Markin and CNRL were major donors of $3 million each to the University of Alberta's Markin/CNRL Natural Resources Engineering Facility opened in October 2004.
In 2009, he donated over a million dollars to St. Francis Xavier University's Coady International Institute, which helps educate students from developing nations to become leaders and make a meaningful difference in their communities.
In 2013, the Pure North S'Energy Foundation was given a $10 million grant from the province of Alberta to defray the costs of providing free health prevention and management services to seniors.
[11] In April 2016, University of Calgary economist J.C. Herbert Emery, in a Pure North S'Energy funded paper, calculated that for every dollar spent by seniors in their second year in the Pure North program, there was an estimated benefit of $2.36 in reduced hospitalization and ambulatory care, increases in Quality Adjusted Life Years, as well as improved productivity.
[12] Pure North S'Energy also donated $6 million, and provided supplement and lab testing services to, Biocybernaut's Canadian Aboriginal Scholarship Program.
[13] In 2016, Pure North received $4.2 million, along with three other agencies that serve the homeless, addicted, seniors and other under-served populations, to undertake a pilot project using nurse practitioners to deliver health services.