At the local and regional levels: mobilizing communities
In order to mobilize local and regional communities, the Foundation—in partnership with the Quebec government—supports three independent organizations that are responsible for administering projects proposed by the community that promote early childhood development, a healthy lifestyle and student retention :
Early childhood development
On September 24, 2009, an Act to create an Early Childhood Development Fund was adopted. A fund management company, now called Avenir d’enfants, was created to manage the fund. A total of $400 million ($150 million from public coffers and $250 from the Foundation, over 10 years) will be invested. The mission of the fund is to support the mobilization of local communities involved in projects that promote the overall development of children under five living in poverty to ensure that every child has a chance to benefit from a good start in life. More...
A healthy lifestyle
On June 5, 2007, the Act to establish the Fund for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle was adopted. Until September 2010, the Société de gestion du Fonds pour la promotion des saines habitudes de vie was mandated to coordinate all the operations of the Fund and oversee the development and financing of national promotion projects (accounting for 25% of invested funds). The corporation entrusted Québec en Forme with the responsibility of supporting local community projects (accounting for 75% of invested funds). On October 13, 2010, the Société de gestion du Fonds and Québec en Forme merged to create a new organization under the name Québec en Forme. This new organization continues to pursue its mission to help promote healthy eating habits and a physically active lifestyle among young Quebecers from birth to 17 years of age, and to support favourable environments. A total of $480 million will be invested over a 10-year period ($240 million from the Foundation and $240 million from the Quebec government). More...
Student retention and educational success
The Foundation has also decided to support initiatives promoting student retention in Québec by particularly investing on the mobilization of the Instances régionales de concertation (IRC) and the local communities through the Réunir Réussir organization. On March 27, 2009, during the presentation of the major directions of the new Secrétariat à la jeunesse’s Stratégie d’Action Jeunesse 2009-2014, a joint initiative with the Quebec government for promoting student retention was announced. A total of $50 million over five years ($25 million from the Secrétariat à la jeunesse and $25 million from the Foundation) will be invested. More...