103 million for research initiatives. The Budget didn’t deliver.

At the same time, hope is fading that donations will rebound in 2021 as Canada opens up. The midpoint of 2021 is around the corner and major fundraising events have been cancelled, delayed or remain uncertain. While health charities have pivoted to move many events online, virtual events generally aren't yielding the same level of donations. 

“We're really concerned,” said Connie Coté, Chief Executive Officer, Health Charities Coalition of Canada (HCCC), in an interview with Research Money. HCCC is a member-based organization of 25 national health charities.

“If we are not able to fundraise at the same level that society expects of us, it means that as we move into this year and into upcoming years, we're not going to be able to invest in research at the same level that we have previously," she said.

In the past year, Coté said that health charities have made significant cuts to research funding, including to early career researchers who are key to the future success of the ecosystem.

"My concern is that we're going to have to cut back on high-risk, high-reward research, on areas where we generally see breakthroughs that are important to patients. That is our worst-case scenario," she said.

Charity health research funding is about equivalent to "all of the provincial governments put together"

Collectively, HCCC’s members invest about $150 million annually in health research, which supports primary investigators and trainees across the country. Beyond HCCC members, the sector's total investment in health research is even higher at an estimated $200 to $250 million annually. 

“The health charities contribution to health research is about equivalent to the contribution of all of the provincial governments put together,” said Yves Savoie, a strategic advisor to charities and philanthropists in an interview with Research Money. Savoie is also the former CEO of the Heart & Stroke Foundation and of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. 

In addition to funding, Savoie said, ”the health charities also have an openness to risk, and therefore to innovation, and an orientation toward the patient.”  

The pandemic has significantly undermined the health charities' ability to fundraise, forcing them to make dramatic cuts in spending over the past 14 months. For example, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada laid off nearly half its staff at every level in the organization, according to a statement from Communications Advisor Alicia D’Aguiar. The Foundation has also made cuts to all program budgets and discretionary spending, while taking fundraising activities online, she said.

One of those fundraising activities is the Manulife Heart and Stroke Ride for Heart, which has raised more than $77 million for heart and stroke research, awareness and advocacy efforts over the years. It will be held virtually this week because the City of Toronto has cancelled all major in-person participatory events until Labour Day.

“Both peer-to-peer fundraising and event-based fundraising have been hit dramatically. Health charities as a subset of the charitable sector had a dependence on that type of fundraising higher than other types of charities,” said Savoie.

Support from the federal government has helped stabilize the organizations: The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and the Community Services Recovery Fund have provided much-needed temporary assistance. But the future of the wage subsidy is uncertain, said Savoie. It could disappear this summer.

“You're going to have this gap in the timing of the wage supplement disappearing and fundraising events returning. The summer of 2021, from an event base, will essentially largely be lost,” said Savoie. “My sense is that the pandemic is going to continue to have a significant impact this year on [the health charities’] overall capacity to fund research.”

In Budget 2021, the federal government also created a temporary $400-million Community Services Recovery Fund to help charities and non-profits adapt and modernize. The eligibility criteria are currently under development. Coté said she welcomes the fund, but “we don't know whether or not health charities as a national entity will fit the eligibility [criteria]."

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