FR
Olympic.ca Logo
White text over red background reading We Are All Team Canada

Team Canada partners playing their part to plank the coronavirus curve

Mac Henley headshot
By Mac Henley

As all Canadians continue to wade through uncertain and unprecedented times, partners of Team Canada have been taking action to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Be it donations, aiding workers that have been laid off, or introducing practices to limit physical interaction, our partners have gone from supporting our athletes to supporting the nation during this pandemic.

Bell

Canada’s premier telecommunications company has been at the forefront of community relief from the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak. Bell, through their Bell Let’s Talk initiative, donated $5 million to the Canadian Red Cross, Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Kids Help Phone, Revivre and Strongest Families Institute to aid in their efforts to help Canadians experiencing anxiety, depression and other challenges during self-isolation.

Bell also introduced their Assisted Self-Installation and Repair Program to limit physical interaction. Through this program, Bell technicians perform installations and repairs from outside the home, guiding consumers through the necessary steps to complete the service.

To further quell concerns about remaining at home, Bell has offered multiple TV packages featuring free previews of educational, entertainment, lifestyle, and family programming, while also providing extra usage fees for residential internet plans.

Finally, Bell has also been supporting Canadians abroad. For wireless customers outside of Canada, Bell has waived the Roam Better and pay-per-use charges until April 30.

RBC

RBC committed $2 million dollars to support communities dealing with the repercussions of COVID-19. The money will be used to address food insecurity and mental well-being, as well as in donations to international organizations, including the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

Canadian Tire

Canadian Tire launched a $5 million COVID-19 Response Fund, which includes $1 million each to the Canadian Red Cross and United Way Centraide Canada along with up to $3 million in personal protective equipment and essential products to support frontline healthcare and community workers.

Canadian Tire has also made efforts to relieve the pressure on hospitals in the nation’s capital. Alongside the Ottawa Senators, they have offered the use of the Canadian Tire Centre as well as three other arenas as COVID-19 care centres.

Canadian Tire introduced new measures to limit physical interaction, while still providing Canadians with access to essential goods. These social distancing programs include Curbside Pickup and Ship to Home, which have enabled their customers to maintain their homelife while continuing to flatten the curve.

Hudson’s Bay

The Hudson’s Bay Foundation (the charitable arm of the organization) has donated $1 million to Food Banks Canada and Kids Help Phone to support their ongoing COVID-19 relief efforts. Furthermore, they also matched all donations to the charities through March 31, 2020.

Deloitte

Deloitte is providing Canadians a live look at Canada’s economy and predictions of when the post-pandemic rebound will come through the COVID-19: Economic Recovery Dashboard. The dashboard monitors health, community/social activity, and financial and economical indicators that will signal when the rebound stage has arrived.

Deloitte also continues to support Team Canada athletes through Game Plan, the total athlete wellness program that is providing athletes with resources during this time of uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

Toyota

Understanding the financial strain that the pandemic may be causing, Toyota has offered flexible payment options for their customers.

As an extension of their existing partnership, Toyota and Lexus Canada are investing over $1 million to encourage Canadians who are healthy and able to continue donating blood at Canadian Blood Services or Hema-Quebec locations. Today, tomorrow, next week and next month, the need for blood is constant.

Furthermore, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada has donated approximately 1,000 NIOSH-certified N95 respirator masks to local hospitals, as well as gloves, protective eyewear, and sanitary boot protectors.

You can read more about how Toyota is supporting its customers and their communities here.

SAS

SAS has committed to providing free data discovery and analytical modeling on the COVID-19 outbreak. Using their SAS Viya platform, they want to empower Canadians to visualize, manipulate, and model the data in new and different ways, staying up to date in the process.

Petro-Canada

Petro-Canada is committing $3 million to help Canadians providing essential services to their communities. Associates at Petro-Canada locations across the country are being empowered to acknowledge essential workers with small acts of kindness – whether they be frontline healthcare providers, truck drivers transporting much-needed products, grocery store clerks, pharmacists, food delivery drivers, or transit workers getting all other essential employees to where they need to be. These workers will be acknowledged with such things as fuel discounts, meals, showers, and other tokens of appreciation.

Mondelēz Canada

Mondelēz Canada has teamed up with Canadian Olympians Jason Burnett and Desiree Scott to assist individuals and families who are experiencing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In their campaign, Feeding Hope in Canada, Snackworks sponsors RITZ, OREO and CADBURY have donated $40,000 to both the Daily Bread Foodbank in Toronto along with Winnipeg Harvest. The donation is part of an ongoing commitment to Canadian communities, whether that be front line workers, Olympic athletes, or professionals, to help ensure that no one goes hungry.

Those same sponsors have also donated $75,000 to the Canadian Olympic Foundation in support of current and future Olympians. 

The Feeding Hope initiative is part of a global commitment by Mondelez International to donate $15 million in cash and in kind to their partners in local communities who are providing safety and assistance throughout this pandemic.

Air Canada

Air Canada has remained dedicated to bringing Canadians home. Their global network has continued to operate as they transport Canadians from countries where the borders remain open.

Sobeys

Sobeys’ parent company has committed to hiring laid-off Cineplex employees, providing not only reduced workloads for their current essential workers, but also aiding their financial circumstances. To further promote the financial security of their essential employees, Sobeys has launched the Hero Pay program, where staff will receive higher wages whilst working throughout the pandemic.

Furthermore, Sobeys has been a leader in promoting social distancing and frontline support. They continue to encourage Canadians to thank, help, and care for one another, as we are all one family.

General Mills

General Mills has also rewarded their essential service workers, providing enhanced benefits and daily bonuses for employees. To better support these staffers, they have also provided their healthy office employees the opportunity to work in its manufacturing plants, alleviating the workload and supporting their employees’ financial commitments.

To further support the struggle against food insecurity, General Mills has donated $5 million in charitable gifts to organizations around the world.

Molson

Molson has taken measures to compensate their essential workers during this time. Not only did they increase wages by $5 for hourly staff, they have also created a new paid leave policy, increasing the hours for employees, and donated $1 million to the United States Bartenders Guild.

Furthermore, Molson has launched an initiative to help local businesses by offering customers gift cards for participating in their virtual happy hour.

They have also taken efforts to help frontline workers, roducing hand sanitizer at a number of craft breweries to answer the need from first responders and health care workers.

Morneau Shepell

The human resources company has joined with several other companies and organizations – including Bell – to launch WellCan , an online hub of free mental health services for Canadians. Available via mobile app and website, the collection of resources will be continuously updated with the latest information. This service may be particularly helpful to Canadians who do not have a benefits plan with mental health coverage included.

Smith School of Business

Smith School of Business is providing student and faculty resources to local businesses, not-for-profits and social enterprises in Kingston, Ontario who have been impacted by COVID-19. Some of the free services being offered include webinars by faculty on relevant topics as well as individual student consultation, providing the opportunity to tap into student’s expertise, work experience and diverse skill sets.

Under Armour

Under Armour has donated $1 million to Feeding America to address food insecurity, and $1 million in monetary and product donations to Good Sports’ to ensure that youth sport leagues have the necessary equipment once safety measures are lifted.

Furthermore, in an effort to support frontline workers, Under Armour is manufacturing 100,000 masks per week.

AMJ Campbell

AMJ Campbell has been using its moving trucks to make some important deliveries, including beds and other necessary medical supplies to hospitals in need. There have also been many large donations of food transported to food banks. And if you’ve been doing some spring cleaning while self-isolating and have items for charity, AMJ Campbell will pick that up for you.

The Globe and Mail

In the interest of public safety, The Globe and Mail has dropped its paywall on coronavirus news stories to ensure Canadians can stay up to date on the pandemic. Everyone can have access to their in-depth health explainers as well as news stories on public health recommendations, travel advisories, and updates on the government response. You can also subscribe to their Coronavirus Update newsletter.

Coca-Cola

The Coca-Cola Foundation has awarded $13.5 million in grants to non-profit organizations to support their humanitarian efforts and those who are working on the frontlines in both the United States and Canada. This includes $1 million grants to both Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada and Food Banks Canada, respectively.

General Electric

General Electric is donating 100,000 pairs of gloves and surgical masks to help support and protect those working on the frontlines of the pandemic.

Proctor & Gamble

P&G has committed over $15 million in products and in-kind donations across the globe, and one of their largest health care brands, Vicks, donated $1 million to Direct Relief.

Related Stories

View all stories