Billboard Canada FYI Bulletin: The Slaight Family Foundation Makes A Major Donation to Dementia Research and Care

The Slaight Family Foundation has stepped up to the plate with a $30M donation to support seven Canadian organizations with dementia research, prevention and compassionate care programs.

Recipients named are the Alzheimer Society of Canada ($3M), Baycrest ($9.5M), Belmont House ($700K), Centre for Addiction and Mental Health ($6.5M), Egale ($3M), TMU’s National Institute on Ageing ($3M) and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre ($4.3M).

In a statement, Gary Slaight, president and CEO of the Slaight Family Foundation, notes that “One of the greatest health-care challenges we face is the growing number of older Canadians living with dementia, projected to affect 6.3 million people between 2020 and 2050.”

Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Health Policy Research at Toronto Metropolitan University’s National Institute on Ageing, underscores the need for research funds and general support for those afflicted with dementia, estimating that 350 people in Canada develop the disorder each day or more than 15 persons every hour.

Continuing, Slaight says “dementia care demands a comprehensive, collaborative approach. Through this funding to our exceptional partners, we aim to accelerate progress, foster innovation and enhance the lives of those affected” by the neuro-cognitive disorder that can affect thinking, memory, reasoning, personality, mood and behaviour.

Gary Slaight was named to Billboard Canada's Power Players list this year and presented with the Impact Award for his tireless philanthropy work and as a benefactor for many Canadian music initiatives.

The Slaight Family Foundation was established in 2008 by Slaight and his father Allan Slaight (1931-2021), who, known as a Canadian broadcast pioneer, was a leader in the music industry and a prominent philanthropist.

For more than a decade and a half, the Slaight Family Foundation has pledged strategic initiatives across multiple organizations, including a $50M donation in 2013 to five Toronto hospitals to fund new MRI technology, emergency services, mental health care, and maternity care.

It has funded programs addressing global humanitarianism, promoting the healthy development of children and youth across Canada, supporting Indigenous issues, assisting with mental health challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting women and girls at risk in Canada and bolstering major theatres recovering from the impacts of the pandemic. This new $30M dementia initiative brings the total support for these strategic initiatives to $251.5M.

Separately, the family has funded innumerable Canadian music initiatives, including the launch of Slaight Music in 2011. The Canadian talent development initiative has funded 40+ artists to date and supported a variety of music-related causes, events and awards bodies including the Junos, the Polaris Prize, Luminato and Canada’s Walk of Fame. Through the Slaight Family Music Lab, the family also fosters the next generation of Canadian artists in music and on screen.

For 15 years, Slaight Music also funded FYI Music News which continues to serve as an important platform for the Canadian music industry as part of Billboard Canada.