Interior health: working together 

Canuck Place offers pediatric palliative care for children and their families in BC and the Yukon. Support can happen through consultations, education sessions, or referrals to Canuck Place. We can connect through telephone or zoom for those outside the Lower Mainland.

Pediatric Palliative Care (PPC) is a model of care, appropriate at any stage of the illness that can be provided together with disease-directed treatment. It involves integrated care directed at the physical, emotional, spiritual, and social needs of the child and family, delivered by an integrated and multidisciplinary team. Within the specialty of PPC, the term child refers to any age. A child could be a fetus diagnosed in utero with a life-threatening condition or an adult diagnosed with a pediatric condition and/or followed by pediatric specialists.

We serve children and their families living in BC and the Yukon living with a serious illness. A serious illness includes all children with a life-threatening/ life limiting condition that carries a high likelihood of death before full adulthood and negatively impacts a child’s daily function or quality of life or excessively stresses their caregivers. This may include other factors such as uncertainty around prognosis, prolonged/multiple hospitalizations/ICU stays and/or where there is complex care coordination, fragility, instability, and medical technology dependence.

The Referral process:

If you believe a child is appropriate for our program, here are the steps to follows: 

  • Call the Intake Nurse at Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, 604- 742-3476 or toll-free in BC at 1-877-882-2288 ext. 3476
  • If the referral is urgent, please call the nursing station at 604-742-3475
  • The Intake Nurse will follow-up on information from the child’s physician, care provider and parents
  • This information is reviewed by the Intake Team at Canuck Place
  • If the child is eligible for the program, the parents/guardians are informed and advised of the programs available. All of Canuck Place’s services are available at no cost to families

When a child and family are admitted to our program, they can access:

  • Enhanced communication and Advance Care Planning support – examples include Serious Illness Conversation Guide for Pediatrics
  • Pain and Symptom management – examples include 24/7 phone line, symptom plans and algorithms, etc.
  • Family Support – examples include counseling, expressive therapies, sibling support, recreation therapy, respite, school, etc.
  • Care coordination – examples include care planning, transition planning, etc. 

Canuck Place’s interdisciplinary team includes: 

Physicians, grief counselors, volunteers, nurses, social workers, support staff, recreation therapists, spiritual care, art, play therapists, and music therapists, and schoolteachers.

If you would like more information about our program, services, referrals, or consultations please contact the Intake Coordinator at 604-731-4847 or the Clinical Nurse Specialist/ Nurse Practitioner at 604-742-3478 or toll-free in B.C. 1-877-882-2288 or email intake@canuckplace.org.

Canuck Place Program: Working Together for Pediatric Palliative Care in BC pdf 365.87 kb