History of the Foundation
1988: The Chagnon family becomes involved in philanthropy
The Chagnon Foundation Trust was created to dovetail the philanthropic activities of Le Groupe Vidéotron Ltée, owned at the time by the Chagnon family. Through the Trust, André Chagnon’s family members showed their commitment to personal involvement in philanthropic work by donating a considerable portion of their future inheritance to the cause.
2000: The Foundation is born and obtains charitable status
In 2000, estate planning decisions resulted in the Chagnon Foundation Trust being “repatriated” to Canada as the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation. Following the sale of Le Groupe Vidéotron in October, the Foundation was fully capitalized and obtained charitable status. Its overall mission was to address the causes—rather than the consequences—of poverty and disease, and to support communities in their efforts to find innovative, comprehensive and sustainable solutions.
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2001–02: Consultative tour
Shortly after the Foundation was created, its leaders went on a consultative tour in Quebec, Canada and abroad in order to identify the most promising approaches to poverty and disease prevention. After more than forty meetings with key experts and resource people, they established broad directions and targets. The Foundation began systematically funding large-scale and pilot projects, including Québec en Forme, a joint initiative with the Quebec government.
2002–04: Focusing efforts on early prevention
During these years, the Foundation clarified its mandate by focusing on prevention at the earliest possible stage in life. This approach gave rise to a number of projects, including Québec Enfants.
Financial guidelines were adopted for 2010, with plans to allocate $60 million annually to major prevention initiatives that would be implemented primarily by local communities.
2006–07: Adoption of the Act to establish the Fund for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle
With a view to improving educational success, the Foundation reached an agreement in 2006 with the Quebec government to create a joint fund to promote healthy lifestyles. A total of $400 million would be allocated to this fund over the next ten years.
The Act to establish the Fund for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle was unanimously passed on June 5, 2007 by the National Assembly. The Fund supports the 2006–2012 Government action plan to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent weight-related problems, " Investir pour l’avenir ". Support is also provided to community projects run by Québec en Forme.
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2008: Plenty of projects... and a focus on keeping kids in school
On January 22, 2008, community organizations were invited to submit projects aimed at helping children acquire healthy eating habits and stay physically active. Project proposals were submitted.
On June 17, 2008, a bill to establish an early childhood development fund was introduced. Building on the Québec Enfants, initiative, the Foundation has been working for a number of months on a partnership agreement with the Quebec government in order to create an early childhood development fund.
Healthy lifestyle and early childhood development initiatives have begun to show results. While continuing its efforts in these areas, the Foundation decided, in 2008, to focus on another of its poverty and disease prevention priorities student retention. The Foundation firmly believes that health and educational success go hand in hand. Educational success is the acquisition of knowledge, key competencies and personal, social and democratic values. It enables children to grow as individuals, think independently, enter the job market with relative ease, and be well positioned to give back to society. An advanced level of education, better working conditions and a higher income are all directly tied to better overall health. To accurately identify current educational success issues, approaches and determining factors—and to forge ties with the communities involved—the Foundation visited the regional bodies involved in March and June 2008.
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2009: Two joint initiatives and a major societal project
The year 2009 marked the creation of two important joint initiatives with the Quebec government. The first was the adoption, on September 24, of an Act to create an Early Childhood Development Fund. A total of $400 million ($150 million from public coffers and $250 from the Foundation, over 10 years) will be invested in local community projects to offer young children living in poverty every possible chance to get a good head start at school and continue their education successfully. A fund management company was created to manage the fund, and its Board of Directors met for the first time on November 30. To find out more…
The second initiative aimed at encouraging student retention was launched on March 27, 2009, as part of the Quebec government’s Stratégie d’Action Jeunesse 2009-2014. On this occasion, the government, represented by the Secrétariat à la jeunesse, and the Lucie and André Chagnon Foundation concluded an agreement ($25 million from the Secrétariat d’Action Jeunesse and $25 million from the Foundation, invested over five years) to fund an innovative long-term project to support efforts to mobilize stakeholders working to promote children’s educational success at the regional and local levels. The administrative structure of this initiative was created, and the first meeting of the Board of Directors of the NPO was held on December 4, 2009. To find out more…
Alongside these two initiatives, the Foundation also launched a massive campaign in the fall of 2009 to increase public awareness of the importance of stimulating the development of children under five to ensure their school readiness. The Help them grow.com societal project is aimed at recognizing parents’ status as primary actors in the development of their children’s education maturity. To find out more…
And, finally, the year 2009 marked the arrival of Claude Chagnon as President of the Foundation, while André Chagnon continues to act as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.