British Columbia Lung Foundation (BCLF) was founded in 1904 as the Anti-Tuberculosis Society. In 1978, the charity changed its name to BC Lung Association to cover a variety of diseases and became a provincial arm of the Canadian Lung Association (CLA). In November 2021, the charity became independent of CLA, renaming itself as British Columbia Lung Foundation. The charity focuses on all lung diseases including asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, and sleep apnea. BCLF reports that 1 in 5 BC residents have lung disease, more than 13% of children are affected by asthma, and COPD is the number one cause of hospitalization in Canada. BCLF has two main programs, Health Services and Research. 

Health Services accounted for 82% of the charity’s program expenses in F2021. The program focuses on education, advocacy, and support. BCLF does not distinguish costs between the three programs. Together with CLA the charity advocated for federal policy changes on tobacco use and air quality. F2020, CLA and its provincial branches had 15 meetings with MPs to discuss lung health priorities. The charity runs support groups to help people living with chronic lung diseases. The charity also runs a private Facebook group for people affected by lung disease to share experiences, provide support, and share information. Every year, the charity publishes the BC State of the Air Report which provides information about the current air quality, issues that may be arising, and the main contributors to air quality issues. Aside from its work with CLA, BCLF does not report its Health Service program activities. 

Research grants of $741k accounted for 17% of program spending in F2021. The charity provided 19 grants of $13k and nine grants of $25k to lung researchers in F2021. It also funded two fellowships and granted $201k to research funded through CLA. 

British Columbia Lung Foundation has donations and special event revenues of $2.0m in F2021. The charity received $2.8m in government funding, representing 48% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 7% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 31% of donations and special events. This results in total overhead spending of 38%. For every dollar donated, 62 cents go to the cause. This is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. However, BCLF’s fundraising costs decreased 34% from $926k in F2020 to $611k in F2021.  

BCLF has $7.2m in funding reserves. The charity could cover 167% or around 1 year and 8 months of annual program costs with current reserves.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to British Columbia Lung Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on August 19, 2021 by Brenleigh Jebb. New name and brand logo added on November 6, 2021.