Billionaire Vic De Zen, family, donating millions to Vaughan hospital
Area of future hospital to be named after plastics, real estate magnate

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 23, 2016
By Adam Martin-Robbins

The fundraising campaign for the future Vaughan hospital is getting a “multi-million dollar” injection from billionaire developer Vic De Zen and his family, Mackenzie Health Foundation officials revealed in a media advisory Friday.

The foundation has not disclosed the exact amount of the donation; that information is expected to be revealed during a press conference Tuesday at city hall.

The release says an area of the “state-of the art” hospital will be named after De Zen in recognition of the generous gift.

De Zen owns and operates plastics manufacturer Vision Extrusions Group Ltd. and ZZEN Group, a real estate development, construction and property management firm.

Longtime Vaughan residents, Vic and his wife, Angelina, have raised two sons, Sergio and James (Jimmy), who passed away last year, at age 46, while on vacation in Las Vegas. They also have five grandchildren.

He is the recipient of several awards, including the Order of Canada.

De Zen’s net worth is pegged at $1 billion, according to Canadian Business magazine, putting him in 91st spot on the country’s 100 richest people list.

De Zen, who immigrated to Canada from Italy in 1962, made his fortune as founder of plastics maker Royal Group Technologies.

He got caught up in a scandal that led to fraud charges being filed against him and five other company executives in 2008.

Two years later, they were cleared of the charges, but by then De Zen had sold the company to Georgia Gulf Corp. and started rebuilding his plastics empire under the name Vision Group.

The Mackenzie Vaughan hospital is slated for completion in 2020 at the northwest corner of Jane Street and Major Mackenzie Drive.