Guelph - Robert Milton, Chairman, President & CEO of Ace Aviation Holdings Inc. and Key note speaker at the first Moving Business Forward Conference, September 13, 2006, at the River Run Centre in Guelph, has directed his honorarium for presenting at the conference to support Autism Ontario – Wellington Chapter. The $10,000 donation will almost double the funds available to local families affected by autism and will make 2006-7 a banner year for the association.

“I am pleased to support a worthy cause in the local community,” said Milton. “I appreciate that Moving Business Forward has given me the opportunity to direct these funds and I hope the donation will make a difference to the lives of autism affected families in Wellington County.”

For Autism Ontario – Wellington Chapter, this donation will mean that they can reach twice as many families and support them through the Summer Funding program which allows families to send their family members with autism to camp, provide on-to-one workers to accompany them to camp or just to help provide trained one-to-one workers to stay with them during the summer months when official schooling or programs are on break.

“We are very grateful for this donation and are thrilled that Mr. Milton considered us,” said Sharron Staniforth, President of Autism Ontario – Wellington Chapter. “The impact this donation will make on local families will be incredible, and the improvement in quality of life for these families will be immeasurable.”

All speakers at the upcoming Moving Business Forward are directing their honorariums to the charities of their choice, including Change Now, the Kitchener Waterloo Food Bank, Princess Margaret Hospital and the Bridges Capital Campaign in Cambridge.

Moving Business Forward is a not-for-profit venture with additional proceeds to be donated to the Guelph Chamber of Commerce’s Millennium Scholarship Fund, supporting skilled trades development.

For more information on Moving Business Forward and the scheduled list of presenters, or to purchase tickets for the event, visit the Moving Business Forward Web site at movingbusinessforward.ca or contact the River Run Centre in Guelph at 519-763-3000 or 1-877-520-2408. Tickets are $169 and include a catered lunch by Appetizingly Yours Catering.

Are You Ready For Adventure?

Waterloo - HEARTWOOD PLACE will hold The Amazing Race for Heartwood Place on Saturday, September 16, 2006. This event, similar to The Amazing Race reality TV show, will take place across the Waterloo Region. Through the creation of two routes—one for families and one for teams of four adults—we will create an enjoyable event for our participants, while raising money for a very good cause. Teams will follow clues and instructions in a combination of both physical and mental challenges in a race against time. Participants will travel to locations in Waterloo, Kitchener, and Cambridge by riding on the GRT, walking, jogging or biking. The event starts with registration and team photos at 9, and finishes with supper at 6, followed by an awards presentation. The race begins and ends at Waterloo Christian Reformed Church, 209 Bearinger Road.

First place prizes for the teams with the most points include:

Adult Team: $3500 in gift certificates to Adventure Guide
Family Team: a $3500 gift certificate for bikes to Ziggy’s Cycle & Sport

First place prizes for the teams with the top pledges are:

Adult Team: Two exciting day trips – an outdoor rock climbing trip and a guided wilderness canoe trip from North Edge Adventures
Family Team: Weekend package (lift tickets and accommodation) to Blue Mountain Resorts Limited

To register, contact Maria Prins at HEARTWOOD PLACE at 519-745-9315 x225, mprins@heartwoodplace.ca or visit http://www.heartwoodplace.ca/race. Not interested in participating in the race? Volunteers are also needed for the event day. Please contact Tom Barber at HEARTWOOD PLACE at (519) 745-9315 x226 or tbarber@heartwoodplace.ca.

HEARTWOOD PLACE is a charitable organization established in 2001 by a group of individuals who were concerned about the increasing need for affordable housing in our region. The Region of Waterloo has supported the building of 1125 affordable units since 2000. However, 10,000 individuals – including single mothers, children, youth-at-risk and many seniors – remain on the waiting list. Help us create more affordable housing!

Inspired by the Toronto Community Foundation's Vital People Awards, Leadership Grants is a program of the PwC Canada Foundation. The Foundation offers multiple programs that provide financial resources to numerous charitable organizations and also encourages and supports the community involvement of PwC’s staff and partners. To learn more go to www.pwc.com/ca/foundation.

Kitchener — with a juicy goal in mind, one of the Booster Juice stores in Kitchener has set it sights on breaking the current record for the World’s Largest Smoothie. To break this record Booster Juice must exceed the previous record of 333litres! Our goal is over 26 000 ounces (760 litres). If successful this record will be recorded for publishing by the Guinness Book of World Records. Best of all, Booster Juice will then be selling the World’s Largest Smoothie in 24 oz cups to spectators at a special price with all proceeds going to the Canadian Cancer Society. Many have experienced the turmoil of Cancer either directly or indirectly. Your support at this event will advance the research for a cure and enhance the quality of life to those who battle this illness daily.

“As always we are excited to set yet another benchmark in the Juice and Smoothie Bar industry and support such a great charitable organization,” states Dale Wishewan, Booster Juice President and CEO. The event will take place on July 22nd at noon in the Sunrise Shopping Centre (located at 1400 Ottawa St. S, Kitchener, Ontario), Waterloo Region’s premier shopping destination.

Please join us this Saturday to see a record breaking smoothie and to support an outstanding charity.

For over 25 years, Hospice Wellington has been dedicated to providing quality end-of-life care to clients in Guelph and Wellington County. According to Statistics Canada, every 8.5 minutes a Canadian dies from cancer, and as the number of people with terminal illness continues to escalate, the number of people available to take care of them continues to diminish. These statistics support the findings of a local study conducted in 1999, which shows, that at any given moment, 20 plus individuals in Guelph are in need of and seeking immediate residential hospice services.

Unfortunately, there are no designated hospice beds in this region. Furthermore, the waiting period for long- term care beds is approximately 13 months. This is a sad reality for terminally ill people in crisis - many of whom have less than a month to live.

In view of the urgent need for residential hospice care in Guelph and Wellington County, Hospice Wellington recently acquired the property situated at 795 Scottsdale Drive (formerly Kortright Presbyterian Church).

The goal is to turn the 10,000 square foot building into a 10 bed residential hospice to better serve the needs of palliative patients in the final two to three months of their life.

"Hospice Wellington has always been proud to have such a close connection to Rotary," says Brent Charette, Executive Director of Hospice Wellington. "We are so very grateful to the club for selecting our project. In the coming months Hospice will be launching an ambitious Capital Campaign to renovate 795 Scottsdale Drive into a much needed residential hospice. This gift will go a long way to kick-off our campaign, and raise the profile of our project."

The effort received generous support from the Atlantic Philanthropies USA, Inc., in the form of a three-year, $2 million grant to study the inclusion and engagement of late-career workers in corporations and not-for-profit organizations.

The Conference Board will examine the practices and policies of major employers and business community leaders and related concerns and needs of today’s mature workforce. The Conference Board plans to share promising practices for creating and maintaining a workforce inclusive of all generations.

Some 64 million baby boomers active in the U.S. labor force are poised to retire in large numbers by the end of this decade.

“It is more appropriate than ever to launch this initiative during our 90th anniversary year because The Conference Board was founded in 1916 by a group of visionary CEOs who believed that they could both perform profitably and in the public interest,” says Linda Barrington, Research Director and Labor Economist, and co-director of the grant project team with Lorrie Foster, Executive Director, Councils and Working Groups at The Conference Board. “Analyzing the opportunities and challenges that the aging of the workforce presents to business aligns perfectly with our continuing mission to help businesses perform better and better serve society.”

The maturing workforce initiative at The Conference Board is underpinned by strong research capabilities in Strategic Workforce Planning, Talent Management, and Employee Engagement. According to Foster, “A unique strength of our research is that the Research Working Group model keeps it ‘real.’” The Conference Board Research Working Groups bring together consortia of executives interested in actionable research on specific business issues. “In these groups, we have front-line executives serving as research advisors and resources,” adds Foster.

The maturing workforce initiative at The Conference Board will convene separate Research Working Groups on mature workforce issues in the private and not-for-profit sectors. Marketplace opportunities related to the aging U.S. population will also be addressed in research from the Consumer Research Center at The Conference Board.

The Conference Board work will look at mature workers in two distinct roles—as employees and as potential retirees. It will focus on problems facing mature workers, the costs and value of mature workers, the hidden values of their job satisfaction, the impact of rising healthcare costs on these workers, emerging opportunities from aging consumer markets, prospects for building a better intergenerational workplace, and models for retirement. It intends to create new strategies to help major employers leverage the skills of employees who are late into their careers. The initiative will also periodically issue timely briefings and updates.

The Conference Board initiative team also includes Jeri Sedlar, Senior Advisor to The Conference Board on Mature Workforce Issues, and author of the best-selling Don’t Retire, Rewire!, and academic researchers and topic experts who will collaborate with other research organizations working in this field.

The Conference Board took the lead in research on mature workers last year with the publication of Managing the Mature Workforce, a definitive study on how the role of the mature worker is rapidly changing in today’s workplace.

The Conference Board also published a short follow-up report (Age and Opportunity: Plan Strategically to Get the Most Out of a Maturing Workforce) in April which found that companies benefit by thinking of the issue of managing a maturing workforce as more than a negative (a problem to be dealt with). The companies who are succeeding in getting the most of older workers view the problem strategically as an opportunity for change within the organization.

The report advises that even the most basic HR strategy designed to deal with the challenges posed by a maturing workforce should include three goals: capture critical knowledge/expertise of retiring workers and transfer it; develop flexible work arrangements and benefits to suit needs of valued retirement-eligible employees; and create a culture welcoming to employees of all generations.

The report also states that while 90 percent of survey participants in a pulse poll of The Conference Board Councils for Talent Management and Diversity executives said managing mature workers was either a very or fairly important business issue for them, only 55 percent had conducted a strategic workforce analysis to determine the profile of their employee populations.

The next report from The Conference Board on these issues will be Strategic Workforce Planning, to be published later this month.

These top donors tended to be older, to have higher levels of household income, and to have higher levels of formal education. People who are employed or widowed, or attend religious services on a weekly basis, also tended to be in this top group of donors.

Charitable and other nonprofit organizations also depend heavily on a relatively small group of volunteers for unpaid help. In 2004, the top one-quarter of volunteers (11% of Canadians) who contributed 180 hours or more accounted for 77% of total volunteer hours.

These top volunteers were broadly distributed throughout the population. However, those who attend religious services on a weekly basis and those who have university degrees were much more likely than others to be top volunteers.

Nationally, more than 22 million Canadians — 85% of the population aged 15 and over — made a financial donation to a charitable or other nonprofit organization during the 12-month period covered by the survey. They donated an estimated $8.9 billion, an average of $400 each.

During the same one-year period, nearly 12 million Canadians, or 45% of the population aged 15 and over, did some volunteering through a group or organization. Their contributions totalled almost 2 billion hours, which was equivalent to one million full-time jobs. On average, volunteers contributed 168 hours each.

Rates of donating and volunteering in 2004 are higher than those found in two similar surveys in 1997 and 2000. However, the results cannot be compared because the 2004 survey used a somewhat different questionnaire than the earlier two, as well as a different survey design.

Charitable giving: Religious organizations largest beneficiaries

Religious organizations got the highest proportion of total donations in 2004, about 45%, or nearly $4.0 billion. Donors to religious organizations made the largest average donations, about $395. Health organizations were second, receiving more than $1.2 billion, or 14% of the total.

Although religious organizations were given more money than other organizations, other organizations have a wider base of support in the population. Almost 6 out of 10 Canadians (57%) made donations to health organizations, 43% donated to social services organizations, and 38% donated to religious organizations.

Volunteering: Nearly one fifth of hours directed to sports and recreation

Most volunteering was directed towards four types of organizations in 2004. About 11% of Canadians devoted their time to each of sports and recreation; social services; and education and research organizations. About 1 in 10 gave their time to religious organizations.

In terms of the number of hours contributed, 18% of all volunteer hours were contributed to sports and recreation and 17% to social services organizations. About 16% went to religious organizations and 11% to education and research organizations.

Youth had the highest rate of volunteering

The percentage of Canadians who volunteer generally decreases with age. Over half (55%) of all young people aged 15 to 24 volunteered through a group or organization, compared to one-third (32%) of seniors aged 65 and older.

It is important to note, however, that older volunteers tend to give more time. The average number of hours volunteered generally rises with age, from 139 hours for youth volunteers to a high of 245 hours for senior volunteers.

People who attended religious services weekly were also more likely to volunteer their time. About 62% of them did so, compared with only 43% of individuals who did not attend services on a weekly basis.

Through the course of the year, they also tended to volunteer more time on average, 229 hours compared with 147 hours for those who did not attend services weekly. It is worth noting that those who attended services weekly volunteered more than half (57%) of their hours to non-religious causes.

Provinces: High donor rates in Atlantic Canada

Five provinces had donor rates higher than the national average of 85%: Newfoundland and Labrador, where 93% of the population aged 15 and over made donations; Prince Edward Island (93%), Nova Scotia (90%), Ontario (90%) and New Brunswick (88%).

The remaining provinces and all of the territories had rates lower than the national average. The lowest was 63% in Nunavut.

There was a different pattern for average donations. They ranged from a high of $500 in Alberta to a low of $176 in Quebec. All four Atlantic provinces had a higher percentage of donors than the national rate. However, the average annual amount in these provinces was lower than the national average ($400).

Average donations for all provinces west of Quebec exceeded the national average.

In terms of volunteering through a group or organization, Saskatchewan had the highest volunteer rate (54%), followed by the Northwest Territories (53%), and the Yukon (52%). The lowest, 34%, was in Quebec.

With respect to hours per year, volunteers in British Columbia contributed an average of 199 hours, the highest, followed by volunteers in the Yukon (196) and Nova Scotia (195). Volunteers reported the fewest hours in Nunavut (132) and Quebec (146).

Volunteering and donating, by province and territory
	Number of volunteers	Volunteer rate	Number of donors	Donor rate
	thousands	%	thousands	%
Canada	11,809	45	22,193	85
Newfoundland and Labrador	187	42	411	93
Prince Edward Island	54	47	107	93
Nova Scotia	377	48	701	90
New Brunswick	273	44	547	88
Quebec	2,114	34	5,172	83
Ontario	5,075	50	9,043	90
Manitoba	459	50	770	84
Saskatchewan	428	54	651	82
Alberta	1,227	48	2,045	79
British Columbia	1,580	45	2,695	77
Yukon	11	52	16	76
Northwest Territories	16	53	24	79
Nunavut	8	42	12	63
Note: Estimates may not add to totals due to rounding.

More than 8 in 10 Canadians helped others directly

Canadians provide substantial help to others directly, without a formal organization or group being involved. More than 8 in 10 (83%) reported that they had helped others directly in the previous year. This does not include help given to individuals living in the same household.

About 60% provided help at an individual's home, the most common activity, while 50% provided health-related or personal care, including unpaid babysitting or visiting an elderly person.

Participation: Two-thirds of the population belonged to a group, organization or association

The third component of the survey asked questions about other forms of involvement in society. Respondents were asked whether they belonged to a variety of community organizations and groups, as well as about the extent to which they attended meetings, social functions or other activities.

Two-thirds (66%) of Canadians aged 15 and over were members of, or participants in, at least one community organization, such as a community association, service club or union.

They belonged to four main types of organizations: sports and recreation; professional associations and unions; religious organizations or groups; and cultural, education or hobby organizations.

Participation rates were highest in Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Ontario, and lowest in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Note to readers

The Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating is the latest iteration of a series of surveys that began with the National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating. It was conducted by Statistics Canada in 1997 as a supplement to the Labour Force Survey, and was repeated in the fall of 2000.

In 2001, the federal government provided funding to establish a permanent survey program on charitable giving, volunteering and participating within Statistics Canada. The survey itself was renamed the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP).

The CSGVP was developed through a partnership of federal government departments and voluntary sector organizations. These include Canadian Heritage, Health Canada, Human Resources and Social Development Canada, Imagine Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Statistics Canada and Volunteer Canada.

Because the 2004 CSGVP employs a different survey approach and because it uses a somewhat different questionnaire than did the previous surveys, it is not appropriate to compare results from the 2004 CSGVP with the two previous surveys. The CSGVP surveyed just over 22,000 Canadians aged 15 and over.

Definitions

Donors are people who made at least one donation of money to a charitable or other nonprofit organization in the 12-month reference period preceding the survey. This definition excludes those who made donations of loose change to coin collection boxes located beside cash registers at store check-outs.

Participants are people who reported membership or participation in at least one group, organization or association in the 12-month reference period preceding the survey.

Volunteers are people who volunteered, that is, who performed a service without pay, on behalf of a charitable or other nonprofit organization, at least once in the 12-month reference period preceding the survey. This includes any unpaid help provided to schools, religious organizations, sports or community associations.

Wheels in Motion returns to the University of Guelph campus Sunday, June 11, to raise money and awareness for people with spinal cord injuries.

The event, which begins at noon at the University’s W. F. Mitchell Athletics Centre, was started by Olympic wheelchair champion Rick Hansen. It involves people obtaining pledges and then walking, biking, wheeling or running a 2.5-kilometre course on campus.

About half of the funds raised stay in the host community to fund high-priority needs and services; the remaining funds go to support national spinal cord research. Locally, the funding has gone to provide services, assistance and resources to people with spinal cord injuries.

At the Guelph event, there will be numerous activities throughout the day geared towards families and children, including a free barbecue, children’s arts and crafts area, basketball, balloon-animal making, and a visit from Spike, the mascot for the Guelph Storm hockey team.

“Wheels in Motion is about more than raising awareness and improving the quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries,” says Cyndy McLean, director of U of G’s Health and Performance centre and one of the Guelph event organizers. “It's also about inspiring those around you to make a difference, and that's exactly what people have done by supporting this event.”

McLean, who was instrumental in bringing the event to Guelph three years ago, is a national ambassador for the Rick Hansen foundation. She was recently honoured for her involvement in Wheels in Motion and Foundation with a YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Award.

Wheels in Motion events are held in hundreds of communities across Canada and are run entirely by volunteers. U of G is the primary sponsor of the Guelph event. President Alastair Summerlee will participate again this year in a wheelchair. Today, he is spending the day in a wheelchair to help raise awareness of the June 11 event and the challenges faced by people living with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities.

In the past two years, more than 300 people have taken part in the Guelph Wheels in Motion either as individuals or as part of a team, raising more than $40,000. The Health and Performance Centre team, headed by McLean, raised more than $24,000 of that amount. Last year, the team raised the second-highest amount of money of any team in Canada. As a prize, the team was awarded a wheelchair, which went to Guelph elementary school student Terry Song, whose father, Leo Song, works for U of G’s Computing and Communication Services.

Registration for this year's event begins at 11 a.m. at the Athletics Centre. For more information, contact McLean at cmclean@uoguelph.ca or Guelph Wheels in Motion chair Donna Leigh White at dwhite@tcan.com.

Information is also available here.

Funding Crisis for 4000 Charities and 3.5 million Ontarians Looms

TORONTO - May 31 begins a looming $50 million funding crisis for Ontario charities as the McGuinty government's province-wide smoking ban (Bill 164) comes into full force. Charity representatives and the Committee to Save Charity Bingo (CSCB) urged the Government to help save charity funding and bingos across the province by allowing separate, ventilated, designated smoking rooms (DSRs) but the McGuinty government ignored them and the charities they represent.

"Soon nobody will win at bingo and the biggest losers will, sadly, be charities," said Len Parente member of the CSCB. "They operate in every single community across Ontario and raise millions of dollars for people in need. By eliminating our designated smoking rooms with Bill 164, the government has doomed charity bingo and the funding it raises for over 4000 charities province-wide. No smoking means no bingo which results in no charity dollars. It's that simple."

The CSCB estimates that the Government's smoking ban will result in the closure of 48 out of the 100 charity bingo halls within the next 13 months with charity funding losses exceeding $50 million. Presently, charity bingo serves and is operated by more than 4,000 Ontario charities and involves the work of approximately 100,000 volunteers and bingo workers.

The funds raised through bingo provide community services and local programs enriching the lives of over 3.5 million Ontarians every day. Without charity bingos, funding will dry up fast to help fund charities and programs that assist millions of disadvantaged, disabled, handicapped and elderly people across the province. Organizations such as the CNIB, March of Dimes, Diabetes Association, Rotary, Big Brothers, Boys and Girls Clubs, Kiwanis, Variety Village, Kinsmen, Knights of Columbus and hundreds of churches and local food banks will see their much needed funding cut significantly.

Today, the reality of charity bingo is that 70% of the customers are smokers who want the option of smoking while they play bingo. All major municipalities across Ontario had previously instituted no-smoking by-laws that for the most part recognize the uniqueness and necessity of protecting charity bingo. Prior to today, bingos were allowed to operate with separate, ventilated smoking rooms that were regulated and inspected by municipal law enforcement officers. Starting today, the McGuinty ban outlaws separate, ventilated rooms for good.

"We need charity bingo to help raise the funds necessary to continue to provide services in our community," said Ian Edward, Executive Director of Toronto Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club and Chair of the CSCB. "We rely upon revenues from bingo sessions to continue these important programs. Without this vital source of funding our programs will be jeopardized," he added.

"Charities and community organizations rely on bingo funding to act as the glue that helps hold this province together," said Andy Norwich, Vice-Chair of CSCB. "It is the missing link that helps fill the widening public service gap by picking up where limited government funding and services stop. Now that Mr. McGuinty has done away with separate ventilated smoking rooms, charity bingo is sadly doomed and that funding gap will widen even more."

TD Bank Financial Group provides Grant that will support 25 postdoctoral and clinical fellow researchers

Toronto - A new wave of researchers at the world-renowned Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital will benefit from a $1-million gift being provided by TD Bank Financial Group, announced May 17, to advance the work of the best and the brightest young minds.

The gift establishes the TD Health Research Fellowship Program at Mount Sinai Hospital. It positions a new generation of skilled scientists for growth and success through the Research Institute's integrated research in areas such as colorectal cancer and other genomic investigation.

"At TD we believe that providing doctors and healthcare professionals with access to funds for research and continuous learning opportunities is one of the most effective ways to impact the well being of all Canadians," said Jim Coccimiglio, Senior Vice President, Commercial Banking, TD Bank Financial Group. "We're pleased to help Mount Sinai realize its goals of excellence in health research while supporting the training of tomorrow's leaders in healthcare."

The TD Health Research Fellowship Program will support 25 postdoctoral and clinical fellow researchers with competitive trainee stipends to conduct research in their areas of expertise. Fellows will be chosen competitively, recruiting only the best and the brightest from Canada and abroad.

"There has never been a more exciting time in discovery and clinical translation," says Dr. Jim Woodgett, Director of the Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital. "This program will help train the next generation of scientists, and we are thrilled TD Bank is supporting both our academic commitment and the groundbreaking research we are doing."

- Conservatives deliver on their campaign promise to eliminate capital gains on donations of publicly traded securities to charities

- Exempting capital gains from taxation is expected to unlock substantial security holdings for donations and provide a much needed boost to cash-strapped charities

- It is now possible for donors to actually make money through charitable giving relative to the amount invested if the gain on their stock is large enough

TORONTO - Finance Minister Flaherty's first budget is music to the ears of Canada's 82,000 registered charities, with the announcement that the capital gains on donations of publicly traded securities to charitable organizations and public foundations will be tax free.

Charities have been asking for such relief since 1997. Since then, individuals and corporations donating publicly traded securities to public charities have received preferential capital gains treatment and have only had to include 25% of capital gains realized on the donation as taxable income instead of the normal capital gains inclusion rate of 50%. The elimination of the remaining 25% as announced in the 2006 Budget has the potential to cause a surge in such donations in the future.

Charities under ever more pressure

TD Economics first investigated the state of Canadian charities in the fall of 2004 and found the sector to be under duress. The steady increase in the demand for charitable services, brought about in part by an aging population and an increase in global natural disasters, combined with government budgets that are quickly eroded by rising healthcare costs, have put charities under intense pressure, threatening their ability to meet their social objectives.

Investors poised to give millions

In October 2004, TD Waterhouse launched the Private Giving Foundation, an independent registered charity and a simple, effective way to leave a lasting legacy as an alternative to setting up a private foundation. In just 18 months, total donations to the Private Giving Foundation have exceeded $30 million with over 80% comprised of donations of securities. Jo-Anne Ryan, Vice President, Philanthropic Advisory Services, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. and Executive Director of the Private Giving Foundation, has already begun to feel the effect of the budget. Since the budget announcement, Ryan has taken calls from donors who have expressed their intent to transfer over $2 million in securities to the Private Giving Foundation. "I believe that we are just scratching the surface. The total market value of publicly traded stocks held by Canadians is an astounding $1.3 trillion with unrealized capital gains accounting for almost half of these holdings," states Ryan. "The potential if these securities holdings are converted to charitable donations is huge. Not only does this provide a tremendous opportunity to increase donations today, but also facilitates excellent planning opportunities for individuals who plan to give later in life and may want to buy stocks now in order to accomplish this."

Some donors will even make money

Many advocates of removing the remaining taxation of capital gains on gifts of securities argue that stock donations will rise 50%. If so, this would provide more than $100 million in additional funding to charities. Don Drummond, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, TD Bank Financial Group, believes that the boost could be even greater, particularly once people become aware of how attractive this measure is from a tax perspective. "Without any capital gains taxation, many donors will actually make money from a gift relative to what they originally paid for the stock. In other words, the charitable donation credit could exceed the purchase price if the value of the shares has appreciated significantly," explains Drummond.

"This isn't only for the wealthy," says Ryan. "It will benefit many Canadians, from the employee who acquired company stock at a low cost several years ago to the typical investor who has enjoyed nice returns in their stock portfolio."

"Our goal is to strengthen the vitality and health of the communities in which we live and work," said Dominic D'Alessandro, President and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition, Manulife strives to set the highest standards in corporate governance, environmental responsibility, product development and customer satisfaction - all of which we believe are part of being accountable and bring us closer to being the most professional life insurance company in the world."

In 2005, Manulife donated more than $23 million and its employees contributed some 44,000 volunteer hours to the communities in which we operate in Canada, the United States and Asia, focused on community-building in four main areas: health care, education, community service and local volunteerism.