About
Since 1981, Ronald McDonald House Charities® Toronto has served as a place to call home for families with seriously ill children undergoing treatment.
Our Mission: Keeping seriously ill children and their families together to improve their health and well-being.
Our Vision: To be a leader in providing a family-focused environment and innovative support services to seriously ill children and their families.
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Toronto is an independent charity, governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, and operated by staff and volunteers. The first and largest House in Canada, we are part of a network of more than 360 Houses worldwide.
We keep families of seriously ill children together and close to the care they need through our 81-bedroom house in downtown Toronto and 7 in-hospital Family Rooms, throughout the GTA and Sudbury, including our largest Family Room at SickKids.
We operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure that the only thing our families need to focus on is each other.
When the unimaginable happens, RMHC Toronto is there. You can help keep more families together and close to their seriously ill child in hospital.
Our Impact
65 % of Canadian families live outside a city with a children’s hospital. As such, the children whose families stay at RMHC Toronto tend to be the sickest, have traveled the furthest distances to access life-saving treatment and spend the longest time in hospital – all of which have significant costs for families – both financially and emotionally.
On top of extreme anxiety and concern about their child’s health, families have to bear the financial burden commonly associated with high costs of travel, accommodation, food and unexpected medical prescriptions or equipment not covered by insurance. These costs add up quickly and can be financially devastating for a family.
RMHC Toronto is a vital part of the paediatric healthcare system. Medical professionals and researchers alike have demonstrated that with RMHC, families are able to cope better and focus on the needs of the sick child, and their stress and financial burden is reduced.
While families are away from home, we provide them with compassionate accommodation and hospitality, nutritious meals, family-focused programs such as our RMHC Toronto School as well as a safe and supportive environment.
In a typical year, we support more than 5,300 families from throughout Ontario, across Canada, and around the world.