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Since 1996, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada has been fortunate to have our National Convention hosted at BMO Financial Group’s fabulous Institute for Learning in Toronto. This exceptional training facility meets our needs each year, providing representatives of the Big Brother Big Sister movement from across Canada with a place to gather, learn and share in a top-notch training and accommodation facility.

In 2002, a tree was planted in the courtyard at the Institute for Learning as part of our National Convention’s Opening Ceremonies to thank BMO Financial Group for its support.

In 2007, BMO Financial Group increased its level of support by providing training opportunities for the national staff of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada.

Additionally, in 2011 BMO Financial Group announced a remarkable three year commitment valued at a total of $750,000 in support of our Go Girls! And Game On group mentoring programs across the country.

Each year the CIBC Youthvision Scholarship program commits more than $1 million to make post-secondary education dreams a reality for youth-in need, ultimately helping to break the cycle of poverty in their family. Since the inception of the program in 1998, 500 lives have been changed thanks to CIBC’s commitment to kids.

Over 200 Grade 10 students enrolled in a mentoring program with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada or the YMCA annually apply for the CIBC Youthvision Scholarship program, of which 30 are selected to receive $38,500 in combined work placements and tuition. The winners receive six summer internships through the YMCA that begin right after Grade 10 and a $4,000 annual contribution towards tuition for four years. They continue to receive ongoing mentoring from either Big Brothers Big Sisters or the YMCA until they graduate from their post-secondary education.

Leading up to the 2015 Pan-Am games, CIBC added three additional scholarships to support young, starting athletes.

CIBC’s flagship education program, CIBC Youthvision™, has been recognized by Imagine Canada as being an outstanding partnership between the business and voluntary sectors.

In 2009, Manulife in Canada selected Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada as the company’s charity of choice, to help address the shortage of youth mentors across the country. To address the challenge, Standard Life dedicated substantial financial support to develop and launch a fundraising and recruitment campaign. Beyond financial support, the company mobilized its employee and stakeholder networks to advance the cause of youth mentoring, by encouraging them to become a mentor volunteer or a donor, or to help raise funds for the campaign.

The campaign provides Big Brothers Big Sisters with a way to build the public’s awareness of the need for volunteers and the many benefits that make mentoring youth personally rewarding.

In 2013, Manulife renewed their commitment to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada by announcing a contribution of over 1 million dollars over the next five years to promote the need for volunteer mentors. To date, Manulife has donated over 1 million dollars resulting in the recruitment of more than 2,500 new mentors across Canada.

RBC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of RBC Financial Group, has generously supported Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada as well as many of our local agencies for several years.

In 2013 RBC Foundation announced a three-year commitment to assist in the development of a new program for newcomer Canadian youth called “Conversation Club”.  The program was originally created by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel.

Conversation Club gently invites youth of many origins to participate in a comfortable, tolerant atmosphere where subjects of importance – even sensitive topics that cannot be discussed easily at home – can be discussed openly.  Naturalized ‘mentors’ are carefully matched together with newcomer youth, and the result is an inclusive, and powerfully non-judgmental group mentorship program.

Together with critical founding support from the RBC Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada has partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peel, to study and develop their program such that it may be brought forward for the benefit of other agencies across Canada.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada is proud of our partnership with RBC Foundation and its tremendous support of youth mentoring.

Boston Pizza believes that strong role models inspire kids to be great. That’s why The Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects program supports Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Kids Help Phone and other programs that help to engage youth in communities across the country. For over 20 years The Boston Pizza Foundation, through the generosity of its guests, employees, franchisees and founders, has been committed to giving back to the community.

In 2011 the Boston Pizza Foundation identified an opportunity to take the good intention of giving back to the community and align its philanthropic and charitable contributions with the core Boston Pizza business story and purpose by focusing on Role Modeling and Mentoring. As a result, in 2013, The Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects program was launched.

Over the next five years, The Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects program will donate 1.5 million dollars to help Big Brothers Big Sisters extend and expand mentoring services in new communities and to youth that do not currently have access to the program.

In recent years Big Brothers Big Sisters has been particularly focused on mentoring Canada’s increasingly diverse communities, including newcomer youth. In 2013, Citizenship and Immigration Canada entered into a three year partnership contributing one million five hundred and eighty thousand dollars to assist Big Brothers Big Sisters in providing mentoring services to newcomer youth. As a result of this funding, five Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies are participating in the Connections Project, a program that recognizes the value of connecting newcomer youth to Canadian mentors, with the goal of supporting the settlement process through mentoring relationships.

The Ontario Ministry of Education’s Student Success/Learning to 18 Strategy has made a significant impact on school-based mentoring programs in Ontario since 2008, and has allowed many children the opportunity to access services often not readily available to them.

This partnership has also raised awareness in communities and heightened demand for programs in the province.

Through its signature community investment program, WestJet Cares for Kids, WestJet is committed to positively impacting the health and well-being of children and youth, providing Big Brothers Big Sisters with the gift of flight in support of a wide spectrum of activities.  Some of these activities include fundraising, business administration and direct service delivery.

In 2009, we expanded the use of flights to include direct service to kids, facilitating “Go Girls” camps in conjunction with Tim Horton Children’s Camps.

In December of 2011, WestJet confirmed incredible news; a three-year commitment and an INCREASE in their overall support of Big Brothers Big Sisters! This increase has resulted in every agency in Canada receiving at least one gift of flight voucher to assist with their local fundraising efforts!

WestJet continues to go above and beyond in their support of Big Brothers Big Sisters.  In 2012, to mark their new service LaGuardia Airport in New York, WestJet flew twenty youths and their Big Brothers and Big Sisters to the Big Apple for an incredible once-in-a-lifetime adventure.

In 2013, WestJet provided additional support to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada’s Youth Leadership Summit in Ottawa. The event coincided with Big Brothers Big Sisters 100-year anniversary and gathered 100 former Little Brothers and Little Sisters from across Canada for learning and teaching.  WestJet even added a very special touch to the event by surprising the attending youth with a concert by Kardinal Offishall and Karl Wolf!

Thank you WestJet for making dreams come true for our kids!

The campaign provides Big Brothers Big Sisters with a way to build the public’s awareness of the need for volunteers and the many benefits that make mentoring youth personally rewarding.

In 2013, Manulife renewed their commitment to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada by announcing a contribution of over 1 million dollars over the next five years to promote the need for volunteer mentors. To date, Manulife has donated over 1 million dollars resulting in the recruitment of more than 2,500 new mentors across Canada.