There are currently only 590 art therapists in Canada who are professional or registered members of the Canadian Art Therapy Association. There are over 1,200 hospitals in Canada and about 2,076 long-term care homes, with the largest number in Ontario.

This illustrates how the number of licensed art therapists in Canada is drastically lower than the number of people that can benefit from their services. In addition to the shortage of art therapists, many hospitals may not have the budget to employ these kinds of holistic care services. 

Thus, with our youth-centered volunteering initiative, we hope to increase the number of patients who can have access to art-making as a therapeutic tool that has the potential to aid in their emotional and physical healing and recovery process, while also igniting the spark in youth to be leaders and change-makers, encouraging life-long engaged volunteerism.