Our Manifesto

We’ve all heard the cancer stories, read the stats, and most likely have experienced the impact of cancer, up close and personal or with someone we love. In fact, if there’s one thing we can agree on, it’s that no one wants to hear the words, “you have cancer.” Everyone is in favour of better outcomes, care, and facilities. In partnership with the brightest minds and with compassionate care, the Alberta Cancer Foundation is making life better for Albertans facing cancer. By pushing the pace of progress that leads to faster diagnoses, groundbreaking research and leading edge treatments, we stand alongside every Albertan who hears those fateful words “you have cancer.”

We don’t do this alone

We bring together donors, patients, health care providers and researchers, because we know this is the fastest way to close the gap between diagnosis and cure. We are the official fundraising partner for all 17 Cancer Control Alberta cancer centres in Alberta, including the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary and the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton. Through this partnership, we are able to make the most significant impact for patients. From the outside, we may look like a charity. But we don’t think of ourselves that way at all. We certainly don’t act like a charity. We won’t invest your money, our money, or anyone else’s money in research initiatives or treatments, if there isn’t a clear line of sight to patient outcomes. We operate more like an investment manager, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in those initiatives that will provide actual, quantifiable returns: Cancer patients returning to their lives. Mothers returning to young children. Employees returning to work. People from all over our province returning, in the thousands, to their communities. What greater return on investment could there possibly be?