TORONTO, Dec. 6, 2022
/CNW/ - In October 2021,
Scotiabank launched an innovative program focused on promoting
diversity, accessibility, and inclusion in hockey: hockey for
all. In its inaugural year, hockey for all has benefited
over 250,000 children, youth, and athletes by breaking down
cultural and financial barriers to the game and bringing the sport
to their front door. hockey for all is Scotiabank's
commitment to making impactful, positive change in Canada's game – and it's working.
"Hockey is at an important juncture and Canadians have
demanded stewards of the sport step up and make meaningful
investments in what matters to them: inclusion, accessibility,
safety, and diversity," said Laura Curtis
Ferrera, Scotiabank's Chief Marketing Officer. "Hockey is
Canada's game – one that brings
family, friends, and communities together and we must continue to
work collaboratively to ensure it reflects our nation's people and
values. For decades Scotiabank has been a part of the hockey
community, and as committed partners we will continue to
invest in change so the game can truly be hockey for
all; that's the essence of our commitment and the success
within our first year shows work is long overdue."
One year after its launch, Scotiabank is proud to release the
hockey for all year one program update,
highlighting the initiative's first-year milestones. Since
October 2021, hockey for all
programs have:
- Donated over $3
million in funds to organizations whose goal is to
make hockey more accessible to underserved communities,
benefitting over 290,000 youth.
- Provided financial support to help over 160,000 kids get on
the ice.
- Provided free on and off-ice skills training to over 1,200
young women across Canada
through Scotiabank Girls HockeyFest.
- Launched Alberta's first
outdoor accessible rink, improving accessibility for over 3,000
para-hockey players.
- Donated over 2,500 pieces of hockey equipment to Indigenous
communities through Project North.
In order to drive positive change in the sport, hockey for
all programs are based on two distinct areas of focus: cultural
and financial.
- Culturally, hockey for all endeavours to make hockey
more diverse and inclusive by educating youth and collaborating
with organizations committed to changing the game's culture
including the Hockey Diversity Alliance (HDA) and You Can
Play.
- Financially, hockey for all aims to create accessibility
by providing monetary relief to underrepresented community players,
teams, leagues, and organizations. hockey for all achieves
this with programs such as Scotiabank's hockey for all sponsorship
program (formerly the Community Hockey Sponsorship Program),
Project North, and Hockey 4 Youth.
Since its inception, Scotiabank has worked
hand-in-hand with The Hockey Diversity Alliance to help eradicate
racism within the sport.
"The Hockey Diversity Alliance is driven by our mission to
eradicate systemic racism and intolerance in hockey," said Akim
Aliu, co-founder of the Hockey Diversity Alliance
(HDA) and Scotiabank Teammate. "Our partnership with
Scotiabank and participation in hockey for all has
helped us contribute to more grassroots hockey development and
equipment programs, fund anti-racism and unconscious bias education
programs and support social justice initiatives that further our
shared mission changing the game."
Scotiabank's Hockey 4 Youth partnership has also benefited 250
new Canadian youth looking to pursue hockey as a sport.
"Hockey 4 Youth's partnership with Scotiabank has had a direct
effect on our programming prioritizing new Canadians and
high-priority youth," said Moezine Hasham, Executive Director and
Founder, Hockey 4 Youth. "With the support of hockey for all
we were able to support 250 new Canadian youth, allowing them to
play hockey without the often-prohibitive burden of purchasing new
gear."
The hockey for all commitment is also showing up in
communities in other ways. This fall, Scotiabank collaborated with
athlete empowerment brand UNINTERRUPTED Canada as presenting sponsor of the feature
documentary film BLACK ICE which explores the journey of Black
hockey players from the creation of The Colored Hockey League of
the Maritimes to the modern-day NHL. Last month, together with
True North Sports + Entertainment, Scotiabank announced the
re-naming of the Winnipeg Jets practice facility and multi-plex to
the hockey for all centre. The hockey for all centre will be an
inclusive and accessible facility, with programs for underserved
communities, including free Learn to Play programs, subsidized
equipment opportunities.
To amplify year two of hockey for all and the way the
program is changing the game, Scotiabank released a new 30-second
spot, coinciding with the beginning of the 2022-23 NHL® season.
Watch the commercial and learn more about hockey for all
programs here.
The hockey for all year one program update can be
read here.
About Scotiabank
Scotiabank is a leading bank in the Americas. Guided by our
purpose: "for every future", we help our customers, their families
and their communities achieve success through a broad range of
advice, products and services, including personal and commercial
banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and
investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of over 90,000
employees and assets of over $1.3 trillion (as
at October 31, 2022), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For
more information, please
visit http://www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter
@Scotiabank.
SOURCE Scotiabank