Employee Giving Program

One of the primary functions of the Charitable Office is to instill and encourage altruism in our staff. This mandate led to the development of the Payroll Participation Program in 1999, which operates for a full fiscal year (January 1 to December 31).

Each year, three registered Canadian charities, whose funds raised are distributed within Canada, are selected. The company matches the donations made by the staff dollar for dollar. Participation in this program is 100% voluntary.

2019 marks the 20th anniversary of this program!

MusiCounts: Band Aid Program

MusiCounts: Band Aid Program

Music education makes students smarter and helps develop positive self-esteem and communication skills. In Canada music education is endangered, and students are missing out on the value of learning and creating music. MusiCounts is Canada’s music education charity. The MusiCounts Band Aid Program provides instruments and equipment to school music programs in Canada that are in need of instruments to ensure their sustained growth.
Visit musicounts.ca for more information.
MusiCounts: Band Aid Program

Wounded Warriors Canada: PTSD Service Dog Program

Wounded Warriors Canada: PTSD Service Dog Program

Wounded Warriors Canada is a national mental health charity whose mission is to honour and support Canada’s ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members, Veterans, First Responders and their families. The organization provides a wide range of programs and services for individual members and families affected by Operational Stress Injuries such as their PTSD Service Dog program. Properly trained PTSD Service Dogs can and do change and save lives. With your support, they can work towards their goal that no qualifying Veteran or First Responder ever waits to receive this life-changing experience they so rightly deserve.
Visit woundedwarriors.ca for more information.
Wounded Warriors Canada: PTSD Service Dog Program

University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre: Buckfast Breeding Program

University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre: Buckfast Breeding Program

Over the past decade, threats including pathogens, the loss of critical bee habitat, pesticide exposure and colony collapse disorder have thrown both commercially managed bees and some of their wild cousins into a downward spiral. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, 90% of the world’s food supply comes from about 100 crop species, 71 of which rely on bees for pollination. In response to this crisis, the University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre has developed their Buckfast Breeding Program. Buckfast bees are highly resistant to the bee parasite Acarapis woodi, which blocks oxygen flow in the spiracles of bees which can cause devastating colony loss. Buckfast bees are bred for calmness, low tendency to swarm, non-aggressive behaviour and high honey production.
Visit uoguelph.ca for more information.
University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre: Buckfast Breeding Program