Vancouver's Roadburg Foundation pledges C$50 million to Galilee's first university

The Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation of Vancouver announced on 2 February 2026 a commitment of 50 million Canadian dollars, roughly 37 million US dollars, to Tel-Hai College in northern Israel, which is turning into the University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee. It is the largest gift the institution has ever received and the largest single pledge the young foundation has made.

According to eJewishPhilanthropy, the money will pay for several academic buildings, new faculty positions and administrative capacity, as well as an Institute for Regionality focused on the development of the Galilee. The pledge builds on an earlier commitment of about C$8 million for a computer science building on the college's eastern campus, which already carries the Roadburg name. The foundation expects to pay the full amount over roughly a dozen years.

Israel's Council for Higher Education has approved university status for the institution starting in the 2026/27 academic year, making it the first university in the Galilee region. University leaders plan an investment of about NIS 570 million over five years and expect thousands of new students, researchers and staff. The announcement came a day after the Israeli government met in Kiryat Shmona and approved a NIS 400 million package to rebuild the city, whose residents spent long periods displaced in recent years.

The foundation, only four years old, is led by chief executive Mark Gurvis, a former head of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, and director Stephen Gaerber. Its gift extends a decades-long partnership between Canadian Jewish federations in cities including Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax and communities in the Galilee, which together have contributed about C$25 million more toward the college's transition.