Our Community & University Partners

For over 30 years, the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities (BCCPD), now Disability Alliance BC, has been a provincial, cross-disability voice in British Columbia. BCCPD’s mission is to support people, regardless of their disability, to live with dignity, independence and as equal and full participants in society. We champion issues impacting the lives of people with disabilities through our direct services, community partnerships, advocacy, research and publications.

Indian Residential School Survivor Society assists First Peoples in British Columbia to recognize and be holistically empowered from the primary and generational effects of residential schools by supporting research, promoting awareness, establishing partnerships and advocating for justice and healing.

The mission of the MEFM Society of BC is to 1) educate, inform and increase awareness of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and Fibromyalgia (FM) by offering information, support and advocacy to members, individuals and families; 2) provide information and education to physicians, other medical professionals, and the community at large to increase public awareness and improve diagnosis and treatment for people living with ME and FM; 3) promote ongoing research to encourage early, accurate diagnosis and effective, multi-disciplinary treatments for ME and FM; and 4) liaise with other individuals, groups and organizations dealing with similar illnesses.

Patients as Partners’ guiding principle is that patients are partners in health care: collaborating with health care professionals to improve their own health as individuals, and having a voice in how health care is delivered in B.C. The principle driving Patients as Partners is “nothing about me without me”. This principle embodies the belief that patients are partners in their own health care—in system change discussions or speaking with their health care providers—and stands at the centre of Patients as Partners work. The Patient Voices Network is made up of BC patients, students, health care providers,  caregivers, family members and others who wish to use their experiences for positive change to health care in BC. Patient voices Network is a Ministry of Health, Patients as Partners initiative administered by ImpactBC.

RCFC has been in operation since 1995, but has grown substantially since that time with programs such as Recreation, Peer Support and most recently the Peer Companion program. It is an organization that encourages the participation of people who have experience in the mental health system and we are supportive of members who wish to move along the continuum from volunteer to paid staff.

Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility is a B.C. based, multi-service, registered charity that exists to reduce communication barriers by providing access and inclusion for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The only centre of its kind in Western Canada, Wavefront Centre provides a full range of programs and services “under one roof”.

Justice for Girls was formed in 1999, in response to local, national, and international calls for “girl only” programs and services that acknowledge and address the specific needs and vulnerabilities of girls, particularly in relation to homelessness, poverty, and violence. We locate our work within the overall project of women’s equality. We believe eliminating violence and poverty in young women’s lives is essential to achieving equality. Recognizing and addressing the intersecting/interlocking forms of oppression that young women face is fundamental to our work toward ending violence against girls and young women.

The BC Centre on Substance Use was established in 2017 to provide a centre of expertise to help meet those needs. We aim to be highly collaborative and coordinated in our approach. We place emphasis on research to generate evidence-informed strategies, while harnessing clinical guidance and training to ensure that evidence is implemented into clinical practice in every part of the province.

The Family Support Institute is a volunteer-powered network across BC that provides peer-to-peer support, information, events and training and community.

BC Hepatitis Network collaborates with and support community partners, health care providers, researchers and people with lived and living experience to reduce the impacts of viral hepatitis and eliminate hepatitis C in BC.

The M.E. Victoria Association was established in 1989 to help patients and their families cope with the physical and emotional strains arising from ME/CFS. We offer information and friendship to help people live with this devastating and misunderstood illness. We publish InforME magazine for members, host guest speakers, organize social gatherings, and assist members in any way we can.

The ME|FM Society of BC is a registered charity formed to help and support patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis* (ME) and/or Fibromyalgia (FM).

​Our society works to support ME and FM patients in British Columbia to improve their health and quality of life by providing information about these illnesses, and guidance on how to seek and obtain support, appropriate medical help and treatments.

We also focus on informing and educating health care professionals, educators, students and the larger community about ME and FM. Additionally, we raise awareness among, and seek the support of, government and the general public.

The NATIONAL ME/FM ACTION NETWORK became a Canadian charitable organization on June 18, 1993 dedicated to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FM) through support, advocacy, education and research. Since its founding, the organization has been an ACTION Network.

The North Carolina Lyme Disease Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization that works to increase community awareness and provide support to those with Lyme Disease.

The BC SUPPORT (Support for People & Patient-Oriented Research & Trials) Unit supports patient-oriented research throughout BC to answer research questions that matter to patients and improve health care.

UBC Continuing Professional Development (UBC CPD) is an academic unit within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. We advance the field of continuing professional development (CPD) through the design, delivery, accreditation, evaluation and research of lifelong learning opportunities for health professionals in British Columbia and beyond.

Pathways Serious Mental Illness Society are families of loved ones living with a serious mental illness helping other families with this shared experience. They help families through support, education and advocacy. We’re a volunteer-driven and membership-based family support organization doing ambitious work.

The Royal College is the national professional association that oversees the medical education of specialists in Canada. They accredit the university programs that train resident physicians for their specialty practices, and they write and administer the demanding examinations that residents must pass to become certified as specialists.

Different than a college or university, the British Columbia Institute of Technology offers practical, flexible, applied education with instructors who have direct, hands-on experience in their field.

Refugee Health Initiative partnership program which aims to help refugees transition to life in Canada. Medical students are paired with a family for two years to help them with resettlement as well as navigating the Canadian health care system. Their goal is to empower refugees so that they can feel comfortable addressing their own health needs. RHI was first founded in 2016 and is proud to have worked with over 400 refugees and carried out 4 research projects with the help of over 50 medical students.

As a global pioneer in the science of patient partnership, the Centre of Excellence for Partnership with Patients and the Public (CEPPP) aims to prepare our society for the future of health.