SFU gets $40M gift for new medical school
Entrepreneurs Arran and Ratana Stephens donate largest gift in university history to support physician training in underserved communities.
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Simon Fraser University received its largest donation ever: $40 million from Arran and Ratana Stephens to support the new SFU Stephens Family School of Medicine before it admits its first class in August.
The couple, co-founders of Nature's Path Foods and owners of the Que Pasa tortilla-chip brand, funded the gift through real estate investments rather than their food company stake. Both in their 80s and in good health, they framed the donation as a family commitment to the broader community. "We're all part of the greater family of humanity," Arran Stephens told Business in Vancouver.
The school itself breaks new ground for Western Canada. It's the first medical school to open in the region in nearly 60 years, and it integrates Indigenous knowledge alongside academic medicine, embedding students in communities from the start. The first cohort of 48 students will grow to 120 by 2035.
The Stephens family's philanthropy is extensive. They've given millions to Vancouver General Hospital, St. Paul's Hospital, and Vancouver Coastal Health services. In the 2010s, Nature's Path donated roughly $27 million in cash or food to charities and food banks across North America.
Arran Stephens cited a critical need driving the gift: "There's a huge need for family physicians in B.C., and this school embodies a more holistic approach to health and wellness than what is normally taught."
SFU calls the $40 million gift one of the largest to a school of medicine in Canada.