For Immediate Release | December 10, 2020

New partnerships will support communities dealing with the fallout from COVID-19

TORONTO, ON – As the next step in its fast-evolving social impact journey, Green Shield Canada (GSC) is pleased to announce $4 million of funding to six new Community Foundation partnerships. These new partnerships – with Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation, Ottawa Community Foundation, Foundation of Greater Montreal, Toronto Foundation, Fondation Quebec Philanthrope, and Haida Gwaii Community Foundation – double GSC’s network across Canada to 12 Community Foundations and a total of $10 million of funding.

As with the $6 million that GSC invested in six Community Foundations in 2018 to celebrate the organization’s 60-year history of social impact and charitable giving, this latest funding will be primarily directed to community programs aimed at improving access to oral and mental health care – the two core focus areas of GSC’s Social Impact Program. GSC and Community Foundations will now also consider the impact of COVID-19 and look to bring an equity lens to the granting process.

GSC’s support delivered through Community Foundations has already made a positive impact in the lives of over 15,000 Canadians.

And in recognition of Sherry Peister, GSC’s recently retired Chair of its Board of Directors who lives in Waterloo Region, the $500,000 grant to Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation is being made in Sherry’s name. This grant is inclusive of a $200,000 permanent endowment fund that will be named the GSC Sherry Peister Community Impact Fund.

Last, as part of its ongoing efforts to help build more equitable and inclusive communities, GSC is making contributions totaling over $200,000 to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on specific segments of the population, and tackle broader gender equality and racial justice issues, including three national funds:

• The Black Opportunity Fund, hosted by the Toronto Foundation

• The Fund for Gender Equality, hosted by Community Foundations of Canada

• The Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund, hosted by Community Foundations of Canada

“2020 has been an incredibly challenging year and our communities need support, now more than ever,” explains Zahid Salman, GSC’s President and CEO. “Community Foundations have proven themselves as effective partners in identifying local needs and priorities, which is why we’re so excited to expand this partnership and have an even bigger impact in the years to come.”

This announcement follows GSC’s late-November launch of a $6.15 million partnership with the University of Toronto to create a new dental clinic and the largest-ever oral health research program in Canadian history.

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For more information:

Deb Quinn
spPR Inc.
647-985-7162
debquinn@sppublicrelations.com

Anne Lavender
Executive Director, Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation
519-624-8972
alavender@cndcf.org

About Green Shield Canada

GSC is Canada’s fourth-largest health and dental benefits provider, and is uniquely structured as a social enterprise with the purpose of making it easier for people to live their healthiest lives. From coast-to-coast, ourservicedeliveryincludesdrug,dental,extendedhealthcare,vision,hospital,andtravelbenefitsforgroups and individuals, as well as administration and benefits management services. Supported by outcomes-based sustainability strategies, advanced technology, and exceptional customer service, GSC creates innovative programs for nearly four million plan participants nationwide. greenshield.ca

About Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation

We make it our business to know our community and to share what we know. We build and manage endowment funds for a stronger community today and tomorrow. Our difference is forever. Working together and partnering with local organizations and caring citizens, we provide grants to worthy local causes. Our goal is to support a wide range of initiatives which sustain and improve the quality of life in Cambridge & North Dumfries.

www.cndfoundation.org