Corporate Partners
The Prime Minister's Awards program is proud to have as partners six corporations that understand the vital role teachers play in preparing students for the challenges of our changing society and knowledge-based economy. These corporations have all made a strong commitment to education, as outlined below. Their continued support of the Prime Minister's Awards has enabled the program to honour hundreds of outstanding teachers, to share their innovative teaching practices and, in this way, benefit students across the country with their models of excellence.
Bell Canada supports many programs that focus on education and youth, including Canada's SchoolNet, the Great Canadian Geography Challenge, Expo Science, the Chemistry and Physics Olympiad, and the Youth Science Foundation. Bell Canada also supports the National History Awards for teachers. In addition, Bell Canada invests more than $3 million per year to support research at universities in Ontario and Quebec for a total of more than $5.1 million dedicated to the field of education annually.
GE's employee volunteer organization, Elfun, helps students with an education outreach program that includes workshops, contests, mentorships and assistance in areas such as career awareness and college selection. GE Canada has also recruited more than 100 interns into many of its businesses Canada-wide through the Career Edge National Youth Internship Program. As well, through the GE Fund, GE awards more than 100 Student and Teacher Achievement and Recognition (STAR) awards and 60 Awards for Career Education (ACE) to children in Canada and the U.S.
Kraft Canada is committed to supporting national programs that recognize the importance of learning and that foster better education for Canadians. Along with its sponsorship of school breakfast programs, Kraft Canada is a major sponsor of Protect our Planet, a national magazine for grade school students, and Ben Wicks' series of Born to Read books promoting literacy. Kraft is also a leader in promoting an understanding of the link between nutrition and learning.
Royal Bank Financial Group (RBFG) believes in helping students make a smooth transition from the classroom to the workforce. RBFG's major investments in this regard include Career Edge, designed to give recent graduates practical work experience and SHAD International, which introduces students to entrepreneurship, information technology, science and engineering. Royal Bank's After-School Grants Program, as well as the Canadian Living Foundation's Breakfast for Learning program and Junior Achievement's "The Economics of Staying in School," are just a few of the hundreds of initiatives supported by RBFG that help young Canadians realize their potential, many dedicated to keeping kids in school. Each year, about one quarter of RBFG's charitable donations are invested in education, more than $6 million in 2000. Over the past five years, RBFG has given more than $25 million to support education.
Launched September 1, 1999, and available to more than 2.2 million Canadian homes via cable and satellite, Canadian Learning Television - Television That Teaches, is Canada's first 24-hour, English-language National Adult Education Station, offering Canadians flexible, affordable access to accredited learning opportunities, including university and college credit courses, personal development, training and job opportunities.
Through its commitment to education, Microsoft Canada provides teachers with the tools and resources for a connected learning community. To date, Microsoft has supported the training of more than one million teachers worldwide through relationships with universities, colleges and departments of education, provision of tools and resources for educators, and grants in support of professional development initiatives. Through numerous initiatives and teacher training programs, teachers now have access to software tutorials, shared lesson plan ideas, on-line seminars on key topics such as managing technology in the classroom, and links to Web resources.