Gary Slaight, head of Slaight Communications Inc., Slaight Music and The Slaight Family Foundation, is a visionary broadcaster and philanthropist.
Born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1951, Gary entered the music business with promotion positions at Quality Records and Warner Music. He then progressed to program director at Toronto’s influential radio station Q107. In 1987 Gary became president of Standard Radio. Working alongside his father, Allan Slaight, owner of Standard Broadcasting Corporation Ltd., Gary expanded the radio group from seven stations to sixty-three and built the company into a radio powerhouse. He was appointed President and CEO of the company in 2000. In 2005, through a partnership between Slaight Communications, CBC and Sirius Satellite Radio, Gary helped bring satellite radio services to Canada with the establishment of Sirius Satellite Radio Canada.
In 2007, with the sale of Standard Radio to Astral Media, Allan Slaight and Gary created The Slaight Family Foundation to address key issues facing Canadians. Under Gary’s leadership, the Foundation supports projects at local, national and international levels related to healthcare, social services, arts and culture, at-risk children and youth.
Since its inception fifteen years ago, the Foundation has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars. For example, the Foundation’s unique approach to philanthropy has provide $195M through nine strategic initiatives. These initiatives include $50 million to five downtown Toronto hospitals to improve health services; $22M for two initiatives to International NGOs to increase their capacity to address international issues of poverty, human rights of women and girls and major diseases and disasters; $11M supporting the healthy development of Canadian children; $12 million to improve the physical, mental and social well-being of Canada’s Indigenous youth; $15M to support Canadian women and girls; $30M for community based seniors initiatives; $15M to support the revitalization of Toronto’s theatre community and $40M for food security, mental health and research related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to these initiatives, Gary and the Foundation continue to support a diverse range of other charitable causes including many related to the music industry such as the recent gifts of $10M to the Unison Benevolent Fund to support music veterans in need; $2M to MusiCounts to implement technology-forward or culturally-relevant music education programs and $10M for the renovation of Massey Hall. Other charitable endeavours include The Slaight Family Music Lab at the Canadian Film Centre, subsidies to the Dixon Hall School of Music, and scholarships for Canadian musicians to study at the Berklee School of Music.
Gary has supported the Canadian Country Music Awards, Ontario Country Music Awards, East Coast Music Awards, Canadian Music Week, NXNE, Canadian Indie Week, Manifesto, The Prism Prize and imagineNATIVE. Additional music industry initiatives include the development of the Juno’s and the Allan Slaight Juno Master Class; the Polaris Music Prize with The Slaight Family Heritage Prize and The Slaight Music Emerging Songwriter Award with The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In concert with their philanthropic work Allan and Gary also established Slaight Music with a mandate to support Canadian musicians, particularly emerging Canadian artists. Other projects include the creation of the It’s Your Shot songwriting contest and the Canadian Radio Music Awards.
Understanding the need to recognize the immense talent across this country, Gary helped establish Canada’s Walk of Fame and, through the Foundation, funds The Allan Slaight Honour at the gala. This award recognizes a young Canadian who is making a positive impact in the field of music.
In 2014, Gary was appointed a Member of The Order of Canada in recognition of his achievements in broadcasting, his support of the arts, and philanthropy. He lives in Toronto with his wife Donna, who is also a dedicated philanthropist and a recent recipient of Order of Canada for her own philanthropic endeavours. They have two daughters: Ali, who works at Slaight Music; Chrissy, a researcher in the film business; and four grandchildren.
Awards:
- MusicCounts Inspired Minds Ambassador Award 2021
- Association of Fund Raising Professionals Outstanding Foundation Award 2017
- Association of Fund Raising Professionals Outstanding Foundation Award 2017
- Artists for Peace and Justice Canadian Changemaker Award 2017
- Order of Canada 2014
- The Edmond C. Bovey Award, Business for the Arts 2013
- Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee Medal Award 2013
- The JUNOs Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award 2012
- The Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Humanitarian Spirit Award 2010
- Canadian Association of Broadcaster’s Gold Ribbon Award for Broadcast Excellence 2007
- Inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame 2005
- Outstanding Community Service by an Individual Broadcaster Award 2004
- Broadcaster Executive of the Year 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998
