We’re delighted to share some of the great initiatives happening across the country. If your Charter has a highlight to share, please reach out to Angela.
JA British Columbia – JA Company Program for Indigenous Learners
A new conference to inspire high school students (aged 13 to 18) took place at the Halifax Convention Centre on April 15th. Throughout the day JANS hosted an education table in the Fun and Knowledge Hub based off our It’s My Future (IMF) program. Over 200 students visited to learn what a “personal brand” was, and what it could include. The students then undertook an exercise, in our IMF Passport and work boards, to determine what their own personal brand might be.
JA Manitoba – Media at Annual Trade Fair
In March, JA Manitoba participated in their annual trade fair. 221 students from 11 JA Company Program teams participated in the event as they set up booths to share details about their company and sell their products. Learn more through the media pickups of the event:
JA Central Ontario – JA Company Program Trade Show
In March, JA Central Ontario hosted their annual Trade Show Downtown Toronto. 29 JA Company Program teams set up booths to showcase their company and make sales. Teams were prepared, as volunteer judges scored the booths for the best sales pitch and best booth aesthetics.Student teams were successful with their sales, and collectively they sold more than 800 products totalling over $8,700 in sales.
Photo credit: Leah Meddaoui
JA Nova Scotia – Halifax’s Buy Local Event & Uncover Your Essence
Each year the Halifax Convention Centre hosts a Welcome Weekend event encouraging people to learn about local businesses and charities. JANS was honoured to be there with a special activity for the families to help start the financial health conversation with their children. On March 23rd the team worked with young people (youth between 3 and 12) to talk about the difference between a Want and a Need, then they each shared one item they wanted and one item they needed, posting it to our program board.
A new conference to inspire high school students (aged 13 to 18) took place at the Halifax Convention Centre on April 15th. Throughout the day JANS hosted an education table in the Fun and Knowledge Hub based off our It’s My Future (IMF) program. Over 200 students visited to learn what a “personal brand” was, and what it could include. The students then undertook an exercise, in our IMF Passport and work boards, to determine what their own personal brand might be.
JA New Brunswick – Many Initiativeson the Go
Saltwinds
It was a proud moment for JANB to present Co-Founder & COO of Saltwinds Coffee Company, Dr. Laura Richard, with her Junior Achievement NB Alumni Pin. The JA team had a fantastic tour of the Saltwind’s Roastery and had the pleasure of meeting “Bernadette,” Saltwinds amazing coffee roaster. Congratulations to Laura and Saltwinds Coffee Company for their steady growth and expansion! JANB applauds their efforts, and wishes continued success in the coffee market! Saltwinds Coffee is proof that “Success Starts Here!”
Career Life Plan
Beginning June 2026, high school students in New Brunswick are required to complete a Career Life Plan as a graduation pre-requisite. The Career Life Plan consists of 11 requirements every student must complete to qualify for the minimum standards for graduation. Junior Achievement’s current programs meet 9 of these 11 requirements. Junior Achievement New Brunswick has been working closely with administrators in the education system and JA program information has been added to the Career Life Plan Administrative Guide as a trusted resource! JANB looks forward to supporting teachers and students with their important and crucial initiative.
FUB
Congratulations to Cocoa for a Cause, our JANB Company Program 2024-2025 Company of the Year! As we wrap up this school year’s company program, we are incredibly grateful to everyone who volunteered their time and supported the JANB Company Program.
With the commitment we receive from mentors that volunteer their evenings every week, for 18 weeks and to the businesses that support this program, JANB provides students with valuable insight into the world of entrepreneurship and provides them with the tools they need to be successful in their futures as leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs!
What’s New
2025 Royden Richardson National JA Volunteer Awards
Thank you to everyone who submitted nominations for this year’s volunteer awards. There were many excellent candidates, making it a difficult task for our judges to choose! During National Volunteer Week, the winners were announced
Program Volunteers:
Brian McArthur, JA British Columbia
Bryan Khan, JA Quebec
Governance/Administration Volunteer:
Sean Munro, JA Canada
Implementation & Impact Updates
Our Collective Impact
Everything you do has an effect and impact! Let’s track it!
IPS
Current (Q1-Q3)
F25 Projected
F24
Growth!
Inspire
114,312
142,415*
153,446
TBC
Prepare
185,335
287,191
281,592
1.99%
Succeed
15,400
18,116
10,522
72.17%
*F25 projected inspire does not include February – June open access. These will be added in May and July.
We are very proud of our Q3 results! Thank you to all charters for working closely with us to track, report and review your Inspire Prepare and Succeed data to March 31, 2025. We are immensely proud that with projections till end of June, 2025 we are set to grow in our Prepare and Succeed categories and Inspire is pending. This displays deep empowerment across our network particularly in Succeed experiences which are projected to grow the highest. Thank you to everyone who makes our impact possible. Our inspire numbers do not include open access from March 01 to June 31, 2025 so we may even see a higher growth rate at end of year! Congratulations to all!
We will be hosting an internal reporting/debrief session on May 29th noon EDT and would encourage all to attend to learn more about our amazing impact and how you can support our tracking and reporting efforts for year-end F25!
Tracking Deliverables and Associated Targets
To support implementation across our network for F26, we are testing reporting for using our CRM! Please see Salesforce report example here and sample screenshot below. Not to worry Teams!
We have created reports for every charter that include the details in the matrix – and you can find yours in the public folders – Implementation titled Matrix Reporting – JA ‘Amazing Team’. You are welcome to include your local accounts reporting in this format as well! Contact DK and we can work through it together. We have created one engagement plan template per National Partner and it would be easy to clone and edit to customize to meet local contracts and deliverables reporting.
Don’t worry, DK will work with your charters to conduct reporting in formats we are comfortable with and have identified and DK will commit to keeping the CRM reports up to date wherever possible. We are looking for feedback, efficiency and effectiveness to prepare and implement in F26.
Data Storytelling
People hear statistics, but they feel stories.
So how do we transform our local statistics, data, growth and impact into stories that translate into funding and support?
We are working on templates and key messaging examples for you! It should be ready and can be previewed at our internal reporting session. So come join us!
Meanwhile, check out this website that was shared at GLC 2025 – https://www.oneja.org/messaging for messaging by pillars and by stakeholders that you may find interesting! Thank you for being the life behind our impact and for all you do!
Through Q4 and next fiscal Q1 we’ll be working to consolidate survey feedback for National programs and map the results to key outcome statements as noted in the illustration below. The results of this will be shared with charters to leverage for proposal, impact reports, annual reports and other promotional resources as appropriate.
Community Mapping
As part of our continued strategic priority to reach and engage underserved communities we are excited to continue our Community Mapping work. This summer our consultant Allen will work with the charters and the National team to assess the F25 reach and develop National and customized local reports that can be leveraged for insights, fundraising and communicating impact. Thank you to those of you that have confirmed your availability and interest, if you are still interested but not yet confirmed please contact Jen by May 15th.
Program Updates
As we know JA Company Program teams are wrapping up and now is a good time to think about nominations for Company of the Year. Nominations are now open and available in the JA Company Program section of the Program Resource Toolkit. Nominations will be accepted until Friday, June 13th.Charters can nominate one team per category (for a total of up to 3 teams):
Manufacturing/Retail
Social Enterprise
Technology
Teams will know by the end of June if they’re advancing to one of the category sessions on July 8, 9 or 10. The live event with finalists will be on July 17th.
Thank you for completing the recent programs survey. As summer approaches your input, along with research and CAPE evaluation feedback, has helped inform the program development/enhancement initiatives we will be prioritizing for F26.
Enhancements to Existing Classroom Presentations
We are appreciative for the feedback you’ve shared throughout the year on the digital classroom presentations. It’s been very positive and we will continue with improvements to the existing classroom presentations. Note that these presentations include facilitator notes and are updated to align with any changes made to the print materials so you will need to utilize them in F26. Facilitator guides will not be included in the kits for all programs that have updated digital classroom presentations. If you have suggestions or edits (spelling mistakes, navigation issues, enhancements to current activities/slides) you would like to share with us, please send them to Emily.
New Development – Digital Classroom Presentations and Self-Directed
Digital Classroom Presentations
We have identified the following digital classroom presentations to be developed over the summer:
Our Business World (FR)
Personal Finance (FR)
Be Entrepreneurial (FR)
A Business of Our Own (EN) – Pending content enhancements, French to follow
Self-Directed Program Redesign
We will also be focusing on a redesign for self-directed programs. The redesign is intended to address some of the current challenges, including progress tracking issues, navigation and general user experience issues.
Self-directed programs will continue to follow the same learning topics as the related classroom program, but will be created as distinct digital learning experiences designed specifically for individual learners.
Some features/enhancements will include:
Condensed modular learning with simplified outcomes
Lighter content – 30 minutes or less per lesson/module
Simplified, user-friendly UX/UI
Enhanced learner experience – scenario-based learning, gamified and personalized elements
Enhanced teacher experience – improved progress tracking, teacher guide to support learning experience
The following self-directed programs have been identified as top priorities in the most recent charter survey:
Be Entrepreneurial
Dollars with Sense
Personal Finance
If you have feedback on the current self-directed experience or suggestions for enhancements that may help to inform the redesign, please share with Emily!
As we continue work on the Entrepreneurship Revitalization initiative, we are working with SMEs and our internal teams to identify the key concepts JA should be teaching about free enterprise and the Canadian economy’s role in fostering business opportunities. This essential work will help ensure that the next generation gains a comprehensive understanding of Canada’s free enterprise system, its advantages, and the potential pathways to entrepreneurship and business careers.
Do you know an economic subject matter expert in post-secondary education or industry that would be interested in providing input? We are actively recruiting 5-10 SMEs to provide input through a survey and 1:1 interview between March – June. SMEs will be provided an honorarium for their time.
If you have someone in your network for this opportunity, please contact Jen for more information.
A Business of Our Own
Thank you to those who joined the ideation session on April 25th to discuss enhancements to the A Business of Our Own program. We appreciate your valuable insight and perspectives that will help inform enhancements to the program.
The JACAN team is working to further consolidate the feedback and ideation from the session and we look forward to sharing more at the next Programs Community of Practice meeting.
Bizcraft
As part of the Entrepreneurship Revitalization Project and ABOO enhancements, we are also making updates to the Bizcraft simulation.
Be Entrepreneurial with the JA Inspiration Toolkit
Try the new BE classroom resource kit and share your feedback! The JA Inspiration Toolkit (formerly known as the Fun Kit) is available to order on Marketplace.
The JA Inspiration Toolkit Includes:
JA Journals
Ja pen/highlighter
JA sticker sheet
Pitch Deck game
The JA Inspiration Toolkit is intended to be used in combination with the adapted Be Entrepreneurial digital classroom presentation. This presentation features light enhancements, including refreshed video content and the Pitch Deck game. Please connect with Emily for direct enrollment in the course and access to the adapted presentation.
Whether you deliver using the new materials or simply want to review them, we would love to hear your feedback! If there is another program you think a JA Inspiration Toolkit would work well for, please share your suggestions.
Progress continues with the Investment Strategies Program redesign! We thank the SME’s and the ISP Working Group for their continued input and feedback to help inform the development of the new program resources.
Priorities for Development Include:
ISP presentation/course updated design (modular format – eight 30–45-minute lessons)
Enhanced/new video resources
Enhanced/new resources to support financial literacy and investing skills, including ethical investing and savings, investment vehicles, risk tolerance and ways to manage risk, etc.
Enhanced/new student activities
Integration of key concepts into Stock Market Challenge simulation
Development is expected to be completed by the end of August for F26 release and pilot.
The RD team is also working to secure funding for scaling ISP in Charters who currently deliver the program and to launch in Charters who do not presently deliver ISP- including Quebec and Atlantic.
Review of the newly designed JA Company Program content and resources from JAW is underway.
The content is currently available for Charter staff review on Campus and includes the following resources and materials:
Student and facilitator guides
Pre-requisite session videos
Six master-class tracks
Facilitator videos
Session videos
Student activities
Assessment rubrics
We have received access to the video content and have extended the review period until the end of May. Please connect with Emily or Jen to be enrolled via JA Campus to review the content.
Following the review period, the CP Working Group will work to determine how elements of the new content can be adapted and/or integrated into the existing Company Program materials for F26 release. If you are interested in piloting any of the new content in F25, or have feedback to share, please let us know.
Thank you to the CP working group who continue to support the development of these initiatives.
Charters represented in the Working Group include:
JA Company Program (In-School) Curriculum Alignment
Following the assessment of the new JAW content, the JA Company Program (In-School) curriculum alignment will be finalized and released by the end of June.
We have been continuing to ensure JA’s learning experiences are developed in alignment with the CAPE standards and have completed some additional evaluations of existing programs. To help build our network of available educator, volunteer and student evaluators we have added information and a sign up form in the top sections of the teacher and volunteer pages on JA Campus. Please share this with anyone in your network that may be interested!
We have two opportunities to support the post-program learning pathways for WOC and Summit students this year.
Career Planning Challenge
Nadine has developed a career planning challenge where students complete three quizzes to identify potential careers in trades. Quizzes assess their interests, favourite school subjects and skills. They will then have the opportunity to participate in our challenge with the opportunity to win one of 5 $100 prizes. This will be featured on the Career Exploration Landing page and available later in May.
Skilled Trades Expo – June 6th
We will be hosting our first ever Skilled Trades Expo on June 6th from 8am-8pm EDT. Students will have the opportunity to join different sessions where they can learn what a day in the life of a tradesperson looks like, hear from College Professors on trending and in demand jobs, and learn about how they can access grants and scholarships to support their training and education in trades. All sessions will be available on demand in the Career Exploration Centre after. Participation is not limited to students have attended a WOC or Summit event so share this with all high school teachers and students in your network: https://jatradesexpo.vfairs.com/en/.
We are excited to share that we have established an Alumni taskforce to assist with drafting an alumni framework and plan for Canada to foster lifelong engagement, support networking opportunities, enhance fundraising efforts, and enrich JA learning experiences. The taskforce includes alumni representing each of our regions who have been actively engaged as Youth Advisors for the past three years.
Sofia Lopez, JABC
Mikaila Cober, JACO and JA Ottawa
Rachel Bruce, JAPEI
You can check out their profiles here https://jacanada.org/youth-advisors/. The taskforce has developed a survey and will hosting a focus group to learn more about the local alumni activities and priorities. A meeting invite will follow later in May for June 19th.
Digital Updates
Salesforce Release 2.2
April 22nd saw the release of our Salesforce instance 2.2, which includes a number of quality-of-life enhancements. While there are too many to list here, the Release Notes in the CRM Central course on JA Campus has a comprehensive list. Direct Link.
Early May also saw the re-syncing of our Salesforce DEV and UAT sites, such that they are now mirrors of our PROD site. This sort of re-syncing is required periodically to ensure that our DEV environments don’t stray too far from PROD after testing various updates. The next release is scheduled for April 22, 2025.
Moodle (JA Campus) Updates Under Way
As part of our preparation for Fall of F26, we are in the process of upgrading Moodle, the LMS that makes up the core of our JA Campus. We’ll be moving from Moodle 4.0 to 4.5, which includes several improvements, including the ability to track and store progress within individual H5P activities. This is a function that was removed from our programs through consensus during initial releases, but that has been re-requested and which we are happy to re-implement.
JA Campus Staff Tools
Friendly reminder that the JA Campus, while primarily serving as the core of our Student platform, also includes numerous Staff Tools that are open to all. These include:
All these tools are managed by JA Canada and ensure your data remains private, unlike some free cloud solutions that monetize data to provide free services. Access to these tools requires some configuration on our end, so if you’re interested in a demo or in accessing any of the above tools, please open a Support Ticket and we can get the process started.
Marketing Updates
New Videos Added
In the Marketing Toolkit a few new videos using the Garcia Creative have been added to the video section:
JA Company Program Testimonial video (F24 participants from JA BC)
The inspire (bite-sized learning) sellsheet has been updated. In April, we added a video landing page with some of the videos that can count as inspire experiences. The updated Canva template is on the Marketing Toolkit, or can be accessed here.
Sellsheets for F26
Over the summer we will be updating the sellsheets for F26. We’ll be reaching out via Marketing CoP to get some feedback on edits and recommendations we should consider. More details to come, but did want to share that this is feedback we’ll be looking for.
Finance & Admin Updates
Finance & Admin Reminder
There are many staff resources available on the JA Campus and in the Finance & Admin Toolkit there. If you or a colleague would like access, please contact Vanessa.
Staff Onboarding courses (JA global perspective and JA in Canada)
Strategic planning toolkit
Risk Management tools and templates
Information about the National insurance plans (General/Liability/D&O/Cyber as well as the National benefits plan)
Cybersecurity Training
Information on IT resources, cloud accounting, EDI&A and more!
We also have a Community of Practice that meets quarterly on various topics!
New Partner Spotlight: Enterprise Mobility – ROAD Forward Initiative
JA Canada is thrilled to join Enterprise Mobility’s ROAD Forward Initiative as a Key Partner. With a commitment of $3.0 Million over six years (2025- 20230), JA Canada will expand its efforts to prepare youth for post-secondary education and the future of work across the country.
The funding will be directed to support program enablement and program delivery of highest in-demand career readiness, post-secondary preparation and youth well-being classroom-based programs and events in all provinces across Canada, directly providing +75,000 student learning experiences.
Enterprise’s funding will support three suites of programs:
Digital learning & self-directed careers and post-secondary learning. JA Career Exploration Center, Your Post-secondary questions answered modules, Scam Smarts Modules.
Classroom-based career readiness programs such as Economics for Success, Success Skills, Our Business World, Be Entrepreneurial and More than Money.
Intensive Career Readiness & Well-Being Learning Experiences, After-School Programs, Events and Summits such as JA Company Program, Success Skills and Mental Well-Being Summits, and Skilled Trades Summits.
RBC & Imperial Supported Skilled Trades Summits Hosted at Colleges and Institutes of Canada
This is the third year of World of Choices Skilled Trades summits. We are excited about the spring roster of events and appreciate the collaboration of all Charters in planning!
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Coke Canada Supported Pouring Potential JA Job Shadow Events Hosted at Coca Cola Local Bottling
Pouring Potential: A JA Job Shadow Experience at Coke Canada offers youth with a unique job shadowing experience. These custom-designed events at select local Coke Canada facilities offer students an immersive opportunity to gain insights into the industry, develop career skills, and learn directly from professionals in the field.
We are pleased that the first two inaugural Job Shadow events will take place in May. We are grateful to Charters and to the National Programs team for the work on developing an amazing event and learning plan for these impactful truly immersive events.
Plans are already shaping up for an additional four events in the fall hosted by Southern Alberta, South Western Ontario, and hopefully Central Ontario.
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Z Zurich Foundation Supported Mental Well-Being Summits & National Camp
This is the third year of our partnership with Z Zurich Foundation Improving Mental Well-Being pillar, which supports introductory learning on mental well-being (Mental Well-Being webinars, a resource portal, and Youth Challenge), classroom-based interactive program- JA Success Skills, a compliment to Company Program supporting entrepreneurship resiliency the Resiliency Journal, and experiential learning events (Summits and Camp).
Building on the success of regional summits hosted by JACO and JABC in earlier years, this spring we are tremendously excited about the upcoming multi-day JA Camp Success, hosted by JACO which will bring together 120 students from coast to coast, made possible by Z Zurich, as well as three regional single day summits hosted by JABC and inaugural summits in JANB, and JAQC!
F25 National Account Renewal Updates
All F25 specific national account renewals were confirmed by the end of the quarter.
Avanade
Successfully renewed in partnership with JAWW. Charters have pre-emptively been activating Avanade as World of Choices partner, helping to fuel the incredible reach and impact of WOC. Due to FX rate the anticipated payment has been modestly adjusted. Funding will be provided at the next payout period.
We are looking for opportunities to scale and extend Avanade sponsored impact and volunteer engagement through the summer. Thank you to the Charters who have shared their plans with us- we look forward to providing an update on summer sponsorship by the end of May.
Amazon
Pending final confirmation of Amazon Canada’s social impact budget and donation allocation for JA Canada. Our proposal will see ongoing support for World of Choices, TechWorks, and select classroom-based program delivery during Calendar Year 2025. We anticipate confirmation within the next month. Stay tuned!
National Accounts Deliverables and Tracking
Massive congratulations for everyone for supporting us on National accounts deliverables, recognition and targets. We look forward to continued reporting and tracking through the end of Q4. Across the board, we are tracking at 46% completion against all national accounts (including the new additions) with some heavy deliverables – events and summits, yet to occur.
F25 National Account Matrix
We will continue to share the updated matrix with progress notes each month. Let us know if there are any questions from the latest matrix release earlier this month.
Closing Out F25 Deliverables – Help Needed!
Fulfilling Measurement and Evaluation Deliverables– surveys are critically important not only for our internal network and Programs team to more fully understand the learning outcomes and feedback of our participants, to serve as a proof point and ladder up to our Theory of Change, but they are critical to fulfill program deliverables and report to our donors on the greater impact than just reach. We kindly ask that all Charters make a strong push for survey collection during this last quarter and promptly provide their survey responses in the tracker/ submit to Durga. This data is crucial to our national account partner reporting (due July) in order to confirm support for F26. Funding based on national account completion will only be released over the next months to those who have fully met the survey target deliverable and/or the balance of “earned funding” will be paid in June.
Post Program Pathways to Trades: We need your collaboration to meet the goals/ deliverables associated with our RBC Foundation grant focused on career readiness and skilled trades pathways. Our goals are two-fold:
Engage students from WOC & Skilled Trades Summits in 2500 additional trades specific learning experiences (LX)
Identify 500 student over 2yrs that are actively pursuing skilled trades pathways
On April 8th an email was sent to Charters providing an update on avenues/ options for Skilled Trades post program/ ongoing learning towards our goal, sponsored by RBC, of nurturing youth pathways to the trades and assessing the impact that JA introductory experiences on fostering the pipeline to learning and careers in trades.
Understanding that securing student opt-in and data collection is a challenge for some charters, we presented various avenues to promote ongoing engagement and enable data tracking.
Charters are invited to book dedicated calls with the RD and Programs team to further explore the avenues to generate and qualify ongoing trades learning pathways, as required, and/or are requested to internally discuss and then during the next round of monthly syncs express the avenue you will be taking for promotion and tracking of ongoing trades engagement.
Partnership recognition: Reminder to all to ensure that you are reviewing, completing and logging as part of monthly national accounts tracking/calls your partner recognition/impact celebration deliverables.
Corporate Volunteer reporting: Durga will be working with all Charters to derive reports on # of volunteers/ corporate partner. We appreciate your cooperation and efforts to validate our corporate volunteer numbers over the next two months.
World of Choices tracker: Please keep the schedule and reporting on actuals updated. Contact Durga for access or further instructions!
Driving open-access digital program engagements: Big push this quarter!
F26+ Partner Renewals
National account partnership team has been actively pursuing and securing renewals for F26. The vast majority of national accounts are confirmed towards F26. The following expresses the renewals in progress.
ADP– we have re-established connection and are exploring opportunities with ADP for support of events and/or classroom-based deliveries for F26. More details to follow.
Imperial Oil – following a great interim partnership report/review, has invited JA to apply early for support of World of Choices and Skilled Trades Summits in F26. As we explore additional opportunities with Imperial, we invite Charters who may execute local STEM specific skill training/ events/ career readiness initiatives to share your activities with us. Send examples to Carlos and Erin.
KPMG 2025-2028 – renewal concept submitted and is being considered by KPMG 10X30 national social impact and talent engagement teams. We anticipate that this relationship will continue to support World of Choices nationally and prospective extended activities featuring professional services careers, including the Career Exploration Center and possibility office-based mentorship events. KPMG remains committed to promoting diverse volunteer opportunities to their colleagues.
TD Ready Commitment 2025-2028 – renewal submitted and confirmation expected in July/August (a full quarter ahead of the usual confirmation timeline). TD’s support is dedicated to Dollars with Sense national program development and extensive delivery via JA Charters. Charters can expect that values and associated targets comparable to last grant cycle.
Z Zurich Foundation 2025-2028 partnership renewal is in negotiation as we wrap up the final quarter of the 2022-2025 Improving Mental Well-Being Grant.
Over the past three years of Z Zurich Foundation’s support, we have directly engaged more than 35,000 people with Z Zurich’s support for mental well-being programs, and had an extended positive impact on an additional 155,000. By the end of this spring, we anticipate we will have positively impacted the lives of more than 230,000 people in Canada through our activities and the action plans of youth inspired to promote mental well-being. Check out and help amplify our upcoming partnership highlight video. Sneak preview!
The success of our programs and the analysis of learning outcomes demonstrate that JA is achieving our mission of equipping youth with mindsets for success and helping to move the needle on youth mental health in Canada. Our program integrations have been recognized by JA Worldwide and other member countries are piloting similar webinars, Company Program integrations, and exploring adoption of Success Skills.
Zurich has requested that we look at one grant- funding to JA through the ZFF Improving Mental Well-Being (IMW) pillar. The ZZF Social Equity grant which was managed by JACO and previously supported select Charters delivery of EFS and JACO special activities will be retired. Elements (prospectively CP supports and Career Accelerator) may be encompassed with the IMW renewal.
The renewal proposal continues to focus on JA’s mission around fostering healthy mindsets, integrating social emotional learning/ mental well-being/ entrepreneurship & career resiliency in our program framework, both providing support to sustain resources, programs (in particular Success Skills and Company Program), and select experiential learning which were initiated during the last term. We are also exploring opportunities to expanding these efforts with new activities to empower and equip youth advocates, aligned with ZZF’s goals for advocacy and systems change.
Following our next round of conversations with Zurich, we look forward to convening Charters to collaborate and brainstorm.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK/ PROPOSED COMPONENTS:
Grants and Business Development
JA Canada is in active conversations with the following prospects, some in-bound, some early conversions from the Canadian Business Hall of Fame, and board-linked introductions, as well as some regional partners who have expressed an interest via their local Charter relationship managers in exploring national opportunities.
We have reached out to Charter Leaders and fundraising colleagues across the country to collect information/background on relationships with these prospects if and/or where there is a notion of consolidation to ensure “do no harm” principles are honoured. In other instances we have confirmed with the prospects that the consideration of national partnerships will not impact local giving. We invite Charters, Board members and others to share any additional information with Erin and Oliver.
Grants/proposals submitted and pending towards F26 and beyond:
Gay Lea Foundation – Submitted towards their “Community Well-Being” focus area, with a specific focus on JA’s Success Skills Program with investment requested towards Gay Lea’s target regions: Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Calgary over a one-year period.
Peter Gilgan Foundation – Submitted towards “Children, Youth and Families – Education and Economic Opportunities” priority area, with a specific focus on establishing JA’s footprint in Northern Territories through diverse programming spanning all three of our focus areas: financial health, career readiness, and entrepreneurship over a two-year period.
Canada Post – Submitted towards their “Education” focus area, with a specific focus on expanding JA’s digital, bite-sized learning programs over a one-year period.
CIRO – Submitted towards their “Education & Investor Protection Initiatives” priority, with a specific focus on redeveloping JA’s Investment Strategies Program over a one-year period.
Google.org – Submitted towards their “Accelerator: Generative AI Open Call,” with a specific focus on integrating generative AI into JA Campus for deepened and personalized learning experiences over a three-year period.
Chamandy Foundation – Submitted towards their “Healthy Minds & Bodies” funding area, with a specific focus on expanding JA’s Success Skills program, Company Program, and new mental well-being modules integrated across JA’s program suite delivered to underserved communities in provinces outside of Ontario and BC over a three-year period.
Health Canada – Submitted towards the “Youth Mental Health Fund,” with a specific focus on embedding mental well-being support within career readiness, entrepreneurship, and peer advocacy programs for JA youth, over a three-year period. (Aligned to Z Zurich framework shared above.)
Quebec Government – Submitted towards their “Programme d’appui à la francophonie canadienne / Canadian Francophonie Support Program” with a specific focus on enhancing and translating JA’s French program offerings nationwide over a three-year period.
Active Prospects:
Honda Canada Foundation – Looking at expanding support for Skilled Trades Summits in priority regions.
Home Depot Canada – Looking at expanding support for Skilled Trades Summits in priority regions.
Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada – Looking at investment towards JA’s entrepreneurship programming from an agricultural angle with industry/sector-wide support.
Wealthsimple – Looking at investment towards JA’s Investment Strategies Program and/or general financial health programming.
BDO – Looking at investment for JA’s Investment Strategies Program and/or JA’s Entrepreneurship Revitalization initiative
BMO – Looking at expanding regional programming into a national partnership towards JA’s financial health and literacy programs.
And many more!
Charter Business Development
The Resource Development team continues to share via Durga targeted regional and community-based funding opportunities to Charters. Since our last update, we have circulated the Rogers Youth grant.
Should Charters need support during the application process, please reach out to Oliver.
We also celebrate some of the recent success of Charters local fundraising and partnership cultivation. Congratulations in particular to:
JA Quebec- securing partnership contribution from National Bank
JA PEI- being chosen as Scotia volunteer employee nominated special impact gift from ScotiaRise
JA NEO- securing a pledge of renewed support from Government for Trades and Careers Programing
These are only some of the fantastic successes of our Charters! Should you like to highlight any of your wins in the next update, please share them with Durga and Oliver!
Canadian Business Hall of Fame
The 46th Class of the Business Hall of Fame will induct Ryan Beedie (BC), Jacynthe Côté (QC), Pierre Lassonde (ON) and Larry Tanenbaum (ON) on May 22, 2025 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
We have secured Heather Hiscox, Senior Host, CBC News Network as our special guest presenter. We are also excited to feature speaking remarks from Company Program youth speaker; Scott Hillier; Gary Kalaci, Board Chair presenting our national volunteer award winners; Jim Leech, Chancellor CBHF and Chancellor Emeritus Queens University presiding over the ‘induction ceremony’; and longtime JA Canada and JA British Columbia supporter Peter Brown, of the Peter and Joanne Brown Foundation who is a presenting sponsor of CBHF 2025, providing remarks in support of JA and our Companions. The highlight of the evening will be the legacy videos and inspiring remarks from our four Companions.
Proceeds and surplus from this year’s Canadian Business Hall of Fame will be dedicated to fueling our Company Program and entrepreneurship revitalization for the benefit of all JA members in Canada.
Complimentary tickets were issued to all Charter CEOs, Board Members, Charter Chairs. If you have not claimed your complimentary ticket, please confirm.
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Our mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy.
