'His legacy is going to live on': Ben Stelter Foundation helps bring advanced cancer treatment to Canada with new Edmonton facility

Oilers captain Connor McDavid speaks at the announcement of a new proton therapy treatment facility in Edmonton on March 14, 2024. (Brandon Lynch/CTV News Edmonton)

Edmonton is set to become the first Canadian city to offer an advanced form of cancer radiation treatment.

On Thursday, WestCan Proton Therapy Inc. announced plans to bring proton therapy to the capital city in a new facility named for Oilers superfan Ben Stelter, who died at age 6 of cancer in 2022.

"Knowing that this proton therapy is coming here because of Ben, and it's kind of coming to Canada because of Ben, truly means that his legacy is going to live on forever and help so many people," said Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid.

The Ben Stelter Centre for Proton Therapy and Neuroscience is being developed in partnership with the Ben Stelter Foundation and Edmonton Global.

Proton therapy is more targeted than X-ray radiation, minimizing damage to healthy tissues and reducing the side effects experienced by patients.

Ashif Mawji, board chair of the Ben Stelter Foundation, said Canada is currently the only G7 country where the treatment is unavailable.

"It's really difficult for patients to have to travel to the United States for it," Mawji said. "You need your family as your support structure, and to have to travel away is just, it's just too difficult."

Ben's father, Mike Stelter, received the treatment in the U.S. after being diagnosed with cancer last spring.

"It was difficult to put into words how hard it was to be separated from my family for nine weeks," Stelter said at the announcement. "It puts an incredible strain on the family, along with a tremendous financial burden."

While the time away was painful, Stelter said the treatments were quick and painless. The new facility, he added, will be a huge step forward for Albertans and Canadians facing cancer.

"It's very important to us to ensure that if the Ben Stelter Foundation name is on anything, it needs to be world-class and supported by an all-star team, and I think we have this here today," he added.

The centre is expected to be up and running in early 2027, and will be able to treat around 240 patients a year.

Mawji said the partnership already has plans to expand with more facilities across Canada and the world.

"There are some other countries outside of the U.S. that are very interested in this too. And they'll all have the same Ben Stelter name," Mawji said.

The Ben Stelter Centre for Proton Therapy and neuroscience represents around $120 million in investment.

The project is expected to create 100 permanent positions and more than 250 jobs during construction.