October 8, 2014

To our valued stakeholders and partners,

In 2013, the Government of Canada (through Western Economic Diversification Canada) renewed its funding to the Rick Hansen Institute (RHI) with a $35 million, five year grant to magnify the impact of the Institute. Consistent with our funding proposal, the Institute is undertaking two independent evaluations, one at the mid-point and the second at the end of the 2013-2018 funding period. The first of these two evaluations has just begun and will be ongoing until June 2015. As the Institute continues to work towards its vision of a world without paralysis after spinal cord injury, this evaluation provides us with a unique opportunity to assess our progress to date against this exciting work.

With support from the Rick Hansen Foundation, RHI’s role is to provide the evaluation team with access to program information and documents, help identify key informants for interviews and focus groups, and maintain an open line of communication with Western Economic Diversification to ensure their requirements are being met. The evaluation team is responsible for designing and conducting the evaluation, analysing the data and writing the final report.

As members of our network, you may be contacted and asked to participate, whether by joining the governance committee being established to oversee this process, or by participating in an interview or a focus group. If you are contacted, we encourage you to participate.

The Foundation’s aim is to break down barriers to create a more accessible and inclusive society for people with spinal cord injuries and other disabilities. The Institute was developed from a dream of true collaboration across SCI communities and to accelerate the translation of discoveries and best practices that will lead to improved treatments for individuals with SCI. It is only by working together that we can make that dream a reality. We hope to continue the great work being conducted by the Institute and we hope you will join us in that journey.

We welcome your comments and enquiries about this evaluation. Please contact  for more information.

All the best,