2025 Impact Report - Celiac Canada

FIND | TREAT | CURE
Our Strategic Priorities 2025-27

FIND: We need to find the people who are at risk and get them diagnosed as soon as possible so they can live a safe and healthy life. Through national discussions with key stakeholders, leading awareness campaigns and engaging with healthcare professionals we hope to make progress.

TREAT: It’s important to empower people with the right information and provide compassionate support at every step of their journey. We work to develop relevant and timely programs for individuals; help educate healthcare providers in long-term care and other health institutions about managing the medical nutrition therapy; and of course, lead the way in modernizing and monitoring regulations and legislation related to gluten free food and to advocate for change.

CURE: We are finding ways to partner with other funders and organizations to leverage research and investments in celiac disease research.

PROGRAMS: IMPACT SPOTLIGHT

Aging Well with Celiac (funded by a New Horizons Grant): The pilot wrapped up in March 2025, and the program received 100% scores on overall satisfaction and “I would like for the program to continue.” We are grateful for the senior leaders who curated this program for their peers.

Newly Diagnosed Pathway: One of our flagship programs, 80% of participants say they have improved knowledge, 86% improved confidence in reading labels, 95% said the program met their expectations, and 99% would refer the program to a friend.

AWARENESS: IMPACT SPOTLIGHT

Canadian Celiac Magazine: With a 43% open rate and 6+ minute read time, this twice-annual e-magazine continues to connect readers with the most up-to-date news and information about Celiac Canada as well as useful tips and tools for living gluten free.

@ccaceliac: Connecting in real time is one of the benefits of social media. Our online community grew by 2% in 2025, with more than 75,600 people connected through the @ccaceliac accounts on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and YouTube.

ADVOCATING FOR CHANGE

Ensuring Access to Safe Food

Developed by Celiac Canada, Global Standard Gluten Free remains one of the strictest, most widely available gluten-free standards programs globally.
122 facilities are certified in Canada.
Almost 6,600 products were listed in the Gluten-free Product Finder in 2025.
20,814 views of the Product Finder page on celiac.ca in 2025 alone.

2025 Wins

Thanks in part to our advocacy efforts and work with national and regional coalitions:

Secured government relations consultants to accelerate advocacy efforts.
Launched a fully bilingual federal election campaign with 5,000 community engagements.
Global celiac leaders summit forms alliance to collaborate on May Contain global advocacy.
Participated in multiple federal consultations to protect and improve gluten free food and regulations.
Ontario government moved diagnostic blood test pilot into regulations.

Board member Stu Gutman (right) with Prime Minister Mark Carney in 2025.

ADVANCING RESEARCH

This year was an important year for Celiac Canada when it came to research. In addition to hiring our first-ever Scientific Research Analyst to support this important pillar of our work, we were active collaborators with leading research organizations:

Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute at McMaster University (advancing celiac disease research)
Health Charities Coalition of Canada and Research Canada (advancing research policy)
Harper Adams University (UK) and Toronto Metropolitan University (national grocery study)
University of Guelph

Our team also shared our State of Celiac Disease in Canada research findings with global leaders at Tampere University in Finland as part of the Tampere Celiac Disease Symposium 2025.

Finally, 2025 marked the 25th anniversary of the Dr. James A. Campbell Research Awards, marking a significant milestone in the fight against celiac disease and gluten-related disorders.

The 2025 main grant was awarded to Drs. Fang Wu and Song Wu (University of Saskatchewan).
The 2025 Young Investigator Award was presented to Cara Medvedic (University of Manitoba)
A third award was given on Food Insecurity to Dr. Diana Mager thanks to theEdmonton Chapter

RECOGNIZING IMPACT

We were one of 110 national charities selected by the former Prime Minister’s Office to bestow the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medals, honouring Canadians who have made a significant contribution to Canada or their communities.

Celiac Canada awarded medals to 51 celiac champions from across the country.

Our Chapters and Volunteer Committees

A REASON TO GIVE

The generosity of our individual and corporate donors allowed us to do great things in 2025 in support of the celiac community.

Our total fundraised revenue increased by 18% over 2024.
Funds raised through foundation grants increased by 65% and included our largest-ever family foundation grant totaling $100,000.
The number of monthly donors jumped to 400 – more than 200% over 2024.
The 2025 Step Up for Celiac campaign brought together close to 80 participants and 43 teams to raise more than $60,000, exceeding our fundraising goal.
We received a significant bequest in 2025 which will allow us to tackle important projects – including digital innovation and research – in 2026 and beyond.