QUEBEC, Nov. 4, 2024
/CNW/ - Following the launch of its annual Canada-wide philanthropic contest last
September, iA Financial Group today unveils the list of 12
finalists whose projects have been selected by the jury for the
eighth edition of the contest. From these finalists, the public
will now be asked to choose four winners, which will each receive
$100,000 to make a project a reality
or to pursue their mission. The remaining eight finalists will each
receive a donation of $10,000.
This year, iA Financial Group has chosen to focus on charities
that support people struggling with social issues such as
homelessness, food insecurity, dropping out of school, addictions,
violence, mental illness or isolation.
From now until November 27, 2024, the public can vote at
donations-contest.ia.ca for the projects that they find the most
inspiring in four different regions (Quebec, Ontario, Western
Canada, Northern Canada and
Atlantic Canada).
The 10,000 iA Financial Group employees are also invited to get
involved and vote for their favourite charities, which will share
an additional $20,000. The winners
will be revealed the week of December 9, 2024.
OUR SOCIAL COMMITMENT
Philanthropy is deeply rooted in our culture at iA Financial
Group. It is one of the company's fundamental values, aligned with
its commitment towards sustainability and concrete support for
communities. In 2024, the Group will make 10.4 million dollars in donations to 600
charities working in the health, education, environment, or social
services sector. This large-scale philanthropic contest is in line
with iA Financial Group's efforts to support the communities it
serves, and also embodies a central component of its commitment,
the company aiming to donate 1% of its net profits every year.
"Our annual philanthropic contest is a very important moment for
iA Financial Group. The contest jury was impressed and moved by the
projects we received this year, which demonstrate the charities'
unwavering commitment to the wellbeing of our community! I'd like
to extend my warmest thanks to all the charities for their
participation, and I wish the finalists the best of luck!", said
Denis Ricard, President and Chief
Executive Officer of iA Financial Group.
THE TOP 12 FINALISTS AND THEIR PROJECTS
- AutonHommie, Quebec
City (Quebec)
A donation would help launch a campaign to raise awareness
of the need for support for men in the Capitale-Nationale
region. We'll be approaching companies where the majority of the
employees are men to offer meetings to raise awareness of men's
need for support, and to inform as many people as possible about
the resources available to them. With this project, we want to
reach out to men from all walks of life, to let them know that they
don't have to solve their problems alone, that there are resources
available for them, and that the sooner they act, the more likely
it is that serious problems will be avoided. When we help a man,
everyone wins: his partner and his children.
- La rue des Femmes Foundation,
Montreal (Quebec)
A donation would offer a fresh start to women experiencing
homelessness, many of whom have suffered deep trauma. Thanks to
your generosity, we would be able to expand our range of
therapeutic care by opening our fourth home and offering more hours
of personalized therapy. These treatments, such as psychotherapy,
art therapy or addiction counseling, provide them with the tools
they need and a safe environment to overcome their traumas.
La rue des Femmes offers a complete care pathway helping thousands
of women to regain their dignity and their lives. Our aim: to offer
a better future to all the women we support and help build a more
just and inclusive society.
- Pleins Rayons, Cowansville (Quebec)
With a donation, Pleins Rayons helps position its
participants to play an active social role by developing projects
in which people with disabilities become key players in social
issues such as processing food for the region's food banks, helping
young people with atypical backgrounds, and receiving specialized
services adapted to the needs of its participants. Pleins Rayons
hopes to continue developing promising projects that can be shared
across Quebec to improve the
quality of services for people with disabilities. Apprentices work
to help their fellow community members, while discovering that they
can play a helping role in their community. The aim is to combat
the isolation and marginalization of people with intellectual or
functional limitations.
- Food4Kids Halton, Burlington (Ontario)
A donation would significantly enhance our mission to
combat childhood hunger and to support vulnerable families across
the region of Halton. It would directly fund nutritious food
for over 1,200 children in our Weekends Without Hunger program, a
lifeline for vulnerable children facing food insecurity and
ensuring they have access to healthy meals when school nutrition
programs are unavailable. Additionally, the funds would establish a
youth internship initiative, empowering high school students with
essential job skills and reducing isolation. This dual impact not
only addresses immediate nutritional needs but also fosters
long-term growth and stability within our community, helping
to break the cycle of poverty.
- Canadian Mental Health Association –
York Region Branch, Newmarket (Ontario)
A donation will support MOYBSS (Mobile York South
Simcoe), Ontario's first and only
mobile (and now also virtual) mental health clinic for youth 12-25
in York Region and South Simcoe.
Since 2015, MOBYSS has provided care to 20,000+ young people. Its
goal is to save young lives from suicide and substance abuse, and
help youth build resilience and coping skills. Annually, almost
3,700 individuals die by suicide in Canada, and suicide is the leading cause of
death for young people 15-24. 75% of mental illness begins in the
teen years, but many people wait 4-20 years to seek help.
- Children's Aid Foundation of Canada, Toronto (Ontario)
A donation would go towards providing critical tutoring and
mentoring services, funding for essential school supplies and
technology, and recognizing exceptional students through Stay in
School Awards—ensuring that young people in the child welfare
system are supported to meet their academic goals, stay in school
and graduate high school. Stay in School helps the children and
youth across Canada living in
foster care, group homes or with extended family due to abuse,
neglect or abandonment. By providing targeted educational supports,
we aim to improve graduation rates and help youth in care achieve
their full potential.
- Vancouver Food Runners, Vancouver
(British Columbia)
A donation will support our small team of six staff to
organize 10,000+ food rescues by volunteer drivers in 2025, which
will deliver 1.6+ million pounds of healthy food to community
members experiencing food insecurity. In addition, this will
mitigate 2.7+ million pounds of CO2eq from the environment.
Vancouver Food Runners' tech-powered and community-centred food
recovery program is scaling rapidly to meet the demand from both
food businesses and nonprofit partners. We partner with nonprofits
to increase healthy food access for residents experiencing food
insecurity. The organizations we partner with support Indigenous,
Black, immigrant and newcomer communities, at-risk children and
youth, individuals experiencing disability and seniors who have a
low income. 35,000+ community members experiencing food insecurity
are reached through VFR's food program each month.
- Saskatoon Crisis Intervention Service, Saskatoon (Saskatchewan)
A donation would go towards increasing our capacity to
respond to service demand. As a trusted resource for underserved
populations, there is an expectation that we will always be there.
There are few options for underserved populations to access help in
the evenings, weekends and holidays. The crisis response can take
place over the phone, in the office or in the community. Adding
more staff hours to continue to provide a quality crisis response
would be the focus of this project. Intensive Community Support
Services support adults with significant and enduring mental
illness, who are considered to be hard to serve and difficult to
engage. In 2023-2024 our Mobile Crisis Service responded to over
30,000 crisis service requests. PACT assisted over 2,090
people.
- Airdrie P.O.W.E.R, Airdrie (Alberta)
A donation would go towards supporting, strengthening, and growing
our Empowerment Program, which focuses on providing individualized
support, safety and resources to women fleeing domestic violence. A
donation like this would have a massive impact for our community,
allowing us to help more women, provide more hours of support and
implement additional programming to help women rebuild their lives.
As an alternative to overfull shelter systems, we focus on
long-term safety planning and address every issue—big or small—with
personalized, adaptive support. With no other organization in our
area solely focused on this critical issue, our services are vital
to the community we serve.
- Qajuqturvik Community Food
Centre, Iqaluit (Nunavut)
A donation will support our food access and education programs,
including: Community Meal, our weekly produce box and country food
box programs and Inuit Women's Circle. We aim to support
individuals experiencing food insecurity in Iqaluit, NU. Despite this small community,
last year we served 66,000 meals. Indicating the dire need for food
security initiatives in the community.
- Greater Moncton YMCA, Moncton (New
Brunswick)
A donation will strengthen and extend our reach in preventing and
diverting homelessness with YMCA ReConnect. These funds will
enhance our street and encampment outreach services, enabling us to
provide immediate assistance such as food, clothing, hygiene
products and harm reduction supplies. Additionally, we will expand
our efforts to address long-term solutions through a housing-first
approach, helping individuals secure essential documentation,
overcome housing barriers and access critical community resources.
The funding will allow us to offer more trauma-informed support,
ensuring that we reach more individuals at risk, ultimately
reducing homelessness and fostering stability in our community.
- Easter Seals Nova Scotia, Dartmouth (Nova
Scotia)
A donation would go toward The Next Step—a supported
employment program for youth with disabilities—which would benefit
tremendously from this donation and would give us the capacity to
grow this program outside of Halifax and into other parts of the province.
The Next Step works with recent high-school graduates with
disabilities to help them find their place in the workforce.
Without this program to assist them, these young adults often
describe their lives as graduating to the couch. The short-term
goals for the program are to assist each participant in finding
meaningful, paid employment in the community. The long-term goal is
to establish a network of inclusive employers, not only in
Halifax but other parts of the
province as well.
Our sustainability ambition
To be a company that contributes to sustainable growth and the
wellbeing of its clients, employees, partners, investors and
communities, iA Financial Group makes sustainability a priority. To
guide our day-to-day achievements, we integrate environmental,
social and governance factors.
About iA financial group
iA Financial Group is one of the largest insurance and wealth
management groups in Canada, with
operations in the United States.
Founded in 1892, it is an important Canadian public company and is
listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol IAG
(common shares).
iA Financial Group is a business name and trademark of iA
Financial Corporation Inc. and Industrial Alliance Insurance
and Financial Services Inc.
SOURCE iA Financial Group