October 2, 2019

North Bay, ON., October 2, 2019. . . Today, a mix of students, community members, and Canada Life and Canadore College employees came together to experience a mindfulness meditation event in celebration of the new Canada Life Mental Health Counselling Rooms at Canadore College.

“At Canada Life, we support educational initiatives aimed at helping youth grow and discover opportunities, as well as initiatives that advance the financial, physical and mental health of Canadians,” says Jeff Macoun, President and Chief Operating Officer, Canada, for Canada Life. “Not only does Canadore College’s The Village capital campaign bring those two things together, it allows us to incorporate a focus on mental health, which is increasingly important in our community and the workplace.”

The seven Canada Life counselling rooms are available to any Canadore College program or community agency that requires private areas for learning. The rooms, as a practise environment, are designed to feel like the places and situations the students will find themselves in as professionals. The calming spaces are ideal for learning group and individual counselling and intervention, taught using current models of recovery and relapse prevention.

“These new rooms give students a space to learn to use effective counselling skills in a real-world environment, which can help lead to positive change for people experiencing mental health and addictions issues,” said George Burton, President and CEO of Canadore College. “We’re grateful to Canada Life for their generous contribution to our capital campaign. Their support helped build these spaces as an investment in our community’s mental and physical health for years to come.”

Canada Life also provides funding for two annual student bursaries, empowering people who may have faced financial barriers to admission. Both bursaries support students enrolling in new academic programs relating to remote and rural public health and health systems administration. The programs are offered through the expanded school of health, human care and wellness.

The 30-minute meditation practice was kindly led by Ryan Farquhar of Ryananda Meditation and Mindfulness Living.

About Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life

Great-West Life, London Life and Canada Life are leading insurance, wealth management and benefits specialists, focused on improving the financial, physical and mental well-being of Canadians. Under the new Canada Life brand, we help Canadians achieve their potential, every day. Our customers across Canada have trusted us to provide for their financial security needs and deliver on the promises we have made. Together, we serve the financial security needs of more than 13 million people across Canada and provide a wide range of products and services for individuals, families and business owners.

As an Imagine Caring Company, we support the principles of corporate citizenship and benchmarks for community investment established by Imagine Canada. Our companies contribute at least one per cent of pre-tax profit in support of the communities where our employees and customers live and work. This includes $13.3 million in contributions to non-profit, charitable and community organizations in 2018.

About Canadore College

Canadore College trains people through applied learning, leadership and innovation. It provides access to over 80 full-time quality programs and has outstanding faculty and provides success services to students from nearly 400 Canadian communities and 15 international countries. The College and its students add nearly $244 million to the Nipissing Parry Sound Service Area economy. Approximately 1,000 students graduate from Canadore each year, and they join 46,000 alumni working across the globe. Canadore receives less than 50 per cent of its traditional funding from the provincial Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and relies on its own innovation and entrepreneurial endeavors and generous donors for the balance. Visit canadorecollege.ca for more information.

For more information contact:

Liz Kulyk
Director of Media Relations and Public Affairs
Canada Life
204-926-5012
Media.Relations@canadalife.com

Brad Gavan
Director, Foundation and Office of Corporate, Community & Alumni Partnership
Canadore College
705-474-7600 ext. 5124
Bradley.gavan@canadorecollege.ca