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More than 300 students from seven universities across southern Ontario recently gathered at the Invista Centre in Kingston to play hockey and fight cancer as part of the Commerce Classic tournament. The annual event is hosted by Cure Cancer Classic, a student-run club in the Commerce Society at Smith School of Business at Queen’s. The tournament set a new fundraising record this year, securing $118,000 after a matching donation. This brings the total funds raised by the club to more than $2 million since its founding in 2005.

In addition to Queen’s, teams at the tournament came from Brock University, the University of Guelph, Toronto Metropolitan University, the University of Toronto, Western University, and Wilfrid Laurier University. There were 12 men’s teams and five women’s teams.

“This year we had more schools and more teams taking part in the Commerce Classic than ever,” says Ben Schwartz, co-chair of Cure Cancer Classic and fourth-year commerce student. “Our club has grown significantly since it was founded twenty years ago, and we want to keep growing so we can make as large an impact as possible on cancer research and care. Almost everyone has been affected by cancer in some way, and students at Queen’s and across Ontario want to step up and fight for the cause.”

The students are donating to the Canadian Cancer Society and have designated the funds to go to the , an academic cooperative oncology group at Queen’s that designs and conducts clinical trials testing cancer therapy, supportive care, and prevention interventions across Canada. The group is based in the Sinclair Research Institute at Queen’s, and many Queen’s faculty members are involved with CCTG as investigators and scientific leaders.

“It’s great to see Queen’s students and students across Ontario show so much passion for raising money for cancer research,” says Janet Dancey, director of CCTG and professor in the Department of Oncology at Queen’s. “The funds raised for CCTG provide support for clinical trials testing the cancer treatments of the future. We benefit greatly from the generosity of groups like Cure Cancer Classic, and we are grateful for and inspired by their work.”

Twelve men's teams and five women's teams took part in the Commerce Classic. (Jackie Li/Cure Cancer Classic)

Each of the 17 teams in the tournament raised funds to contribute towards the total, and Cure Cancer Classic gave prizes, like new hockey sticks and gift cards, to the top fundraisers.

Now the Cure Cancer Classic executive team is devoting their attention to preparing for the Commerce-Engineering Rivalry Game, which will be played in the Slush Puppie Place in downtown Kingston on March 13. In 2024 the rivalry game raised $340,000, bringing the club’s fundraising total for that academic year to more than $600,000.

“This is our marquee event each year, as it typically has more than 4,000 spectators and raises the most money of all our events,” says Kate Fitzpatrick, co-chair of Cure Cancer Classic and fourth-year commerce student. “Since this is the twentieth anniversary of Cure Cancer Classic, we really want it to be a celebration that is an inspiration to others. Our club started off as an idea by a Queen’s student and has gone on to have real impact. We want others to see how much people can accomplish when they come together and fight for something bigger than themselves.”

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