Our work is guided by a firm vision and set of principles.

We share a broad VISION with many individuals and organizations in the SCI field:

• Canadians, especially decision makers, will understand that it is unacceptable to ignore the solutions that address the social and economic consequences of SCI.
• Each person with SCI will have access to and participate in development of customized solutions (innovative responses to meet their priority, unmet needs) that will allow them equal opportunity to achieve full citizenship.
• All people who sustain a SCI will have access to timely, appropriate, best practice care and support services from the moment of injury through the acute care, rehabilitation, community transition and full integration phases.
• Current and future health and service professionals will have a clear understanding of how to engage in an accessible, informed and collaborative partnership with a person with SCI to develop solutions to meet her/his priority needs.
• People with SCI will understand how to be an advocate for themselves and work to develop solutions to meet their priority needs, in partnership with health and services professionals.
• Each person with SCI will have access to full and meaningful participation in educational, recreational, cultural, spiritual activities, and employment opportunities.
• Each person with SCI and their family will be empowered by knowing that within each person resides the capacity to have a meaningful and fulfilling life after SCI, and that they have access to ‘SCI peers’ from whom they can regain hope and access practical knowledge as they journey through life with SCI.
• Each person with SCI will have universal and timely access to personal and technical supports which are not linked to income or assets and which are self-directed to individual needs.
• People with SCI Canada-wide will have full access to housing, buildings, facilities, pedestrian environments and transportation systems by 2015.
• Organizations, agencies and institutions engaged along the SCI rehabilitation care and support continuum will have/operate seamless and collaborative approaches that avoid duplication, optimize outcomes and benefits for individuals, and improve systemic efficiencies.

The Rick Hansen Institute will be guided by a set of operating principles. We will strive to:

• facilitate the discovery and application of innovative solutions that will accelerate improvements to the quality of life of people with SCI.
• foster a continued shift to a consumer-driven approach that creates solutions for each individual living with SCI.
• foster seamless coordination of the many agency and disciplinary perspectives, services and interventions critical to achievement of positive health, social and economic outcomes.
• ensure that evaluation and validation of research informs "evidence driven" best practice at each point on the care, support and service continuum.
• ensure that "solutions funding" is not used to duplicate, replace or compete with existing and established support programs or services – our intent will be augmenting the current delivery system.
• achieve solutions that will be so elegant that customers, donors and investors will be inspired to join in and support our work.
• mobilize community initiatives to take the right, collective steps to becoming more inclusive.
• understand the motivations of those people we serve; we will constantly engage them in the process to ensure their priority needs are met.