Chancellors' Circle of Benefactors wordmark

The FDC Foundation


Since it was established by Carlo Fidani, the FDC Foundation has contributed generously to the University of Toronto Mississauga and the Temerty Faculty of Medicine in order to create opportunities for groundbreaking innovation in health sciences education and research.

Carlo Fidani (Hon LLD 2019) is chairman of Orlando Corporation, Canada’s largest privately-owned industrial real estate developer. Orlando Corp. is involved in designing, developing and managing industrial, office and retail properties. Fidani established the FDC Foundation in 2000 with a mandate to make a difference in the field of health care by focusing on hospitals, universities and centres of medical specialization.

Through both the foundation and the corporation, Fidani has made transformative contributions to health-care delivery and research across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Recipients include the William Osler Health System, Milton District Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Credit Valley Hospital and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

Prompted by concerns about a chronic shortage of family physicians in Ontario, and particularly in Peel Region, the foundation made a $10-million donation in 2010 to help build the Terrence Donnelly Health Sciences Complex, which houses the Mississauga Academy of Medicine at U of T Mississauga. In partnership with U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Credit Valley Hospital and Trillium Health Centre, the academy currently delivers programs of study in the health sciences to more than 200 students every year, preparing them to play important roles in our health-care system.

Along with its involvement in funding critical infrastructure initiatives, the foundation has also made generous contributions that help provide financial assistance for students and support for groundbreaking research efforts. These contributions include the establishment of the Carlo Fidani Student Bursaries and Scholarships, the Fidani Chair in Improvement and Innovation in Family Medicine, and an award for a medical student who has completed a project that demonstrates “outside the box” thinking.

Through the Orlando Corporation, Fidani has also led significant gifts to the University, including $7 million in 2016 to help realize the University of Toronto Mississauga’s vision of a new Centre for Medicinal Chemistry, and a $25-million investment in 2022, directed to U of T’s Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH), a groundbreaking initiative to educate health-care professionals directly in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA.

Through his generous support for education and research in the health sciences, Carlo Fidani and the FDC Foundation are playing a leading role in improving the quality of health care for people in the GTA, across Canada and around the world.