Jury  

Chair

Pierre Boivin, President and CEO of Claridge Inc. and AFP Award for Outstanding Volunteer (2012)

Members

  • Claude Breton, Vice-President, Public Affairs and Investor Relations, National Bank of Canada and AFP Award for Outstanding Corporation (2013)
  • Jacques Chartrand and Andrée Robert, AFP Award for Outstanding Volunteer (2014)
  • Sandra Chartrand, President, Fondation Sandra et Alain Bouchard and AFP Award for Outstanding Philanthropist (2015)
  • Marjolaine Lachance, Senior Manager, Community Investment and Communications, Bell Canada and AFP Award for Outstanding Corporation (2015)
  • John A. Rae, Executive Vice-President, Power Corporation of Canada and AFP Award for Outstanding Volunteer in Philanthropy (2016)
  • Lucie Rémillard, President, LR Strategies and AFP Award for Outstanding Career in Philanthropy (2016)
  • Fabrice Vil, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Pour 3 Points and AFP Award for Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy (2015)
  • Marc Weinstein, Vice-Principal, University Advancement and Alumni Relations at McGill University and AFP Award for Outstanding Career in Philanthropy (2014)

Recipients

Award for Outstanding Philanthropist
Aldo Bensadoun, ALDO Group

Our philanthropist of the year is a visionary. In the early ‘80s, the ALDO Group was among the leading businesses publicly supporting the fight against AIDS. Over the years, $10 million was raised for the cause through the ALDO FIGHTS AIDS program.

Through the Miriam Foundation, Mr. Bensadoun raised $25 million for the See Things My Way campaign of the Centre for Innovation in Autism & Intellectual Disabilities. In May 2017, the Bensadoun Family Foundation donated $25 million to McGill University for the creation of the Bensadoun School of Retail Management. 

Aldo Bensadoun supports, among other things, several large hospital centres in Montréal, as well as arts and culture, most notably the MSO and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. He has garnered several public honours, including Officer of the Order of Canada, Knight of the Ordre National du Québec, Commander of the Ordre de Montréal and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, in addition to receiving an honorary doctorate from McGill University and Concordia University.

Award for Outstanding Volunteers
Marie-Claude Lacroix and Ivan Boulva, Volunteers, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital

In 2010, at the age of 27, Francis Boulva, a pediatrics resident and graduate of the McGill Faculty of Medicine died of brain cancer. His parents, Marie-Claude and Ivan, then founded the Francis Boulva Memorial Fund to financially support The TARGiT research program at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (the Neuro), where their son had received care. Since then, they have raised $550,000 for this cause with the support of family and friends.

Marie-Claude and Ivan co-founded and contribute actively to “A Brilliant Night”an event that has raised close to $3 million since 2015. They also created the Prix de reconnaissance Francis-Boulva at the Science Fair Québec, the Bourse de l’Étoileat the Externat-Mont-Jésus-Marie in Outremont, as well as an endowment fund for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, where Francis was completing his residency and where the Dr. Francis Boulva Award is presented each year.

The efforts that Marie-Claude Lacroix and Ivan Boulva have made for the Neuro have led to new discoveries and significant advances in brain cancer research and treatment.

Award for Outstanding Corporation, 250 or more employees
RBC Royal Bank

Founded in 1869, RBC Royal Bank is a leader in philanthropy, both in terms of the commitment of its senior management as well as that of its employees in the community. As an example, for over 30 years, RBC Royal Bank has participated in the annual campaign of Centraide of Greater Montreal. During that time, the financial institution contributed $31 million, of which $13.5 million was donated by its employees.

Also, RBC greatly values the history of our institutions and the importance of preserving this heritage. RBC participated in the creation of the RBC Art and Heritage Centre, which seeks to preserve and promote the social, cultural, medical and nursing history of the MUHC dating back to 1821.

Last year in Canada, the RBC invested $68 million to support community sports activities, emerging artists, Indigenous communities, diversity and inclusion, water management, the victims of natural disasters, and more.

Award for Outstanding Corporation, Fewer than 250 employees
Rythme FM Montréal

Rythme FM has a long history of philanthropic activities. In 2007, this daring radio station endorsed the new campaign Mois des Câlins de Sainte-Justine. In 2008, still loyal to the cause, Rythme FM launched an online fundraiser for Sainte-Justine’s Grand Sapin.

Year after year, the radio station has mobilized its employees and listeners into a philanthropic movement. In 10 years, these campaigns have raised $7 million for the children at Sainte-Justine’s. Rythme FM supports several other organizations, including Opération Enfants Soleil, Fondation Véro & Louis, the Centre de pédiatrie sociale Laval, Leucan, Fondation de l’Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur de Montréal and My Birthday as a Gift.

The causes so generously supported by Rythme FM benefit from a radio listenership of 2 599 000 and a Facebook community of over 271 000 members.

Award for Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy, 18-35 years old
Hannah Taylor, Founder, The Ladybug Foundation inc.

One cold winter day, Hannah noticed a gentleman digging around in the garbage for a meal. At the ripe age of 5 years old, she decided to take action and mobilize the students in her class to help those who are homeless and hungry in her community.

In 2004, when she was 8, she created the Ladybug Foundation, which has since raised $4 million for organizations that work with the homeless. In 2006, she founded makeChange: The Ladybug Foundation Education Program, an education program that motivates young Canadians to engage in philanthropic activities. The program can now be accessed online for free and is used in more than 11,000 classrooms around the world.

In 2016, the Governor General of Canada awarded her the Meritorious Service Cross and, earlier this year, she received the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award.

Today, Hannah is 21 and is studying political science at McGill University. She plans to go on to study law and devote her practice to human rights.

Award for Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy, under 18 years old
Djammy Charles and Raphaële Maltais, Volunteers, The Sainte-Justine Youth Challenge – private schools

For Djammy Charles and Raphaële Maltais, giving paves the way to happiness! These two teenagers took on the challenge of creating a major fundraising movement and starting a tradition of donating among the students at their school, for CHU Sainte-Justine’s Centre de traumatologie, as part of the Sainte-Justine Private Schools Youth Challenge.

 In 2016, Djammy and Raphaële, students at the time at Collège Saint-Sacrement in Terrebonne, raised $92,000—placing their school in first place among the private schools participating in the Youth Challengewith a 93% participation rate and an average donation of $61.84.

They have now graduated but continue to be committed to the cause and, among other things, plan to mobilize the 40 000 students in private schools in Greater Montréal.

Award for Outstanding Career in Philanthropy
Myer Bick, Jewish General Hospital Foundation

When he became President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish General Hospital Foundation, the Foundation’s previous campaign goal was $50 million. Thanks to his strategic vision and leadership skills he recruited an outstanding group of volunteers and staff colleagues who together raised over $200 million! His boldness has helped to define new standards in fundraising that have benefitted all health foundations in Quebec.

Today, the Jewish General Hospital Foundation is close to surpassing its current fundraising goal of $250 million. Mr. Bick has devoted much of his time to community service, serving as a member on the boards of directors of major organizations, including the Association des fondations d’établissements de santé du Québec, the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, the Azrieli Foundation and the Board of Governors of Tel Aviv University.

A mentor to many youth professionals and volunteers in the areas of philanthropy, health, education and culture, Myer Bick is considered, with good reason, one of the doyens of our philanthropic community.

Award for Jury’s Special Choice
Chantal Desrosiers, Volunteer, Relay for Life (Coaticook)

Chantal Desrosiers is a woman of action! In 2013, she joined the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life campaign (Coaticook) and later became campaign president.

Her exemplary commitment is a source of inspiration for those around her. She attains and, indeed, surpasses all her objectives: financial, strategic, volunteer recruitment and team loyalty. In short order, under her watch, the funds raised for Relay for Life (Coaticook) rose from $106,000 to $138,000, while other regions were struggling to meet their targets. 

Ms Desrosiers works on the ground, hand-in-hand with her fundraising teams. Her passion is contagious, and has inspired Relay for Life teams across Quebec.

Ms Desrosiers is a model of commitment, an inspiring volunteer who incarnates the adage: there is strength in numbers!

Special Award for Distinction in Philanthropy
Michel Dallaire, Cominar

Chief Executive Officer of Cominar, Michel Dallaire has been loyally committed to charity organizations that help youth from underprivileged backgrounds, families of severely disabled children, the destitute and young adults struggling with drug addiction. He supports many of these organizations through investments in capital infrastructure.

Co-President of Université Laval’s major fundraising campaign, his commitment has enabled the university to surpass its $350 million goal, raising $530 million instead! Mr. Dallaire contributes to fundraising for several organizations in the Quebec City area including Portage, the Fondation Père Raymond-Bernier, Église catholique de Québec and the Fondation du CHU de Québec. He also supports organizations like Centraide Québec et Chaudière-Appalaches and Leucan.

In 2012, Mr. Dallaire was awarded Ordre des mécènes de la Ville du QuébecIn 2013, he was decorated with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Médaille de la Ville de Québec. In 2016, he received the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Exceptional Merit (gold). Then, in 2017, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada by the Governor General of Canada.