The Rogers Foundation

Through a historic gift, the Rogers Foundation helped U of T, SickKids and UHN revolutionize the way we approach heart health in Canada.

The Rogers Foundation was established by the late Ted Rogers (BA 1956 TRIN, LLB 1961 Osgoode, Hon LLD Western 1996, Hon DSL 1997 TRIN, Hon LLD 2002, Hon LLD TMU 2004) and his late wife, Loretta A. Rogers (Hon LLD 2018, Hon LLD Western 1996, Hon LLD TMU 2004). Ted Rogers was president and CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. Under Ted’s leadership, the company became a media and communications powerhouse, with interests in radio and television stations, cable distribution, publishing, wireless, internet, the Toronto Blue Jays and Rogers Centre. Loretta Rogers was Rogers Communications’ longest-standing director and a driving force leading the Rogers Foundation.

In his later years, Ted was diagnosed with a heart condition that eventually led to congestive heart failure. He passed away at the age of 75. To honour his memory and unshakable entrepreneurial spirit, the Rogers Foundation made a landmark $130 million donation in 2014, the largest private health-care donation in Canadian history, to create the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research.

The extraordinary gift fuelled a unique partnership between U of T, SickKids and the University Health Network. All three institutions matched the Rogers Foundation’s gift, creating a $270-million investment in new diagnoses, treatments, and tools to help people prevent, manage, and survive heart failure.

In 2022, the Rogers Foundation announced a new, $90-million benefaction to significantly expand the reach of the Centre, including by expanding its proprietary heart failure management platform to remote communities worldwide; by boosting research that uses machine learning and genomics-based techniques; and by supporting innovation and education funds for early-career researchers developing impactful technologies.

Few diseases are as costly to families and society as heart failure, a condition where the heart can’t pump sufficient blood to meet the body’s demands. In Canada, more than one million adults and children have heart failure, and the disease costs the Canadian health-care system up to $3 billion a year.

Thanks to the generosity of the Rogers Foundation, the Centre is giving fresh hope to those who suffer from this devastating disease. It is a hope that continues to grow under the guidance and leadership of a new generation of the remarkable Rogers family. Ted and Loretta’s daughter, Martha Rogers, is the Chair of the Rogers Foundation.

The Rogers Foundation’s combined gifts of $220 million to the TRCHR represent one of the most significant philanthropic investments in Canada’s history. They stand, together with the ongoing dedication of the Rogers family to our community and the trailblazing work of both the Rogers Foundation and the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, as enduring tributes to Ted and Loretta Rogers. Driven by their founding vision, the future of heart health for children, adults and families across Canada and around the world is being transformed through the latest innovations in clinical care, genetics and regenerative medicine.