Meghan McGill
Director of Strategy, Research, and Insights at Ronald McDonald House Canada
With rising demand and economic pressures mounting, Canadian families count on Ronald McDonald House as a lifeline when it matters most.
Canada’s healthcare system is under significant strain, and with only 16 paediatric hospitals serving the entire country, the financial and geographic burden placed on families with critically sick and injured children during an already unimaginable time is immense.
With two thirds of Canadian families needing to travel far from home to access their child’s life-saving care, the paediatric healthcare system depends on more than clinical services alone. It requires infrastructure that enables families to stay close to their child’s bedside and the support they need to be actively involved in their child’s treatment and recovery.
As a proud partner in paediatric healthcare for 45 years, this is the gap Ronald McDonald House bridges, making it Canada’s Most Essential House.
“More than a place to stay, we’re a healthcare system partner,” says Meghan McGill, Director of Strategy, Research, and Insights at Ronald McDonald House Canada. “By removing barriers related to distance, cost, and accessibility, we help ensure a child’s health outcomes aren’t determined by where they live or what resources their family has.”
Access to care requires access to family support
Across Canada, 37 program locations, including 16 Houses and 21 in-hospital Family Rooms, support families with accommodation, meals, laundry, and well-being programming. In 2025, more families (over 32,000!) were supported across Canada than ever before, many travelling from rural, remote, and underserved communities to reach specialized paediatric care. For tens of thousands of families each year, Canada’s Most Essential House is what makes access to their child’s care attainable.
Reinforcing that Ronald McDonald House is more than a place to stay, in 2025, nearly half a million meals were served to families in House and Family Room programs across the country. This underscores the essential role food security plays in family well-being — especially as families navigate their child’s medical journey.
“What we’re seeing across the country are families arriving at our doorstep experiencing anxiety, depression, or food insecurity,” says McGill. “This means meals and access to mental health support aren’t extras. They’re foundational services that allow families to stay present for their child — and this is critical, because we know that with a well-cared-for family by their side, sick children get stronger.”
Scaling up in a stretched system
As paediatric care becomes more centralized, reliance on essential system partners like Ronald McDonald House continues to grow, helping complete the circle of care. Families are staying longer and returning more often to access the specialized care their child needs, signalling a shift in how care is delivered and what families require to remain close and involved.
Despite supporting more families year-over-year, demand continues to rise. This growing need has shaped an ambitious goal to double the number of families served by 2030.
However, meeting this demand will require more than footprint expansion. It calls for a flexible, responsive model of care that adapts to changing patterns within the healthcare system and protects families’ ability to remain close to their child’s care.
“Across Canada, access to paediatric care increasingly depends on holistic support for families,” says McGill. “Expanding our House programs, day-use programs, and in-hospital Family Rooms, as well as strengthening hospital-based supports, is critical to meeting the evolving needs of families. They’re essential to protecting every family’s ability to access healthcare, ensuring that health outcomes are determined by care and support, not geography or existing family resources. In short, we’re here to ensure equitable access to family-centered paediatric care.”
To learn more about how Ronald McDonald House is a lifeline for families caring for the country’s most medically vulnerable, visit ronaldmcdonaldhouse.ca/essential.
