Historic $40 million donated to SFU’s new medical school

Simon Fraser University’s new medical school received a huge donation on Friday.

The Stephens family, founders of Nature’s Path, Love Crunch and Que Pasa Mexican Foods, donated $40 million to the new school, which is the largest single donation that SFU has ever received.

“The new state-of-the-art medical school will make Surrey a hub of innovative, high-quality health care,” Premier David Eby said in a statement.

“The SFU Stephens Family School of Medicine will help train the next generation of doctors right here in B.C., which will mean more people can find a family doctor close to home. This new school is just one way our government is improving health care in British Columbia and south of the Fraser. Thank you to the Stephens family for their remarkable generosity.”

In recognition of the donation, the school will be named the SFU Stephens Family School of Medicine.

“Training more doctors is one of government’s top priorities, which is why this donation is so meaningful in the larger context of B.C.’s health-care system,” said Minister of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills Jessie Sunner in a statement.

“Receiving a donation of this scale will meaningfully strengthen how SFU can deliver its medical education training. It means B.C.’s future doctors will be trained with cutting-edge equipment and enhanced academic support.

“This is a win for all British Columbians and especially for growing communities like Surrey and south of the Fraser.”

In a joint statement, the Stephens family said that this is an investment with the greatest possible return for the good of society.

The family has donated more than $100 million throughout the Lower Mainland and globally.

“We’re in a context nationally and internationally of a shortage of health-care workers,” Eby said at the announcement on Friday morning.

“We’re in a competition with jurisdictions around the world for those health-care workers, and in particular, health-care workers that can provide what’s called primary care, which is that family doctor support that all of us need.

“It keeps people out of the hospital, keeps them out of the emergency room, keeps them well, and intercedes early before medical conditions move to needing more intense interventions.”

Eby added that since 2023, the province has connected 600,000 British Columbians with a family doctor and said B.C. is leading the country in doing so.