Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation is a 3-star charity. It is financially transparent and has an A results reporting grade, which is above average. Its overhead spending is 24%, which is within Ci’s reasonable range. Its reserve funds can cover program costs for more than six years, which is above Ci’s reasonable range.

Founded in 1957, Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation (ACHF) fundraises for child healthcare at the Alberta Children’s Hospital (and associated child health sites), the University of Calgary and in the local community. Alberta Children's Hospital (ACH) is operated and managed by Alberta Health Services, which is the province-wide health authority in Alberta. The money it raises pays for initiatives that advance child health, research, and family centred care. The charity aims to solve health challenges facing children and families, such as serious illness, mental health struggles and the need for more accessible care.

In the fiscal year ending March 2024 (F2024), ACHF granted $39.4m. Its grants mainly go towards the University of Calgary and Alberta Health Services, which support ACH's facilities and the hospital's research. The charity funds four areas: Research, Clinical Child Health, Patient and Family Centred Care, and Education and Training.

The following information is based on the charity’s 2025 Annual Report; however, the Annual Report's data is from F2024.

Research got 60% ($23.6m) of grants in F2024. These grants are for research at Alberta Children’s Hospital and the University of Calgary. The research aims to understand child health challenges and discover new treatments to improve the quality of life for kids. The charity is also the primary funder of the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Through that support, the Institute launched 19 new clinical trials and managed 41 ongoing clinical trials in F2024. It also had 615 research trainees. 

Clinical Child Health got 31% ($12.1m) of grants in F2024. The charity aims to equip hospital staff with the skills, treatments, and tools needed to provide quality clinical care. These grants fund many services, such as the hospital’s Pediatric Critical Care Transport (PCCT) Team, the Rotary Flames House, The Summit: Marian & Jim Sinneave Centre for Youth Resilience, and the Hospital at Home program. The PCCT Team provides specialized care for patients that require urgent transportation to ACH. In F2024, the hospital completed 275 emergency transports. The Rotary Flames House is a pediatric hospice designed for medically complex children to receive support. In F2024, it had 2,296 nights of stay and volunteers worked 7,498 hours. The Summit is a youth mental health centre that provides a family walk-in service, intensive therapy, and a day hospital for young people transitioning from a hospital back to their home. The Summit had 3,576 walk-in sessions and helped a total of 2,596 youths. The Hospital at Home program sends specially trained nurses to administer medications and therapies to young patients in their own homes. In F2024, this program had 1,519 home visits and cared for 102 patients. 

Patient and Family Centred Care got 8% ($3.0m) of grants in F2024. ACHF funds programs and services that aim to provide well-rounded support for patients and families. It includes a Family and Community Resource Centre, which provides information and resources to help families understand their child’s condition. In F2024, it loaned 7,321 books and kindles. The programs also provide access to Child Life Therapists and therapeutic programs like art, music and plant-based therapy. In F2024, these therapeutic programs had 3,498 patient interactions.

Education and Training got 2% ($767k) of grants in F2024.  The charity funds programs to educate and train hospital staff, families, and other members in the community on child health topics and procedures. It funded the KidSIM program, which simulates emergency scenarios on mannequins for caregivers to practice for the real world. In F2024, it hosted 670 simulation training sessions. 

Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a financial reporting best practice. This means the charity provides a breakdown between programming, administrative, and fundraising costs.

ACHF received $41.8m in Canadian donations in F2024, which is 55% of total revenue. This is a 17% decrease from the $50.4m in F2023. In F2024, it earned $33.4m in investment income, which is 44% of revenue. The charity granted $39.4m in F2024. Its three largest grant recipients were the Governors of the University of Calgary ($20.8m), Alberta Health Services ($16.8m), and Alberta Cancer Foundation ($1.2m). ACHF recorded a surplus of $26.9m (35% of revenue) in F2024.

ACHF spent $6.3m on fundraising costs, which is 15% of donations. It spent $3.8m on administrative costs, which is 9% of revenue. ACHF has total overhead spending of 24%. For every dollar donated to ACHF, 76 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

ACHF has $322.5m in reserve funds (cash and investments). It has donor endowments of $79.9m. Excluding donor-endowed funds, ACHF’s reserve funds can cover 685% or six years and ten months of its annual grant costs. This is not within Ci’s reasonable range of three years or less.

In F2024, Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation had investment returns of 11%. It is 58% invested in equities. Its investment returns have averaged 6% over the last five years.

For the next fiscal year (F2025), ACHF is committed to grant $41.4m; $21.3m for Research, $13.4m for Clinical Child Health, $4.5m for Patient and Family Centred Care, and $2.1m for Education and Training. It has also committed to grant $1.0m to fund capital projects over the next one to two years.

This report is an update that has been sent to Alberta Children's Hospital Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 25, 2025, by Leah DeFrancesco.