Where Your Money Goes

JDRF has a bold plan for the future of type 1 diabetes (T1D) research in Canada. As better treatments unfold and the prospect of curing this disease rests on the horizon, we remain ever-committed to directing more resources to launch and sustain innovative research and clinical trials from coast-to-coast.

Our Impact

In research

JDRF Canada and its affiliate partners are leading the international research effort to end T1D. Here’s how we moved the needle in Canada in 2022:
2021

All grants – 36

New Grants – 4

Clinical trials – 13

Training Awards – 8

2022

All grants – 48

New Grants – 22

Clinical trials – 14

Training Awards – 6

$8.8 million funded to T1D research from JDRF Canada

Through our advocacy

Our advocacy efforts drove incredible progress in 2022, with the federal and provincial governments making positive announcements for the T1D community.
Through our work, we have seen:

Automatic qualification for the Disability Tax Credit for every Canadian living with type 1 diabetes, saving each individual approximately $1,500 per year.

The tabling of the National Diabetes Framework, designed to support improved access to diabetes prevention and treatment to ensure better health outcomes for Canadians.

Engaging with more than 76 Members of Parliament and Senators during both in-person and community meetings during Kids For a Cure

21 commitments to send a letter to the Minister of Finance in anticipation of the 2023 Federal Budget

211 online advocacy actions sent to federal and provincial politicians in support of our Access for All Campaign

In our annual giving and event fundraising:

Beyond Insulin:
In 2022, Beyond Insulin donors gave $58,700, $42,000 of which will directly support Dr. Michael Sefton’s (University of Toronto) research into vascular regenerative biomaterial for islet transplantation.

Monthly donors contributed nearly $187,400 in 2022.
Our longest-standing monthly donors have been contributing for 25 years.

There were almost 16,000 annual fund donations made in 2022.

JDRF events:

The Starry Starry Night Gala (MB/AB) raised $435,000

$2M raised in the Sun Life Ride to Defeat Diabetes for JDRF with over 4800 participants

$2.7M raised in the Sun Life Walk to Cure Diabetes for JDRF with over 5,200 participants

Supporting our community

2022 was an impactful year that helped us to continue to advance our mission.

JDRF engaged 343 Youth Ambassadors from across Canada in 2022, an increase of 40 from 2021 (303). Youth Ambassadors share their personal stories to educate Canadians about living with T1D.

1064 newly diagnosed Canadians received a JDRF Bag of Hope through a diabetes education centre, an increase of almost 100 from 2021 (902), a 13% increase. Each kit contains T1D information, resources, and Rufus, the Bear with Diabetes.

Our Let’s Talk T1D – an educational series that brings experts from across the country to the T1D community through a series of virtual educational events and community hang outs had more than 2300 participants, a close to 14% increase from 2021.

Growing our T1D community via JDRF social media platforms:

Facebook Followers
2022

39,800

2021

39,747

2020

38,437

2019

33,668

Instagram Followers
2022

7,780

2021

7,192

2020

6,761

2019

4,541

Twitter Followers
2022

8,479

2021

8,412

2020

8,355

2019

8,190

Highlights included:
  • Let’s Make History Again March 10 – April 22
    • Generated over 2.2M impressions across all social media platforms. (paid + organic)
    • Engaged 16.5K users
  • National Diabetes Awareness Month – Nov 1 – 30
    • Generated over 2.4M impressions across all social media platforms (paid + organic)
    • Engaging 30K users
  • DiaDigits collected 4200+
    • added 2400+ new constituents
    • 450,000 impressions promoting DiaDigits on Facebook & Instagram (paid)