Historical Backdrop

1996 - 2003

  • 1996 Abilities Magazine Article: The Animal Advocate
  • 1997 Publication: Consensus Standards - are going to the dogs? 
  • 1998 Registered as a national non-profit organization
  • 1998 Published Letter in the Environmental Health Review and the Canadian Underwriters
  • 1998 Published Article: Canadian Medical Association Journal 
  • 1998 to 2004, were invited to speak to standing, accessibility, and transportation committees
  • networking led to the development of the national directory of services (currently under construction/offline)
  • began compiling and showcasing research
  • created a global newsroom RSS Feed (currently under construction)
  • received endorsements from Health Canada, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the PEI Human Rights Commission, the Standards Council of Canada, Industry Canada Assistive Devices Industry Office, The Harness, The Yukon Human Rights Commission, Assistive Devices Industry Association of Canada, The Canadian Hearing Society, Council of the Disabled Inc. PEI.
  • Patrons Showcase

2004 - 2012

  • 2004 Registered as a national public foundation
  • 2005 Granted 46 Gifts to Qualified Donees (Other Charities) Since 2005
  • 2008 Hosted the National Bridge Builders Summit
  • 2009-2011 Co-hosted the AWARE Festival for World Animal Day for three years in a row
  • 2010 Launched the CF4AASS new Website 
  • 2010 Invited to Attend the Zoomers Lifestyle Show (Sponsored Booth)
  • 2011 Nominated and invited to be an Executive Thought Leader and Alumni Member for the Summit Urban Animals Strategy 
  • 2012 Established the Major-General Lew MacKenzie Fund
  • 2012 Introduced the Human-Animal Bond Global Gateway Vision
  • 2012 Launched the One Health for People Pets and Partners Event Site 
  • 2012 New Partnership with Canada 150

2013 - 2014

  • 2013 New Partnership with Horse Country Campground & Launched the Great Canadian Horse Round-Up website and event
  • 2013 Hosted the First and Second Canadian Military Assistance Dog Summits
  • 2013 Published Two Military (Veterans) Summit Reports and Produced Two Videos to Highlight the Events
  • 2013 Co-Produced the Animals in War Dedication Video in Partnership with Navigator-Video Communications 
  • 2013 Established the North American Military Equine (NAME) Advisory Committee 
  • 2014 Submitted a New-Work Item Proposal to the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) to conduct a feasibility study to develop National Standards of Canada for service dogs to ensure consumer confidence in the services being provided. 
  • 2014 Launched the One Health for People, Pets, and Partners™
  • Initiative 
  • 2014 Marketplace Article: Experiencing Love - The Human-Animal Bond
  • 2014 Abilities Magazine Article: Helping Soldiers and Their Families 

2015 - 2016

  • 2015 Invited to join the Canada 150 Alliance Movement
  • 2015 The Foundation’s founder was recognized by the Governor General of Canada, receiving the Caring Canadian Award for her humanitarian work in this burgeoning field as a disability advocate
  • 2015 Member of the Service Dogs Standards Technical Committee
  • 2015 Member of the Health Charities Coalition of Canada
  • 2015 Justice Canada Victors Research Project Approval (Canine-Assisted Victim Services)
  • 2015 Introduced the Commit to Kids Grants and Sponsorship Initiative
  • 2016 Initiated the Prince George BC Hub Pilot Project 
  •  2016 Piloted and sponsored seven organizations to Commit to Kids Program resources

2017 - 2024

  • 2017 Published the bilingual Paws for Justice! Canine-Assisted Victim Services A Call to Collective Action Magazine (Pattes Au Service De La Justice
  • 2017 Successfully wrapped up and filed the final report to Justice Canada for the 2016 Paws for Justice Research Project
  • 2018 Began rallying interest in building a Virtual Canadian Research and Development Consortium 
  • 2019 Changed designation from a public foundation to a registered charity. 
  • 2019 Conducted a Canadian Service Dog Industry and Marketplace Study 
  • 2020 Published The Canadian Service Dog Industry and Marketplace Study
  • 2021 Announced the publication of four Notices of Intent to develop four National Standards of Canada (NSC) in partnership with the Human-Research Standards Organization (HRSO), a Standards Council of Canada (SCC) accredited Standards Development Organization (SDO) 
  • 2022 Notification of Public Consultation – May 16, 2022 “CAN/HRSO-500.01-2022 DEVELOPMENT OF A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR ANIMAL-ASSISTED HUMAN SERVICES (AAHS)” 
  • 2022 Animals Helping People: Reimagining Animal-Assisted Services across Canada, a Dialogue
  • 2022 Management System for Animal-Assisted Human Services National Standard of Canada - Status Published
  • 2024 Re-imagining Animal-Assisted Human Services (AAHS): Developing Canada’s first voluntary National Standard of Canada (NSC) for AAHS Peer Reviewed Published Commentary (CABI Digital Library)