Purpose-driven wealth leaders – many of them women – are realizing there is a long-standing women’s health discrepancy and trying to narrow the gap.
Historically, women have been expected to quietly endure menopause as a difficult but unavoidable part of life. Debilitating, life-altering symptoms like chronic insomnia, brain fog, low libido, and hormone-related mood swings have long been dismissed as part of aging, instead of the serious and highly disruptive health challenges they often represent.
Up to 80% of women experience menopause symptoms, with 25% seeking treatment because of their severity. Yet one in two Canadian women feel unprepared, and four in 10 feel alone during this time. Older women’s healthcare is particularly weighted down by deep-seated taboos, obsolete medical beliefs, and a glaring lack of scientific information. Menopause may be something half of the world’s population will experience, yet it remains one of the least studied areas of medicine.
Part of the reason for this puzzling paradox is that women have chronically been neglected across medical research, clinical trials, and healthcare systems, leading to systemic gaps in understanding female biology. It was only as recently as 1996 that Health Canada revised its regulatory guidelines to officially require drug companies to include women in clinical trials in the same proportion as those expected to use the medication. Women and men have fundamentally different physiology and biology. The lack of female-focused medical research has resulted in women experiencing 50% to 75% more adverse drug reactions than men.
A 2024 McKinsey Health Institute report, Closing the Women’s Health Gap, offers up some sobering statistics. Canadian women spend an average of nine more years than men in poor health or with some degree of disability, with many of their symptoms minimized or misdiagnosed. Women are diagnosed later than men for more than 700 diseases, and medical residency programs lack foundational education on conditions like menopause, contraception, polycystic ovary syndrome, and infertility.
McKinsey’s findings sound the alarm on women’s health disparities while also providing a blueprint to fix them.
How philanthropy is closing the menopause knowledge gap
This is where philanthropy comes in. Purpose-driven wealth leaders – many of them women – are realizing this long-standing discrepancy and trying to narrow the gap. This past June, philanthropist Melinda Gates donated US$215 million to women’s health, with $10 million specifically allocated for menopause research. As Gates noted, “the role of philanthropy is to look at some of these societal problems that have been left behind, and shine light on them.” With October being World Menopause Month, it’s important to highlight how philanthropic giving is moving the needle on menopause care and research in Canada.
The role of philanthropy is to look at some of these societal problems that have been left behind, and shine light on them.
Melinda Gates
Philanthropy focused on women’s health is deeply aligned with feminist philanthropy and the belief that everyone deserves equal rights and opportunities, regardless of their gender. While Canada ranks among the top 10 countries globally for gender equality, it sits among the worst when it comes to the women’s-health-related economic gap. “Certain forms of support, including feminist philanthropy, can and do play a catalytic role in enabling movements and their leaders to respond, recover, and reorganize in increasingly complex times,” writes Holly Jonas, examining the women-led investments and movements leading to systemic changes. “How philanthropy meets the moment – or not – is a political choice.”
Weston and O’Born Centre for Mature Women’s Health
Resolving the deficit that exists in research, education, and women’s healthcare is precisely why the Weston and O’Born Centre for Mature Women’s Health at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital came to be.
“In 2018,” says Louis de Melo, president and CEO of the Sinai Health Foundation, “when we unveiled the Carol Mitchell Chair in Menopause [North America’s first academic chair dedicated specifically to menopause and mature women’s health], we were surprised to find out it was the first of its kind in the world.”
Long before menopause and midlife women’s health became a wider conversation, Dr. Mathew Sermer, Sinai’s head of obstetrics and gynecology, recognized huge health inequities in mature women’s health and worked alongside Dr. Wendy Wolfman to champion a vision for something different. During a stewardship meeting, when Sermer was asked where he would allocate funds if had access to an unlimited amount of money, he pointed to a comprehensive, multidisciplinary centre designed around the unique needs of mature women.
“That’s how it started,” de Melo says. “The donors’ question led to the creation of Canada’s first centre for mature women’s health. We delivered a vision around it, and in November 2022 we launched our fundraising efforts and announced a goal of $50 million. Within two years, we exceeded that goal.”
Given the lack of information on women’s health, the foundation decided to include an educational component alongside the fundraising component. “We organized a series of events in people’s homes with panels of experts presenting information and Q&As where people felt validated and heard.”
Phase one was all about clinical capacity, education, and infrastructure. “Then the corporate sector got involved,” de Melo says, “asking our experts to speak to their employees. The circle of influence became larger. Men were attending, because we also need to be educated on this and support our partners. It’s been eye-opening.”
In October 2024, the foundation launched Hot and Bothered, a $50-million fundraising initiative. “The campaign was provocative and edgy,” de Melo says, “and a huge success. It got the message out, removed the stigma, and started the conversation.” Five months into the campaign, the foundation received a $25-million transformational gift from The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation and Janice and Earle O’Born. In recognition of their generosity, the centre was renamed the Weston and O’Born Centre for Mature Women’s Health.
Hilary Weston, who died in October 2025, “was a great role model and always so eager to do something,” Janice O’Born says. “She didn’t hesitate to get involved. We were financing a dream and people wanted to be a part of it.”
The Forward Fund: For Women’s Health
At Montreal’s McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), doctors, researchers, and foundation leaders also believe that women deserve better.
In May 2025, the MUHC Foundation launched The Forward Fund: For Women’s Health – a $5-million commitment to transform women’s health. The fund aims to finance inclusive women’s research, improve data collection on sex differences in disease and treatment, create a healthcare system that reflects the full spectrum of women’s lives, and integrate biological sex differences into medical education.
Women’s health has been underrepresented in research and funding for far too long.
Marie-Hélène Laramée, McGill University Health Centre Foundation
Having completed a fellowship in mature women’s health and menopause at Mount Sinai Hospital, obstetrician-gynecologist Lina Huang was recruited to lead the MUHC’s Complex Menopause Clinic, one of the few clinics in Quebec dedicated to specialized menopausal care. “Women’s health has been underrepresented in research and funding for far too long,” says Marie-Hélène Laramée, president and CEO of the MUHC Foundation. “The Forward Fund was born from our collective commitment to change that, and Dr. Huang’s work reflects the transformative women-led, women-centred research taking place here.”
MUHC Foundation donors support game-changing research across multiple areas of women’s health, such as the DOvEEgene project, a test that detects ovarian and endometrial cancers early, when they’re still curable; Quebec’s first centre for complex endometriosis; innovations in heart health for women; and self-swab cervical cancer screening in Indigenous communities.
How philanthropy drives research and change
O’Born believes philanthropic leadership matters because the government can’t keep up with current needs. “People will say, ‘Governments waste money.’ Well, yes, they might,” she says. “But that’s not answering the problem. The answer to the problem right now is ‘Let us fund it so that we can find solutions and help women who need the help right now so we can all benefit as a society.’”
With funding in place, the new centre at Mount Sinai is expected to provide not only clinical care but also space for research and increased capacity in terms of clinical care delivery. “We have more physicians and staff, and we’ve significantly increased the number of fellows,” de Melo says. “Prior to funding, we had one fellow per year specializing in menopause and mature women’s health. Now we have an average of four. That’s all funded by philanthropy.”
De Melo highlights that many of these fellows go back to their respective communities, which often have decreased capacity, and offer their services there. “That’s the kind of reach philanthropy is allowing us to have,” he says.
Changing the conversation around menopause and educating people has also led to further donations and greater community engagement. “It moved from a fundraising campaign to a movement,” de Melo says. “So many people raised their hands to help.”
This past July, the TD Bank Group invested $1 million to advance research in women’s brain health and menopause care. “That gift will allow Dr. Marie Christakis and another colleague at Sunnybrook to work on brain fog research,” de Melo says. “These are concrete examples of what philanthropy has enabled us to do. If you remove philanthropy from the picture, none of this would have happened.”
Philanthropic gifts are also creating a bridge between psychiatry and the women’s centre. “Many women go through depression when they experience menopause,” de Melo says. “Those gifts support research in this area.”
Another donation is funding better training for family physicians on menopause. Paula Rochon, director of research, is ensuring that all research conducted at Sinai Health is also conducted on women.
Laramée, of the MUHC Foundation, considers philanthropy essential to helping bridge the gap. The foundation’s 51% Circle – the name alludes to women being 51% of the Canadian population, while only 7% of research funding is dedicated to women-specific conditions – under the presidency of prominent Quebec philanthropist Isabelle Marcoux, acts as a vital fundraising engine for the foundation. It brings together leaders, philanthropists, and changemakers dedicated to eliminating the gender gap in healthcare investment and medical research. “We’re the key,” Laramée says, “and a lot more women now have the philanthropic dollars to contribute towards moving the needle forward.” As a cancer survivor herself, she says she’s “living proof” of how much healthcare philanthropy matters.
‘Sisters are doing it for themselves’
Many foundations are now finding willing partners in older women with the financial capacity to donate, eager to find solutions to lingering gender health gaps – particularly menopause research. “Every woman will go through menopause,” O’Born says. “That’s half of the world’s population. I’m well into my 70s, so I’m past all this, but I don’t want other women to have to suffer like we had to, when – with research and combined funding – we can find answers.” Many women don’t have someone to turn to when they’re struggling, O’Born says. “They don’t know what’s normal, because when you’re experiencing menopause, there simply is no normal.”
O’Born says people her age have already written their wills and are at a stage of their lives where they’re wondering how they can make a difference. “In this case,” she says, “we can make a difference for our daughters and granddaughters.” Menopause research and women’s health as a priority makes sense to her because it affects society on so many levels.
I don’t want other women to have to suffer like we had to, when – with research and combined funding – we can find answers.
Janice O’Born, philanthropist
Laramée, who describes philanthropy as “a call to build a system where women thrive,” was recently appointed to the board of directors of Women’s Health Collective Canada (WHCC), a national alliance of five foundations that together represent the largest combined source of non-government funding for women’s health research in Canada. As a member of WHCC, the MUHC Foundation works alongside the BC Women’s Health Foundation, Alberta Women’s Health Foundation, Women’s College Hospital Foundation, and the IWK Foundation. Together, these organizations are combining their expertise, resources, and influence to make women’s health a national priority.
Earlier this month, The Menopause Foundation of Canada (MFC) also proposed a national policy agenda to support millions of women experiencing menopause. The agenda outlines seven core priorities for federal, provincial, and territorial governments to improve women’s health and economic outcomes, including close care gaps, break the stigma of misinformation, and mandate standardized menopause education as a core competency in all medical school and nurse practitioner programs. “Even at the university level, education around menopause is very limited,” de Melo says. “Family physicians are not well trained, and quite often the entry point for women will be their family physician. Part of the work we’re doing is training family physicians and creating more bridges between family medicine and the clinic itself.”
The lack of information surrounding women’s health goes beyond menopause. The McKinsey report found that sexual, reproductive, and maternal care account for only 5% of the women’s health burden. Major conditions like cancer, heart disease, and brain disorders represent 75%. “Women are more likely to die after a heart attack than men,” Laramée says. “Yet too many women have been told to cope with ‘unexplained’ symptoms that negatively impact their relationships, psychological well-being, careers, and overall quality of life.”
Laramée considers the current climate the “perfect storm of favourable conditions” to advance research and care on women’s issues, and specifically menopause-related conditions. “Menopause isn’t just a phase of life,” she says. “It’s also a risk factor for many serious illnesses that affect a woman’s entire body.”
Women-centred philanthropy and research with a global impact
The second phase of the Sinai Health Foundation campaign was positioned as “It’s Time for Answers” and addresses the narrow medical view – often called “bikini medicine” – that traditionally limits women’s medical research to reproductive health instead of examining the entire female body. “We have a lot of catching up to do,” de Melo says. “Myths on hormone therapy, for one. Sound, evidence-based research is critical in ensuring people get the best care and advice possible.”
Research has a global footprint. It may be developed in Toronto, but the entire world can benefit from it.
Louis de Melo, Sinai Health Foundation
Since there’s no one institution that has enough capacity to respond to current demand, de Melo hopes that the model they’re developing at the centre can be duplicated around the country and the world, and that their research leads to better healthcare, improved medication, and more accurate information “That’s the beauty of research,” he says. “Research has a global footprint. It may be developed in Toronto, but the entire world can benefit from it.”
Beyond improving the lives of Canadian women, McKinsey’s research shows that closing the healthcare gap for women – now participating in the workforce at record levels, with college-educated women outnumbering men – has the potential to boost the country’s economy by $37 billion annually by 2040. Globally, it could unlock up to $1 trillion annually for the economy.
Research shows that one in 10 working women leave the workforce entirely because of unmanaged menopause symptoms, while others reduce their hours, decline promotions, or change careers. Unmanaged menopause symptoms cost the Canadian economy an estimated $3.5 billion and 540,000 lost workdays every year, according to the Menopause Foundation of Canada. The reason is simple: most women experiencing perimenopausal or menopausal symptoms tend to be at the peak of their careers and at the top of their earning potential. They’re also often sandwiched between aging parents and still-young children and a partner at home. If they’re affected, everyone is affected.
“By working together,” says the MUHC Foundation’s Laramée, “we can accelerate the research, innovation, and systemic change needed to give all women access to care that truly meets their needs.”
Given how many women make up the charitable and philanthropic sector, and at the exact period they’re most likely to be stepping into leadership roles, a country lagging behind in menopause research affects the sector – and its contributions – too. “People are finally realizing this is a serious problem,” O’Born says. “What women are going through is very real. It deserves to be recognized and researched.”
