Auto manufacturers roll with the accolades — and the punches — that we deliver all year, but there’s no denying the good they perform throughout our communities and the country. It’s time to highlight just how much this industry gives back.
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Toyota
Toyota Canada last week rolled out its Toyota Million Meals initiative, a multi-year goal to help alleviate food insecurity experienced by Canadians. The company has committed to donate more than $200,000 to Food Banks Canada and Breakfast Club of Canada, as it continues its year-long efforts. In September, Toyota Canada donated $100,000 to Breakfast Club of Canada. Providence Healthcare in Scarborough received a $500,000 donation from the manufacturer in August for the renovation of the Toyota Canada Motor Skill Clinic. First established in 2006, the clinic provides real-life elements to assist patients in regaining and re-learning physical accessibility and mobility within their communities. A $100,000 donation to the StopGap Foundation goes to education and ramp building to reduce barriers and boost mobility in communities across Canada.
Celebrating Earth Day back in April, Toyota Canada spearheaded a partnership with Trans Canada Trail with a $100,000 donation to promote and protect that 28,000 km network — the biggest in the world. Boosting STEM education, the Toyota Canada Foundation continued its $1.6M partnership with Actua and Let’s Talk Science, which serves more than 600,000 youth across Canada. The Foundation has doubled its commitment to Indigenous STEM automotive education with $120,000 heading to Indspire over the coming two years.
Locally, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) has given $1.5M to charities in the Waterloo and Oxford County regions, and team members have raised over $680,000 for the United Way campaign.
Ford
Ford of Canada continued its support of the excellent Ford Driving Skills for Life (DSFL), a no-cost program that offers newly licensed drivers hands-on advanced training promoting awareness and road safety in a simulated arena. To date, over 5,800 participants have enrolled in the nine-year history of the program, with this year’s event held in Windsor, Ontario for 270 new drivers.
For the 15th year, the Toronto Area Ford Dealers Association (TAFDA), with support from the Ford Eastern Market Area, have teamed up with CTV and The Salvation Army’s Toy Mountain to help out families in this holiday season. TAFDA has collected over 141,000 toys and provided more than $873,000, given away 11 vehicles as contest prizes and also donated eight new trucks to the Salvation Army. Contributors taking part can enter to win a 2024 Ford Maverick.
Ford of Canada employees across the country, in both offices and facilities, continued to support the United Way through donations, fundraising and volunteering. Together, they raising nearly $1M for community-based programs that ensure urgent basic needs are met as well as providing access to jobs, social resources and mental health support.
Ford’s Automotive Career Exploration (ACE) program, which joins Ford of Canada and Ford dealers with secondary and post-secondary institutions, extends awareness for those interested in making the automotive industry a career option. Ford provides free online training through ACE for schools that have an automotive curriculum; they also provide those schools with used vehicles and parts including engines and transmissions for hands-on learning. This year, 40 schools have benefited from the program, with St. John Henry Newman Secondary School in Stoney Creek receiving a 2024 Ford Explorer courtesy of Ford Canada and Eastgate Ford. The program has continued to grow since its 2019 inception.
Kia
For 2024, Kia Canada has increased its Kia Communities in Motion program to include seven additional charities and non-profits in five new regions. In Alberta, it added Moving Together: Good Relations in the Bow Valley, to strengthen the relationship between Canmore and Indigenous communities including programming highlighting National Indigenous Peoples Month and Day, fostering trust and advancing Truth and Reconciliation efforts. Kia also funds the Bridges Social Development through the Mînî Hrpa Organizational Development and Capacity Building, furthering Indigenous-led initiatives in that region.
In Kahnawake, Quebec, Connecting Horizons provides resources including driving lessons, childcare, stability, inclusion and employment support to vulnerable community members. In Newfoundland, Kia funds Trans Support NL, an advocacy group that assists and provides support for transgender people in that province. In Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, Kia supports Mokami Status of Women Council: The Fireweed Projectwhich addresses gender equity and supports women with targeted programs aimed at healing and empowerment. The Kitchener Waterloo Multicultural Centre in that region, with Kia’s backing, helps newcomers in rural communities access resources and boosts cross-cultural connections. Finally, up in Nunavut, Kia has added the Nunavut Association of Non-Profit Organizations: Piliriqatigiinnirmut to its roster, helping Nunavut’s non-profits to create sustainable solutions for that community’s challenges.
Honda
The Honda Canada Foundation continues its ongoing support of Habitat for Humanity as well as supporting engineering and robotics students through a long-term partnership with FIRST Robotics while starting some new initiatives. The Foundation has donated $200,000 to Parachute Canada, which provides programming aimed at road safety. Parachute and Honda both support Vision Zero, a quest for zero fatalities on Canadian roads. Honda’s support aids Canadian Youth Road Safety Week and the Canadian Youth Road Safety Council. In 2024, Honda Canada Foundation continued its support of Durham’s Feed the Need, an After the Bell program to which Honda Associates also volunteer their time, preparing meal packs in association with Willowtree Farm. This initiative steps into the void for children and families over the summer months when in-school meal programs are suspended.
The Foundation is also pleased to add One Voice One Team to its network. With Honda’s help, 50 youths were able to attend the Initiatives summer leadership camp, something out of reach for many families.
Hyundai
Hyundai Canada continued with its youth-focused initiatives throughout 2024. In its ongoing work with 360Kids, where Hyundai Canada’s President and CEO, leadership team and team members took part in the 360Experience Challenge and experienced homelessness on the coldest night of the year, and raised over $64,000 for youth in a homelessness crisis. Hyundai donated $500,000 to the Markham Stouffville Hospital Foundation to support the construction of a new child and adolescent mental health inpatient unit at Oak Valley Health’s Markham Stouffville Hospital, as well as signing a partnership with the Pinball Clemons Foundation by committing $100,000 to support the education of marginalized and racialized youth.
Volkswagen
Over at VolkswagenCanada, 2024 saw its continued support of Campfire Circle, which supports children and families affected by cancer; it has recently extended its programming to children with severe non-cancerous illnesses. Volkswagen Canada provides a cash donation each year as well as a fleet of 12 vehicles for the camp’s day-to-day use. The company also does fundraising for the camp’s annual SL10K run along with a pace vehicle, and fleet support of the annual R2//NYC fundraising five-day bike ride from Toronto to New York City that raised $925,000 for the camp this fall. Volkswagen associates company-wide also participate in Camp Day to support and prepare the camps for the season’s activities.
Nissan
Nissan Canada Foundation continued its work to give back to communities across the country through its commitments to the environment, education and humanitarian relief. 2024 saw Nissan providing financial support and employees involved in volunteer initiatives with Habitat for Humanity, Food Banks Mississauga, Second Harvest Canada, Breakfast Club of Canada, Food Banks Canada and Guignolée des Médias. The Foundation also donated, via its annual grant available to all local Habitats across Canada, a new 2024 Nissan Pathfinder to Habitat for Humanity Saskatchewan, enabling that organization to better serve more families across the province.
New for 2024, the Nissan Canada Foundation sponsored the Tiny Homes Program in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity Halton-Mississauga-Dufferin. The program provides students with hands-on experience building tiny homes guided by skilled tradespeople. Once completed, these homes are transported to partner First Nation communities, offering simple, decent, and affordable housing solutions.
Stellantis
For the 21st year, the Stellantis North America Windsor Assembly Plant has supported the Windsor Firefighters Sparky’s Toy Drive with cash and toys donated by its employees. Since 2002, Stellantis employees have filled more than 110 minivans with toys valued at over $280,000. The United Way Centraide Windsor-Essex Chatham-Kent campaign received nearly $747,000 from Stellantis employees and retirees, a donation which included a new Chrysler Pacifica loaded with school supplies and athletic equipment. The huge donation will fund investments in the community for youth mentoring as well as in-person and online out-of-school programming in priority neighbourhoods. The plant’s employees have also supported other charities including Ronald McDonald House, Remembrance Day Poppy Collections and the Summer Food Drive.
Stellantis dealers have also been busy. Bustard Chrysler in Waterloo, Ontario raised funds and food for its community’s food bank, as did Belleville Chrysler, donating two truckfuls of food to Gleaners Food Bank from its annual Christmas Food Bank Donation campaign. Out in British Columbia, Rivershore Ram Chrysler Dodge Jeep Fiat raised $5,000 for the River Inland Hospital Foundation in a test-drive campaign, $10,000 for the Kamloops Hospice Society, raised an additional over $40,000 for the River Inland Hospital Foundation raffling a Fiat 500e, and recently did its annual toy drive, Jam the Ram for Christmas Amalgamated while delivering $5,000 to the Elizabeth Fry Society.
Vernon Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram donated $10,000 to the North Okanagan Youth & Family Services, while Cranbrook Dodge continued its long-time support of, among several initiatives, the Cops for Kids Charitable Foundation, also supplying a support Wagoneer for that charity’s annual 1,000-km bike ride in Kelowna. Woodgrove Chrysler, part of Kot Auto Group in Nanaimo will contribute nearly $95,000 to local charities this year through its Pay it Forward campaign, which gives every employee $500 to donate as they choose. B.C.’s only Fiat dealer, Frontier Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Smithers hosted Fill the Fiat promotion for the Dze L K’ant Friendship Centre Society, as well as supporting curling clubs, arenas, golf tournaments, library programs and Camp Easter Seal throughout the year.
Gary Moe Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram in Lacombe, Alberta donated $8,500 to the Lacombe Food Bank this year, part of a long-standing tradition in its community.
In Saskatchewan, Crestview Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram supported its local Ronald McDonald House by donating $10 per maintenance service for its entire third quarter — $1,600 in total. FFUN Dodge in North Battleford donated to its local Boys and Girls Club, Ronald McDonald House as well as providing vehicles for Operation Red Nose in its community. Indian Head Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram continues its long-running support of the Grand Theatre, a community-owned and run theatre established in 1904, one of the oldest operating opera houses in western Canada. Murray Jeep Ram in Winnipeg has been busy collecting food and new toys for its generous contributions to the Christmas Cheer Board.
GM
GM Canada, through a combination of corporate and employee efforts, has donated over $1.5 million to non-profit initiatives across Canada in 2024. Over 160 GM employees and dealership employees raised over $50,000 for Coldest Night of the Year, helping to combat homelessness and poverty.
GM Canada employees continue their participation to the Durham Children’s Aid Foundation (DCAF) Holiday of Hopeprogram which honours the legacy of Sharon Clark, who started Sharon’s Kids at Oshawa Assembly in 1968 to provide holiday gifts to children in need. Since 2018, GM Canada, its dealers and employees have raised more than $1 million for Sharon’s Kids, now part of DCAF.
Audi
Audi Canada participated in two Tree Canada programs; the National Greening Program which planted 5,200 trees to offset 1,000 tons of CO2 emission as well Partners in Planting Program, where Audi employees participate in tree planting in their communities. In 2024, Audi continued its longtime support of the Dilawri Foundation, a Canada-wide supporter of many charities including Sick Kids Foundation, the Vancouver Public Library, the Sarah McLaughlin Foundation, West Coast Kids Cancer Foundation and the North York General Hospital, among many others. Audi has also supported Open Road Foundation, and Go Auto, an initiative supporting Thrive Elementary, the Kids with Cancer Society, Fresh Hoops, Go Auto Fuels the Schools, the Alzheimer’s Society of B.C., and Ronald McDonald House.
VinFast
A new manufacturer is catching the holiday spirit. In November, electric car brand VinFast announced a partnership with Food Banks Canada. Through the end of the year, the corporation will donate 100 meals ($50) for every test drive taken, with a goal of 1,000 test drives across Canada by the end of the campaign. It’s a welcome addition to Canadian communities from a new player on the team. Visit any of its stores to assist with this goal.
Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi had a record-breaking year with its Driving to End Hunger campaign. It donated over $300,000 and 8,700 kilograms of food to local food banks as well as Food Banks Canada. That’s more than 600,000 meals donated by the Japanese car brand, its staff, dealer network and customers.
Land Rover
In November, Land Rover announced two Canadian winners in its 2024 Defender Service Awards recognizing modern-day heroes. Pine River Institute in Toronto, which helps adolescents struggling with addictive behaviours and other mental health issues to reclaim their lives, will receive a customized Defender 130 SUV to support its work. Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary in Cochrane, Alberta is a 160 acre sanctuary for wolfdogs who have been neglected or abandoned. Co-owner Joel Cates says the Defender the organization will receive is invaluable. “It’s so crazy to think that a company would supply such an amazing vehicle,” he says. “And to the public who voted for us, too. It will be customized by Defender for the specific needs of the dogs, and allow us to access mountain passes and difficult terrain. We couldn’t be more grateful.” The rescue is currently home to 58 wolfdogs.
Mazda
Mazda Canada announced long-term partnerships with Indspire and Pathways to Education, committing to $420,000 over three years to help these organizations uplift youth from Indigenous and low-income communities across Canada, a commitment to opportunities and job placement by investing in education and mentorship. Mazda employees continued their annual tradition of creating paper cranes – 10,000 this year – to donate to the Children’s Peace Monument at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, with 2024 seeing Mazda Retailers also participating. Since 2021, Mazda Canada and its Retailers have contributed over $2.5 million to support communities across Canada, with the Retailers celebrating Legendary community members who make a difference.
Mazda supports the Toronto Wildlife Centre with two Mazda5 vehicles to help transport sick and injured animals, as well as participating in fundraising for Campfire Circle and SickKids Heatwave Volleyball Tournament.
Thanks, everyone. You all make Canada better.
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