Rick Hansen Foundation Fall 2025 Newsletter
Latest updates on the impact your support is making for Canadians with disabilities.
Message from our Founder
From March 2025 through May 2027, we are commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Man In Motion World Tour – forty years of breaking barriers, raising awareness, and building a world where everyone belongs.
Looking back, I am filled with gratitude. Thanks to your support, the spirit of the Tour continues to thrive. Donors, partners, and friends have walked and wheeled alongside me every step of the way, ensuring that accessibility is no longer seen as optional, but as essential. Together, you’ve helped turn a single man in motion into a national, and global, movement.
For many, the Tour is forever linked with the song St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion). The spirit it represents — the drive, the momentum, the belief that change is possible — is still alive today, thanks to you. I invite you to read more about the history of this epic song on our blog.
As part of our anniversary celebrations, I’m excited to share that the Foundation will make a big announcement on December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This will be an important next step in the journey, and I can’t wait for you to be part of it.
Thank you for your ongoing belief in our dream and being such an important of our journey. The best is still ahead.
With gratitude,
Rick Hansen
Founder,
Rick Hansen Foundation
In This Issue
Leadership on the Global Stage
APN2026 Conference: Inclusive By Design
Leaving a Legacy
What Your Support Makes Possible: Everyone Everywhere
Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities
Meet the Ripple Effect Swimmers
Your support has made a significant impact
Leadership on the Global Stage
Thanks to your support, RHF is not only shaping conversations in our home country but leading on the international stage. On June 10 – 12, RHF CEO Doramy Ehling had the honour of representing RHF at the 18th Conference of State Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (COSP). This gathering of governments, Non-Government Organizations (NGO), and advocates focused on issues like innovative financing, AI as a tool for inclusion, and the rights of Indigenous persons with disabilities.
Being an UN-designated NGO amplifies our ability to bring forward your voices to ensure that Canada remains accountable and progressive in accessibility policy. At the same time, RHF continues important national work through the National Disability Network, which is a group of 37 disability organizations that convene regularly to influence federal and provincial policies.
You are helping make critical wins possible: the launch of the Canada Disability Benefit with the first payment in July 2025, and ongoing efforts to strengthen the program. Also, through the National Disability Network we are advocating for fair tax and medical supplement policies, disability inclusion action plans, and ensuring no one is left behind in discussions of equity and access.
APN2026 Conference: Inclusive By Design
Because of you, accessibility is advancing not just in buildings, but in mindsets. That progress comes together at the Accessibility Professional Network (APN) Conference, the premier gathering of accessibility professionals, which returns March 30 – 31, 2026, in Toronto and virtually.
Hosted by RHF, APN2026 brings together architects, engineers, planners, designers, lived-experience experts, government representatives, and industry leaders from across Canada and beyond to learn and share the latest in accessibility. With your support, this conference has become a catalyst for change, shifting accessibility from a minimum compliance requirement to a social and business imperative for creating places where everyone belongs.
The theme for 2026, Inclusive By Design, will highlight the importance of incorporating Universal Design from the outset in our communities. APN2026 will showcase practical solutions and human stories that prove accessibility is good for business, good for communities, and good for people.
Leaving a Legacy:
The Ability to Make Real Change
You’ve likely witnessed how critical accessibility is in Canada today. While things have certainly come a long way since the Man In Motion World Tour, we still don’t live in a country that’s inclusive to everyone, everywhere.
Right now, 1 in 4 Canadian adults is living with some form of disability. As our population ages, that number will only grow. And yet, our country is filled with barriers for people with disabilities that keep them from reaching their full potential.
Our buildings are designed for able-bodied, full-sighted, and hearing people. Our workplaces and schools are built around processes and policies that don’t include someone with a disability. And most of all, stigma about disability continues to impact how people with disabilities engage with the world around them because so many people just don’t get it.
Someone you know — from an aging parent to a friend with a vision or hearing disability, to a neighbour with a spinal cord injury, or maybe even yourself — is living in a world that isn’t built for them and doesn’t view people beyond their disability.
Ensuring a lasting impact with a gift to RHF in your will is surprisingly simple. When creating or updating your will, you have the power to provide for your loved ones while also leaving a meaningful bequest to support the creation of an accessible and inclusive world.
If you would like to explore legacy giving and learn about your giving options that align with your values, we would be happy to provide you with a legacy giving package outlining information, or you can speak directly with Sandra Pimpao, Director Resource Development at Spimpao@RickHansen.com or by calling 778-296-1582. Many donors have already chosen to ensure that their support lives on through generations of barrier-breakers.
Thank you for shaping a future that is accessible and inclusive for all Canadians!
What Your Support Makes Possible:
Everyone Everywhere
Because of you, people with disabilities are not only getting back on the water, they're, in many cases, experiencing the joy of accessing it for the very first time. Your generosity helped launch our Accessible Outdoors Program this year, made possible through the support of The Peterson Family Foundation and three national partners: Power To Be, the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, and the Pacific Salmon Foundation. At the heart of the program is Everyone Everywhere, an accessible vessel designed to make marine adventures barrier-free, inclusive, and joyful.
The boat features level boarding, wide roll-on deck space, and flexible seating so participants, family members, and support workers can travel together with dignity. It also includes design features to support people with vision and hearing disabilities, ensuring clear orientation and communication onboard.
What your gift really unlocks is belonging. After spending a day on the water, one participant told us,
“I didn’t think I’d ever feel this again.”
Nine-year-old Simon, who has Morquio syndrome and sometimes uses a wheelchair, felt that same sense of joy and freedom. “Once you remove those barriers...it’s just so much easier for him to be absolutely part of it,” said his mom, Becs. “We all came off the water just beaming.”
Simon noticed the difference right away:
“They had a cool door that opened to the dock you could roll on… and Rick let me sit in the captain’s seat!”
Research shows time in nature improves physical health, reduces stress, and supports mental being. And these unforgettable moments are possible because you choose to remove barriers. Together, with partners and supporters like you, we are proving what accessibility looks like on the water, opening Canada’s shorelines so everyone, everywhere can belong.
Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities
Thanks to the April 1 Foundation’s investment and your generous support, the futures of outstanding young people with disabilities are brighter today. We are pleased to announce the 2025 recipients of the Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarship for Youth with Disabilities.
This Fall, four inspiring students were chosen. Each one demonstrates dedication to making a difference. You might recognize stories like Adriana MacNeil’s. Adriana, who has hemifacial microsomia, single-sided deafness, and vertebral malformations, has navigated many medical appointments and challenges.
She’s also volunteered, and seen the impact that compassionate care has on healing and hope. Adriana recently begun a program in biomedical biology at Laurentian University, with hopes of becoming a radiation therapist, inspired by the caring professionals she experienced in her own journey.
 | Adriana MacNeil This fall, Adriana will be starting a biomedical biology program at Laurentian University with the goal of becoming a radiation therapist, hoping to support patients in their health journeys and provide the same care she received. |
 | Neave Alderson This fall, Neave will be pursuing a practical nursing degree at Fleming College Peterborough. She hopes to become a nurse and emulate the respect and love that she received as a patient and pass that on to others. |
 | Sahra Dahir Sahra has decided to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing that is run between Toronto Metropolitan University and George Brown College. Sahra wants to become a health professional who provides compassionate care to her patients. |
 | Madison Thornhill Madison Thornhill wants to make a difference in the lives of those she encounters. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing at Acadia University this fall, seeking to become a Nurse Practitioner and provide patient centered care. |
Meet the Ripple Effect Swimmers
On a humid August morning at Toronto’s Woodbine Beach, swimmers gathered with yellow swim caps. One side read “Ripple Effect Charity Swims”; the other showed the Rick Hansen Foundation logo. Their goal was to raise awareness and funds for better beach accessibility in Toronto.
Jane Anderson, a seasoned open-water swimmer, helped lead the effort.
“We love swimming this lake,” she said, “but many people simply can’t access it.”
As the sun rose, swimmers plunged in at beaches like Cherry Beach, Centre Island, Woodbine, Kew-Balmy, and Bluffers Park. These spots are beloved, but often hard to reach for those with mobility, sensory, or orientation challenges.
Jane’s group noticed that mats at beaches stop short of the water, or that boardwalks have dangerous gaps or rough surfaces, or that people who are blind struggle with bumpy transitions. These are not small issues. They are daily barriers. The swimmers set out to raise $2,500; at the close of their fundraising efforts, they raised $20,000! Just as important was the dialogue they sparked: conversations with local government, community planners, and beach managers. When Robert Hampson, our Paralympic Ambassador who is blind, joined for a swim, he reminded all of us how much nature matters. “Swimming gave me a sense of freedom and weightlessness that is often missing in daily life,” he said.
Your support means RHF can continue to advocate, partner, and provide accessible solutions. Join us. Host a fundraiser, reach out, or share your story. Every stroke, every voice, every dollar brings us closer to a Canada where every public space is open to everyone.
If you would like to host your own fundraiser for RHF, download our free toolkit here. You can also contact donorservices@rickhansen.com or by phone at 1-800-213-2131 for more information.
Your support has made a significant impact
April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2025
RHF Accessibility | RHF School | RHF Accessible |
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329 sites conducted RHFAC ratings | 19,000+ children and youth reached | 100 individuals welcomed aboard the program’s accessible vessel, Everyone Everywhere |
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158 partner organizations to remove physical barriers in 20 communities in Canada | 9 Youth Leadership Committee members mentored | Goal to reach: 500 people next year |
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Partnered with 6 post-secondary institutions and 4 industry associations in Canada to offer RHFAC courses | 5 Difference Maker of the Year awards presented to youth |
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1803 people registered for one of our accessibility training courses, totalling over 3,855 learners trained across Canada to date | Rick & Amanda Hansen Scholarships for Youth with Disabilities awarded |
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| 2,184 registered and 1,758 completed our RHF Inclusion & Accessibility E-Learning to date |
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