WATCH: SFU medical school receives historic $40 million donation

SURREY — As Simon Fraser University's new medical school prepares to welcome its first class of doctors and nurses-to-be, local philanthropists have stepped up with a massive gift.

Ratana and Arran Stephens, founders of Nature's Path Organic Foods, announced a $40 million donation to the institution that will now bear their name.

The gift was announced to the public during an event at SFU's campus in Surrey.

"When I think about what this medical school represents, my mind goes back not to a board room, not to a company, but to a small home in India, and to my grandmother," Mrs. Stephens said. "My grandmother could not read or write, and yet she made sure I went to university. Because of her, I became the first woman in my family to earn a graduate degree."

She added that she hopes the new school will open similar doors for others.

Mr. Stephens said the same principle that guided them to found Nature's Path — to "leave the earth better than when we found it" — led them to make the donation.

"Supporting this medical school is not just about education," he noted. "It's about strengthening the future of our healthcare system."

The medical school's first dean, Dr. David Price, explained that the goal is to "infuse Indigenous ways of knowing and wellness throughout the school, in our curriculum, in how we understand health."

Mr. Stephens praised the "holistic" approach.

Also in attendance was Premier David Eby. He said the opening of the school and the Stephens' donation marks a new chapter in BC healthcare, one in which the communities south of the Fraser are no longer left behind.

As for how the money will be spent, Price explained that "some of it will go to capital, but the bulk of it will go to a variety of areas to support the kind of work that we've talked about."

SFU's medical school is the first such institution to open in western Canada in nearly six decades.