The Schulich Foundation

The Schulich Foundation embodies Seymour Schulich’s view that those who enjoy Canada’s freedoms and standard of living have an obligation to give back to society, if they are able.

Born in 1940 in Montreal, Seymour Schulich earned a bachelor of science and an MBA from McGill University. He began his career at Shell Oil and Eastern Securities Ltd., then worked 22 years for the pension fund management firm Beutel, Goodman & Co. Ltd., becoming president and vice-chair.

Schulich pioneered a unique concept of royalty payments in the mining industry that enabled Franco-Nevada Mining Corp., the company he co-founded with Pierre Lassonde, to become the world’s premier resource royalty company. In 2002, he engineered a merger of Franco-Nevada to create Newmont Mining Corporation—now one of the largest gold mining companies.

Schulich has been just as successful in the world of philanthropy. As Chairman of the Schulich Foundation along with his wife Tanna Schulich, who serves as the foundation’s vice-president, the couple has allocated in excess of $350 million to important causes, in higher education, health care and Jewish charities. Their generosity to post-secondary education in particular is evident in the seven faculties and schools in Canada and Israel that bear the Schulich name.

The couple’s extraordinary giving includes the creation of Schulich Leader Scholarships, a $100 million endowment to encourage top entrepreneurial-minded high school graduates to enroll in STEM programs at leading Canadian and Israeli universities. U of T, which has enrolled 20+ Schulich Leaders to date, is amongst the most desirable universities for nominee applicants.

To U of T specifically, their support includes contributions for the Schulich Nursing Scholarships, which have empowered more than 500 students to follow their passion for improving lives and communities locally and globally. The couple have also given to the David Peterson Program in Public Sector Leadership Support Fund in the Faculty of Arts & Science and to the Robert M. Smith Scholarships at U of T Engineering.

Having benefited greatly from a scholarship that enabled him to do his MBA, Seymour Schulich has built a well-earned reputation as a champion for education and access to education in Canada and around the world.