Thirty-five million dollars, five years, one target: clinical trials. The Alberta Cancer Foundation announced the commitment on Monday, July 6, 2026, and described it as one of the largest it has ever put into trials over a five-year stretch.
The money pays for two things. Some goes to new treatments. The rest covers the daily running of trials, the unglamorous work the Foundation says makes existing therapies safer, faster and more effective for patients.
“Clinical trials are the backbone of progress in cancer care and ultimately turn medical breakthroughs today into standard of care for future generations,” said Wendy Beauchesne, the Foundation’s CEO. She said the donor community had helped make the investment possible and that the aim was to get promising treatments to Alberta patients sooner.
Where the money lands
Three sites are named. In Calgary, the Riddell Centre for Cancer Immunotherapy and the Owerko Family Centre for Clinical Trials will get operating support and expanded infrastructure. In Edmonton, the Clinical Trials Unit at the Cross Cancer Institute, where teams are working to speed up CAR T-cell therapy and other emerging immunotherapies, is on the list too.
Lethbridge gets a specific project. The funding will help start a trial that uses advanced MRI imaging to test whether doctors can safely cut the number of radiation sessions prostate cancer patients need.
The provincial plan
The announcement builds on the Government of Alberta’s 10-Year Cancer Care Strategy, unveiled in June, which targets better outcomes, better patient experiences, more research and stronger cancer care overall.
Brenda Hubley, Managing Director of Cancer Care Alberta, said the gift “directly accelerates Alberta’s Strategic Plan for Cancer to 2036.” Growing trial capacity, she said, brings “more innovative treatment options to Albertans right now.”
The Foundation describes itself as the fundraising engine behind every cancer centre in the province. Its funding helps keep more than 200 cancer clinical trials active on any given day. It also points to a long-run shift: over the past 25 years, Alberta has moved from one of the lowest cancer survival rates in Canada to one of the highest, a change it credits partly to donor-funded research and trials.
Consult your doctor for medical advice.
