America's super wealthy have rocked the philanthropic world in recent weeks. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have combined their considerable booty to target AIDS research and African poverty — and set a new bar for charitable giving. Not to be outdone, Britain's flashiest entrepreneur, Richard Branson, is putting his considerable largesse into renewable energy.
These donations are worth billions and are serving to reshape the future research on a number of fronts. But here in Canada, we are not without our share of big-spending philanthropist.
According to Canadian Fundraiser, the country boasts 40 billionaires and its wealthiest individuals are collectively worth about $142 billion.
What's more, our philanthropists have been giving particularly generously in recent years, possibly as a result of new tax measures that help make big donations possible. Here's a breakdown of 10 largest single cash donations in the country in recent years:
1. $105 million to McMaster University's medical school
In 2003, Michael DeGroote, the former CEO of Laidlaw Transport Ltd. donated an eye-opening $105 million to the medical school, transforming it into one of the best-endowed in North America. Degroote's gift was the largest single cash donation in Canadian history and the school was renamed in his honour.
Randy Moffat, the former president of Moffat Communications. (Phil Hossack/Canadian Press)
2. $100 million to the Winnipeg Foundation
Communications mogul Randy Moffat gave Canada's second-largest charitable gift, a whopping $100 million, to help needy children and families in 2001.
3. $70 million to the Art Gallery of Ontario
Ken Thomson, who passed away this summer at the age of 82, donated $70 million to the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2002. Along with the impressive endowment, the former chairman of Thomson Corp., who was Canada’s richest man, also left the AGO with more than 2,000 pieces of artwork valued at more than $300 million.
David Thomson, left, and father Ken smile following a press conference at the Thomson Corporation Annual General Meeting in Toronto Wednesday May 8, 2002. Ken Thomson stepped down as chairman and appointed son, David, his replacement. (CP/Aaron Harris)
- Related: Ken Thomson timeline
4. $64 million to McGill University
Richard H. Tomlinson gave $64-million gift to his alma mater, McGill University, in 2000. Tomlinson, the founding director of Gennum Corp. (the world's largest maker of chips for hearing aids), received his PhD in chemistry from McGill in 1948.
- CBC story: McGill gets $64 million
5. $50 million to the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto
In May 2006, sports and construction magnate Larry Tanenbaum contributed $50-million to the endowment arm of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, the city's largest Jewish charitable organization. Tanenbaum, the chairman of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment Ltd., hoped the gift would "inspire" others to take advantage of new tax measures passed in June on donated stock.
6. $50 million to the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto
In 2002, Barry Sherman, the head and founder of pharmaceutical company Apotex Inc. and his wife Honey donated $50 million to the UJA.
7. $50 million to the University of British Columbia
Dr. Stewart Blusson's $50-million gift to the University of British Columbia in 1998 was, at the time, the largest single donation ever made to a Canadian public institution. Dr. Blusson, who graduated from UBC with a Bachelor of Science in 1960, went on to become one of Canada's most acclaimed geologists and co-discovered the Ekati diamond mine in the Northwest Territories.
8. $50 million to Mount Sinai Hospital
Joseph and Wolf Lebovic donated $40 million in October 2006 to the hospital, adding to an earlier gift of $10 million. The brothers were born in Czechoslovakia and their family made its fortune in land development in the Toronto area. They have given to various causes, including a sizeable donation for the building of a Jewish community campus.
9. $40 million to the Hamilton Community Foundation
Joyce Young, a Hamilton-area investor, made her windfall by investing in her nephew's high-tech business stock. By spring 2000, she had donated $40 million worth of the stock in Red Hat Inc. to the Hamilton Community Foundation.
10. $37 million to the Toronto General Hospital's Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
In May 2006, Peter Munk, the founder of mining giant Barrick Gold, donated $37 million to the Toronto General Hospital. The largest direct donation of its kind directly to a Canadian hospital, the money will fund and build new facilities in the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at TGH.
- CBC story: Munk donates $37 million to cardiac centre
Mike Lazaridis of Research In Motion. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)
11. $33.3 million to the University of Waterloo's Institute of Quantum Computing
Mike Lazaridis, co-founder of Research In Motion (the company that manufactures the popular BlackBerry handheld organizers) donated $33.3 million to Waterloo's Quantum Computing initiative in 2004, the largest private donation ever made to the university.
- CBC story: RIM founder funds high-tech research
