May 2026

CPFF’s new Board Chair is a leading with lived experience and compassion

Mark Ashcroft is using his personal experiences from a career in community health and safety services, as a patient, a transplant recipient and as a Board member to help CPFF help you.

Mark Ashcroft is a listener and he’s been where you are. He understands community organizations and board responsibilities – he is, and has been, a member of several, including five years on the CPFF Board. He’s able to get people working together in the same direction, in a calm and thoughtful manner. People respect him and his experience; and he respects their views and ideas.

Priorities for the years ahead

During his two-year term as Board Chair, which began in January 2026, Mark has a few goals he hopes to help CPFF achieve:

1. He’d  like to see at least a few provinces ensure that every person with pulmonary fibrosis gets the oxygen they need, when they need it.
2. He’d like CPFF to broaden its donor base, both geographically and to include more corporations.
3. He wants CPFF to keep providing hope to the PF community by continuing to invest in research through the Robert Davidson fellowship program, which trains ILD specialists, increasing access to these professionals.  

Equitable access to oxygen

“Access to oxygen therapy varies so much across the country, and even within provinces,” he says. “It needs to be available to everyone who needs it. We’re talking about breathing. It shouldn’t matter where you live. We all need to breathe.”

“That includes liquid oxygen,” he says. “Those who need a high-flow of oxygen on exertion, need liquid oxygen, otherwise they are virtually housebound, and that’s no way to live,” he says.

He knows this from personal experience. Diagnosed in 2018 with ILD, an acute exacerbation in 2021 changed his life dramatically. He lost 50 per cent of his lung capacity within two months, had to go on oxygen and underwent a lung transplant assessment at Toronto General Hospital.

Read more about Mark’s PF journey, his transplant experience, goals for CPFF and his life today.

Join Bruce Lonergan and become a Hope Hero

As a monthly donor to the Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, Bruce feels a bit selfish. His regular contributions help fund the programs and services that benefit himself, however, he realizes that the contributions also help the others in the Ottawa Support Group that he leads, as well as the broader PF Community.

When Bruce reached out to CPFF’s CEO Sharon Lee to re-start the local Ottawa Support Group in 2023, he also decided to become a monthly donor.

“I give to several different charities, but this is different,” says Bruce. “I am directly involved. It’s the perfect way for me to support the organization that supports me and so many others living with pulmonary fibrosis. I am committed to making a difference.” Bruce has lived with IPF for more than eight years now.

Become a Hope Hero today. Find out more about the benefits of monthly giving for you, the organization and our community.

Read Bruce’s Hope Hero Story

Read Bruce’s PF Story

Sign our oxygen petition and help change lives

Your signature on our national Oxygen is Medicine petition can make all the difference in getting elected officials and public servants to pay attention.

The more signatures we get, the more likely we are to engage government decision-makers to respond to your needs. Thank you to everyone who has already signed it.

Last month CPFF representatives met with Ontario Ministry of Health staff to share our recommendations on improving access to oxygen and pulmonary rehabilitation.

Our national oxygen petition, meetings with provincial government representatives, and advocacy campaigns are working together to build meaningful momentum for change that improves the lives of people living with PF.

Take a few minutes and add your signature to affect change. Send the link to your friends and family, post your request on social media, and ask your friends to sign too!