Why corporate sponsorship is key to fuelling childhood cancer fight

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When six-year-old Nori arrived at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), she was facing the unimaginable: Stage four neuroblastoma, a rare pediatric cancer that had spread through her entire skeleton.

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But Nori, the warrior that she is, beat the odds — not once, but three times. Each time her cancer returned, it was breakthrough treatments developed at SickKids that helped her fight back. Treatments made possible by corporate and private philanthropic investment in research.

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People are often shocked to learn that cancer strikes more than 10,000 children in Canada every year. Most people are lucky enough to overlook this — assuming cancer affects only the elderly or those with certain lifestyles. But cancer is the leading cause of non-accidental death in children. Nearly every day, a child like Nori is diagnosed at SickKids.

SickKids is sustained by government funding — that support keeps the lights on and pays the clinical and administrative staff, and it’s proud to be the leading publicly funded pediatric hospital in the world. But the government does not directly fund research — and research is what moves the dial. That’s where donors like Hyundai Canada’s foundation, Hyundai Hope on Wheels, make a critical difference. Targeted therapies, real-time genetic sequencing, and new drug protocols are all possible because of donors.

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Too often, pediatrics is overlooked. Yet children — while only 20% of the population — are 100% of our future. Investing in pediatric health isn’t just about saving young lives today, it’s about creating generational impact. You can’t have a thriving population, a resilient health-care system, or a strong economy without healthy children.

Corporate and private donations are the extra push that gets us beyond what’s known, toward discovery. Without that lift, innovation stalls. The greatest breakthroughs at SickKids are donor-funded — and children like Nori are here today because of them.

What began as the initiative of a few local dealers in the U.S. 25 years ago grew into Hyundai Hope on Wheels — now one of the largest non-profit funders of pediatric cancer research in that country. Why fund research? Because it’s not covered by tax dollars — it’s funded by the private sector.

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Advancing health care carries a high price tag and big corporations can make a difference by partnering with organizations to drive innovation. Health care is everyone’s responsibility: Individuals, governments and companies all have a role in building an environment conducive to progress. This is an ecosystem, not a battle for exclusivity.

The precision medicine that helped Nori overcome her cancer would not be possible without private-sector support. Corporate donors make that critical difference, funding the innovation and breakthroughs that governments can’t. It’s how Canada can lead the world in pediatric care. When a discovery is made at SickKids, it spreads across the country and eventually the world. Everyone benefits.

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When we saw the opportunity to bring Hyundai Hope on Wheels to Canada, it wasn’t a corporate directive. It came from shared values and every dealer nationwide is contributing directly. Advancing meaningful progress for humanity means driving innovation that improves lives. Employees, dealers, leadership at all levels — all believed companies can and should help create better futures for children. However, finding cures for pediatric cancer isn’t something one donation can achieve — it’s a long journey, which is why we’re making an enduring commitment to fund research in Canada.

The more organizations that come together around pediatric health, the faster we progress. Companies that support SickKids aren’t just donating to today’s care — they’re fuelling tomorrow’s solutions. That’s why corporate support matters: it’s the difference between delivering care and discovering cures.

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The future is bright because people continue to invest in research and understand its importance. We’re moving the dial and entering an era where childhood cancers can be detected earlier, treated more precisely, and eventually, even cured. Together, we can make that future possible.

— Jennifer Bernard is president and CEO of SickKids Foundation, the largest charitable funder of child health care, research and learning in Canada.

— Steve Flamand is president and CEO of Hyundai Canada, which in 2025 launched Hyundai Hope On Wheels, a registered non-profit committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer.

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