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On October 16, 17, and 18, 2026, hundreds of people will climb mountains across Quebec to celebrate life, highlight the vital importance of organ and tissue donation education in schools, and support our students, this year’s Challenge flag-bearers. Held in connection with World Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation, this 12th edition will also mark Chain of Life’s 20th anniversary. Join the movement and help us bring the program to new schools!
12th Edition — October 16, 17 and 18, 2026 — Held in conjunction with World Day for Organ Donation and Transplantation
For 20 years, Chain of Life has built its work around an issue that deeply resonates with young people: organ and tissue donation. This important social issue introduces them to the realities faced by people waiting for a transplant, transplant recipients, donor families, and the health care professionals involved in the donation and transplantation process. The program helps students understand the human dimension and complexity of organ and tissue donation, reflect on the issue, make an informed decision, and begin an essential conversation with their families.
Chain of Life does not seek to persuade students. The program provides them with accurate and comprehensive information, appeals to their intelligence, and trusts in their ability to think for themselves. Young people then carry the message to their peers, families, and communities.
As we celebrate our 20th anniversary, the time has come to fully recognize the transformative power of education and the remarkable potential of young people as agents of change in building a better-informed, more compassionate, more altruistic, and healthier society.
By learning about the scarcity of organs available for transplantation, young people also become aware of the invaluable gift of a healthy body and the importance of taking care of it. Chain of Life uses this important social issue as a gateway to health education and prevention, particularly the prevention of chronic diseases that can damage vital organs. Because it reaches both their hearts and their minds, organ and tissue donation education becomes a powerful tool for health education. It encourages young people not only to reflect on donation, but also to understand that honouring life means taking care of their health today.
This year, students who have completed the Chain of Life program are at the heart of the Challenge. In participating regions, these young people will share what they learned through the program, what touched them most, and how the experience led them to discuss organ and tissue donation with their loved ones. Informed and engaged, they embody a generation that thinks, talks, and takes action. Their stories demonstrate that education can have a positive influence far beyond the classroom.
Alongside these students, several other flag-bearers embody the lasting impact of this education. Among them are two former Chain of Life students who have since become teachers, a young father and heart transplant recipient who was determined to complete the Chain of Life training because he believes so deeply in the power of education, and a person waiting for a kidney transplant who also serves as a health and prevention ambassador, representing another essential dimension of our mission. Their journeys illustrate the strength of the human chain connecting young people, the education and health care communities, those personally touched by organ donation and transplantation, and the community as a whole.
Coralie Lachance discovered the Chain of Life program last year and is now in Secondary 5. She dreams of becoming a cardiac surgeon. Fourteen-year-old Louis-Félix Noel is waiting for a heart transplant. Together, they are the flag-bearers for Chaudière-Appalaches South and the faces of the 2026 Chain of Life Challenge promotional video.
Their meeting brings together two journeys connected by the heart: that of a young girl who dreams of one day caring for hearts and that of a boy waiting for a donor heart that could save his life. Their story embodies the entire Chain of Life mission: educating young people, awakening their sense of altruism and solidarity, helping them understand the realities of organ and tissue donation, and encouraging them to begin an essential conversation with their families.
It is with immense pride that we introduce Coralie and Louis-Félix, two young people who embody the power of education, compassion and hope.
Founded at École secondaire de Rivière-du-Loup in 2006, Chain of Life developed a unique educational program that introduces young people aged 15 to 17 to organ and tissue donation. Today:
In participating schools, this important social issue is explored in the English as a Second Language classroom.
These achievements are the result of the commitment of teachers, educational consultants, volunteer regional coordinators, board members, health care professionals, transplant recipients, donor families, and everyone who has believed in the power of education and the remarkable potential of young people.
They have also been made possible through the support of valued partners: Transplant Québec, the Kamouraska–Rivière-du-Loup School Board, and Desjardins, who have been with us from the beginning; the Famille Léger Foundation, which has supported us for several years; and, more recently, Canadian Blood Services.
Throughout this anniversary year, Chain of Life will highlight the defining moments in its history and honour the people and partners who helped build this great educational and human movement centred on organ and tissue donation.
The Chain of Life Challenge is about more than climbing a mountain: it is our organization’s major annual fundraiser. For its 12th edition, taking place from October 16 to 18, 2026, participants from several regions will come together to support Chain of Life’s educational mission.
The funds raised allow us to:
Every registration, donation, and partnership helps open the doors of new schools and reach hundreds of young people who are better informed, more altruistic, and more aware of the invaluable gift of a healthy body.
This year, 14 regions across Quebec are taking part in the Challenge.
Join the Challenge in your region
Schools across Quebec will also come together to support Chain of Life’s mission on October 2, 8 and 16.
In 2026, the momentum of Chain of Life will extend beyond Quebec’s borders. Challenges are planned in France, Scotland, and India. These initiatives demonstrate our mission’s power to unite people around shared values: education, youth, altruism, solidarity, and health. From one summit to another, participants will carry the same conviction: educating young people means giving them the knowledge and confidence to think critically, open a dialogue, and take actionwithin their families and communities.
You, too, can contribute to this important social initiative by participating in the 2026 Chain of Life Challenge in your region. By registering to climb a mountain near you or by making a donation, you will help Chain of Life train more teachers and introduce its educational program in new schools.
Through the commitment of our regional coordinators, flag-bearers, partners, elected officials, and the public, the Challenge raises the funds needed to reach more young people and help build a better-informed, more compassionate, more altruistic, and healthier society. Every registration and every donation help the Chain of Life continue to grow.
Take part in the Challenge or make a donation
No one has yet fully grasped the extraordinary capacity for solidarity, kindness and generosity that lies within our youth. The role of a profoundly humane education is to reveal this treasure, touch hearts and empower young people to transform society.
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