$40 million naming gift for school of Nursing from alumni Matthew and Natalie MacIsaac

A single $40 million gift has just rewritten the future of nursing education in Canada, and behind the historic number are two people whose quiet, decades-long devotion to health and community has finally found full expression.

On September 3, 2026, the University of British Columbia announced that alumni Matthew and Natalie MacIsaac have made the largest donation ever given to a school of nursing in Canadian history, a gift so significant that UBC is now formally renaming its nursing school and its brand-new home in the couple’s honor — the MacIsaac School of Nursing and the MacIsaac Health Building.

What makes this gift so moving is not just its scale but the story of the people behind it. Matthew, a hedge fund manager, and Natalie, a naturopathic doctor, are both proud graduates of UBC, and their philanthropy reads less like a transaction and more like a homecoming—a chance to give back to the institution that shaped them, in the field that has shaped their family’s values for a lifetime.

“Health has always been important to our family, and we believe deeply in the power of education and research to improve people’s lives,” the couple said in a joint statement, the kind of plainspoken sincerity that tends to accompany the most meaningful acts of generosity. “We are proud to support the next generation of nurses and the researchers and educators whose work strengthens health care in communities across British Columbia and beyond.”

As parents of four children, Matthew and Natalie have said their giving is also a form of teaching—a living lesson for the next generation of their own family about the responsibility and joy of using one’s success to create opportunity for others.

This sentiment elevates the gift beyond bricks, endowments, and naming rights; it becomes a family value passed down in real time, on a scale that will touch thousands of students and, through them, countless patients for decades to come.

The timing and substance of the gift could hardly be more resonant. Health systems across British Columbia and the country are straining under mounting demand, and nurses remain the backbone of that system—the professionals closest to patients, families, and communities in their most vulnerable moments.

UBC’s nursing program was already ranked among the top 25 in the world and the top three in Canada, but this gift propels it into a different tier entirely, giving the school the resources to build purpose-built simulation labs, expand research capacity, and modernize clinical training in ways that will directly shape how the next generation of nurses is educated. UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon captured the magnitude of the moment plainly: “UBC is truly grateful and so proud to partner with the MacIsaac family to bring our already world-class School of Nursing to the next level.

At a time when the need for care in our communities is great and growing, the MacIsaac School of Nursing will provide exceptional talent and new innovations and approaches to improve patient care”.

The physical heart of this transformation is the newly christened MacIsaac Health Building, a striking 270,550-square-foot facility at the entrance to UBC’s Vancouver campus, formerly known as the Gateway Health Building. It now houses not just the nursing school but the School of Kinesiology, UBC’s Student Health and Wellbeing services, the Arts Research Commons, and an innovative new Team-Based Care Teaching Clinic where students from nine different health professions train side by side, delivering real, coordinated patient care as part of their education.

Inside, three dedicated nursing skills labs and seven high-fidelity simulation suites will give students the chance to rehearse the most delicate, high-stakes moments of clinical practice in realistic settings before they ever step onto a hospital floor.

Notably, Musqueam representatives helped guide the building’s design, landscaping, and artwork, ensuring the space reflects Indigenous culture and land stewardship at every turn—a detail that speaks to the thoughtfulness woven into this project from its foundations up.

For those who will walk the halls of the newly named school, the gift already feels transformative. Dr. Elizabeth Saewyc, director of the MacIsaac School of Nursing, described it as a turning point: “This gift allows us to lead the future of nursing education, practice, and research, while sustaining our deep commitment to health equity. Our students will now learn in purpose-built clinical skills and simulation spaces, and alongside peers from across the health disciplines, preparing them to provide the collaborative, patient-centered care that improves health for all.”

Blaire Duke, president of the Nursing Undergraduate Society, spoke for a generation of students who will benefit directly: “Continuing my nursing education in the new building as the School of Nursing enters this transformative new chapter is an incredible opportunity. After graduation, I hope to practice in public health nursing, contributing to health promotion and health care that is more equitable and accessible for all.”

The MacIsaacs’ gift is part of FORWARD, the ambitious campaign for UBC built around advancing healthy lives, a healthy planet, and healthy societies—and it is difficult to imagine a more fitting cornerstone for that vision. In naming both a school and a building after one family, UBC is not simply honoring a check; it is honoring a philosophy of care, community, and quiet generosity that Matthew and Natalie MacIsaac have clearly carried since their own days as students on this campus.

Their names will now greet every nursing student who walks through those doors, a permanent reminder that the future of health care in British Columbia was, in no small part, built by two alumni who never stopped believing in the place—and the profession—that gave them their start.