Corporate Partners

The Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence is proud to have as partners four 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, share their innovative teaching practices and, as a result, benefit students across the country by providing models of excellence.

Bell Canada supports many programs that focus on education and youth, including Canada's SchoolNet, Expo Science, the Chemistry and Physics Olympiad, the Canada-Wide Science Fair and the Youth Science Foundation. Bell Canada also supports the National History Awards for teachers, and has helped produce on-line educational resources and provided free copies of a CD-ROM about Alexander Graham Bell to schools in Ontario and Quebec. In addition, Bell Canada invests more than $3 million per year in research at universities in Ontario and Quebec, thus dedicating a total of more than $5.1 million to the field of education annually.

GE attaches high priority to education. Through its charitable foundation, the GE Fund, the company supports many worthwhile educational initiatives, including the granting of more than 100 Student and Teacher Achievement and Recognition (STAR) and 60 Award for Career Education (ACE) scholarships to U.S. and Canadian students. Also, the GE Fund now supports a special scholarship program for Canadian Aboriginal students. With more than 38 000 members, 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 Career Edge, a national youth internship program.

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 programmes, 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.

The Royal Bank Financial Group believes in helping students make a smooth transition from the classroom to the workforce. The Royal Bank's major investments in this regard include Career Edge, designed to give recent graduates practical work experience; SHAD International, which introduces students to entrepreneurship, information technology, science and engineering; and the Conference Board of Canada's Royal Bank National Partners in Education Awards. The Group also supports the Queen's University National Teaching Fellowships in Education and has awarded more than $48 million to educational organizations over the past 20 years.