BMO Ride for Cancer

Today on National Cancer Survivors Day, we recognize the many Nova Scotians and their families living with cancer including the recently diagnosed, those in remission, and the friends, family and community that surround them with support. We also honour the care teams who support Nova Scotians through their cancer care journeys. 💙

Over the years, our BMO Ride for Cancer community has played a big role in supporting cancer survivors by funding some of the latest cancer care and diagnostic technology at the QEII Health Sciences Centre – and this June, we’re accelerating that care one step further. Our BMO Ride community is rallying to raise $600,000 by June 30, 2026 to accelerate MRD technology at the QEII, a way to detect microscopic traces of cancer in the blood after treatment, long before a traditional scan can see them.

Let’s rally together to help provide Nova Scotian cancer survivors with earlier cancer recurrence detection, more personalized, precise treatments, and better survival rates.

Matt Benvie’s Turning 40 for the Fight event was a huge success! To celebrate his 40th birthday, longtime BMO Ride for Cancer participant Matt Benvie from Evolve Fitness held a stationary bike challenge to raise funds for this year’s BMO Ride. He was joined by Evolve Fitness Coach Amy Muench (“Coach Amy”), Evolve member Moira MacLean, and cancer survivor and BMO Ride for Cancer Ambassador Marcy Weston. 🚲💙

Together, they completed 40 km on stationary bikes, stopping every 4 km for a 40-rep fitness challenge.

Thanks to Matt and our surrounding community’s fundraising efforts and a generous anonymous match, he reached his $40,000 goal before he even broke a sweat. This milestone also helped push Team Evolve Fitness past $1 million raised across their lifetime participation in BMO Ride for Cancer.

But Matt’s not stopping here. This year, he’s raised $24,542 so far. With the anonymous donor still matching contributions (up to $40K), that brings the total impact to $49,074 and counting.

Support Matt’s ride and have your donation matched (up to 40K) : https://www.evolvefitnessltd.com/40th-birthday-ride

We're officially launching the first phase of our Grand Finale campaign with a goal to raise $600,000 by June 30 to help accelerate life-changing MRD (minimal residual disease) technology at the QEII Health Sciences Centre. 💙

Thanks to our BMO Ride supporters, the QEII already has a next generation sequencer — a critical component of MRD testing. By combining genomic sequencing with liquid biopsy technology, MRD technology can detect microscopic traces of cancer in the blood after treatment, long before a traditional scan can see them.

With our community, we've already started the journey to bring MRD to the QEII. Every day we accelerate funding is another day clinicians can move closer to bringing this technology to Nova Scotia patients. The sooner we get there, the sooner patients and families can benefit.

That's why the next four weeks are so important. Let's finish what we started! 🙌

It's time for Ride Rewind! 🚲🔄️ Our 2018 BMO Ride for Cancer event saw a community of over 580 riders, 140 volunteers, sponsors, and supporters rally for local cancer care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, with riders travelling between 25 km and 160 km from Mahone Bay to Halifax.

Event day brought a full crowd to our opening ceremonies, a "We're Not Stopping" attitude from start to finish, and emotion, celebration and connection at our Finish Line. What an amazing day to come together to make a difference in our community!

Funds raised from the 2018 event helped build a state-of-the-art Cancer Therapy Prep Lab at the QEII. Today, between 120 and 150 lifesaving doses of chemotherapy and systemic are prepared each day for cancer patients receiving treatment at the QEII. And donor generosity, including from our BMO Ride community, is felt in every dose delivered to patients. 💙