Investing in access and innovation
Sustained investment in pediatric disability care can drive innovation and help to ensure that Ontario families have access to the personalized care and services they need. Provincial investment is helping Holland Bloorview meet the growing, complex needs of children and youth with disabilities and developmental differences.
Thanks to new funding and innovative care pathways, Holland Bloorview served more children and reduced waitlists in many of our programs by up to 43 per cent.
In addition to increasing access, other targeted funding is having a real impact on the health and wellbeing of children and youth. For example, clients in our Extensive Needs Service (ENS) have experienced a significant drop in emergency room visits, hospital stays and school absences, as well as caregiver missed work days. With the right investments and the right services, children with complex needs can thrive in their communities with reduced cost to other parts of the health system.
Flipping the script on avoidant and restrictive eating
There has been a significant gap in caring for children with avoidant and restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Families are typically referred from one professional to another for a one-time consultation, leaving children with urgent, unmet needs – with some cases leading to hospitalization, emergency room visits or invasive medical interventions.
Thanks to new provincial funding, Holland Bloorview is home to Ontario’s first Neurodevelopmental Disorders Restrictive Eating Clinic for children with ARFID.
Offering ongoing integrated care from a multidisciplinary team, the clinic has helped 43 children avoid hospital admissions since summer 2023. The goal is to expand this model across Ontario through partnerships and increased capacity.
in new funding that resulted in increased access to care and services
in outpatient visits
in wait lists for neuromotor, one of our largest programs supporting children with movement challenges
Learn how Dr. Kylie Mallory is undertaking groundbreaking research on concussion care for children and youth with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). As Canada’s sole recipient of the 2024 ENRICH Post-Doctoral Clinician Researcher Salary Award, she’s leading vital work in a field where concussions often go unrecognized. Supporting the next generation of pediatric disability researchers is essential in advancing our health-care system.
Play, progress and personalized rehab – right from home
Provincial and federal investments in research are critical to propelling and advancing our understanding of precision health discoveries. In 2024-2025, the Bloorview Research Institute received $8.9 million in external funding, $1.5 million more than in 2023-2024.
In September 2024, Dr. Elaine Biddiss, senior scientist at the Bloorview Research Institute, was awarded a $1.2 million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to advance the development and functionality of personalized, video game-based therapeutic interventions for children. In Canada, 1 in 66 children have trouble with movement and could benefit from motor therapy. But therapy can be hard to get – it’s either too expensive or far away. That’s why Dr. Biddiss and her team are developing new digital tools, like therapy video games, to help children move and grow stronger at home, doing the things they love to do.
While existing therapy games, like Bootle Blast, can already track and encourage children to participate in therapeutic movements, families want more – they want tools that can analyze how their child moves and offer helpful feedback, like a therapist would. With this new funding, the team will assess ways to capture the data from these technologies and inform how it can be used to advance the child’s skills, confidence and care experience.
This study is testing whether technology like phone and tablet cameras can accurately track a child’s movements during a therapy video game. Dr. Biddiss and her team will compare the results with high-tech motion systems and work with families and clinicians to identify the most useful data and how to share it. The tools will be tested at home and in clinics, with the goal of making digital therapy more meaningful, personalized and accessible. The data will also support researchers and developers in creating better tools, enabling more children – across Canada and beyond – to access rehab from home while clinicians track progress remotely.
Philanthropy fuels possibility
Holland Bloorview’s philanthropic investments drive transformative change in pediatric disability care by expanding access, advancing innovation and empowering children and families to thrive.
Announced on December 3, 2024, a visionary $30 million gift from The Slaight Family Foundation is bringing together 11 organizations across Canada to improve the lives of people with disabilities. Led by Holland Bloorview Foundation and the Rick Hansen Foundation, this national partnership will expand supports; increase disability awareness and address ableism in schools, workplaces and communities; as well as spread and scale research innovations like brain-computer interface technology to empower children with severe disabilities. This investment comes at a critical time, as barriers to health care, employment, infrastructure and inclusion persist.
Holland Bloorview Foundation donors play a critical role in funding innovative, evidence-based programs at the hospital and beyond our walls. In 2024-2025, our loyal community of donors gave $14.1 million to support many of the programs and services that make Holland Bloorview unique, such as inclusive music, arts and employment programs and specialized training programs for health-care providers. With donor investment, we continue to expand and innovate, ensuring kids with disabilities can access the best care possible, wherever they are.
