iA Financial Group has announced this year’s winners of its annual philanthropic contest – with four charity organization winners set to each receive a donation of $100,000.
2021’s contest kicked off last September and is the fifth iteration of the annual competition since iA Financial first started the tradition in 2017 to mark its 125th anniversary. Charities were invited to register for the contest, which asked the participants the question, "What would you do with a donation of $100,000?" The public was then invited to vote for the most inspiring submission until November 29.
The nominated charities that received the greatest number of votes per region will be given $100,000, while the remaining finalists will each receive $10,000.
This year the winners are La Bouchée généreuse of Quebec City (QC), the Teach for Canada Foundation of Toronto (ON), the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation of Winnipeg (MB) and the Kids Eat Smart Foundation of St. John's (NL).
In addition to rewarding the winners and finalists, iA Financial announced that it was also giving away a surprise donation of an additional $100,000, to be distributed among the 12 other charities that just missed becoming contest finalists. In total, iA Financial will be donating $600,000 to 24 Canadian charities this year.
On top of the $100,000 they each received, the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, the Bouchée généreuse, and the Kids Eat Smart Foundation also received another $5,000 from iA Financial Group’s employees, who were also called to vote for their favourite charity. For the Ontario region, iA Financial Group employees chose Autism in Mind Children's Charity.
"We are very pleased to make a concrete contribution to the well-being and health of young Canadians through this contest,” said iA Financial Group president and CEO Denis Ricard. “I would like to acknowledge the work done by all participants and congratulate the winners. I would also like to thank everyone who took the time to vote. Your gesture makes a big difference.”
