Dear friends,

It’s remarkable how swiftly another year has passed!

First and foremost, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support of our mission. Throughout 2023, we’ve achieved many significant milestones to ensure our military members, veterans, and their families receive the recognition and support they deserve. This includes a very special thank you to the NOS Foundation for believing in our vision and offering their splendid support for our expansion.

Just recently, we have concluded some important partnership agreements with BMO and TVO to advance our military history education programs to the national level, starting with Ontario.

I am also very happy to announce that our 2024 Speaker Series will be co-sponsored by Accenture. This will allow the series to achieve a Pan-Canadian reach, opening even more opportunities to raise awareness of the Canadian Armed Forces’ roles and challenges across the country.

Thanks to all of you, I am proud to say 2023 has been one of our most successful years to date. I am delighted to highlight a few key moments that were guided by our pillars to raise Awareness of the CAF’s value and impact, champion Education, and prioritize Wellbeing.

Expanding Our Footprint

A priority of Canada Company is to broaden our presence and influence across the nation. To accomplish this, we’re actively seeking new Chapter Leads in the western, prairie, and maritime provinces.

In September, we marked a pivotal moment by officially inaugurating our Alberta Chapter, under the dedicated leadership of Chapter President Scott Burns. The celebration brought Alberta business and community leaders together with military leaders of the 3rd Canadian Army Division.

Raising Awareness

This year we proudly launched our CAF Speaker Series, a platform designed to improve Canada’s future by facilitating meaningful connections between CAF leadership and corporate leaders across the nation.

In May, we hosted a memorable event at the Calgary Ranchmen’s Club with guest speaker, Lieutenant-General (Ret’d) the Honourable Andrew Leslie, on the current geo-strategic landscape.

In the following month, we hosted another event at the National Club in Toronto, with speaker Lieutenant-General E.J. Kenny, Commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).

On October 30^th, our Quebec Chapter held its Annual Mess Dinner in Montreal. This year’s topic was “Reflection On Leadership”. It was a wonderful and insightful evening of knowledge exchange with guest speaker, General (Ret’d) Walt Natynczyk.

It has been wonderful to see so many extraordinary photos from our recent CAF Experience Day program that resumed this year. Many of Canada Company’s friends were invited to experience a day in the life of a Canadian Army soldier at CFB Edmonton. The goal of these events is to help civilians gain a better understanding of the relevance and readiness of our military. I encourage you to visit our website photo gallery to see some of the event photos. They are amazing!

Championing Education One of the standout moments of 2023 was our 16th Annual Scholarship Ceremony, held at The National Club in Toronto. Each year, Canada Company awards scholarships to the children of military heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service of our country. It was truly heart-warming to witness such a gathering of our community as we gave out 25 more scholarships, now taking us over the $1 million mark since 2007. I’d like to thank our distinguished guests, The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and Lieutenant-General E.J. Kenny, Commander of the RCAF, for their invaluable contributions and words of wisdom.

As part of our work to champion education, Canada Company awards bursaries to exemplary youth in the Junior Canadian Rangers (JCR) and Cadets. I would like to congratulate our 22 JCR and 30 Cadets who were selected for their leadership, teamwork, skills development, and support to their communities!

Je Me Souviens, now under the umbrella of our National Military Education Programs, had one of its most successful years to date, supporting over 36 schools in Quebec. We are now in the early stages of expanding across Canada, beginning with Ontario, under the name Honouring Bravery. I’m looking forward to continuing our momentum in 2024!

Prioritizing Wellbeing

As part of our work to prioritize wellbeing, we continue to participate in Strategic Knowledge Exchange meetings to help members of the Canadian Armed Forces with their housing challenges. We discussed shared difficulties civilians and military members have finding housing, and solutions that could help.

New this year, we supported Grief Reconciliation Training workshops in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The program is designed to help equip those who are at high risk of experiencing injury, loss, or secondary trauma with the knowledge and skills to deal with the challenges they may face day-to-day.

Another big highlight was celebrating 25 years of the Junior Canadian Rangers. It was our honour to sponsor the design and distribution of 5,000 commemorative coins to mark the occasion. The first two coins were co-presented at the National Marksmanship Championship by our Managing Director Marie Claire Ouellette and Programs Manager Jay Yakabowitch to Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Langlois, Acting Director Canadian Rangers, and Chief Warrant Officer Mike Egan, Corps Sergeant Major. In August, our BC Chapter President, George Salamis presented the coins to JCRs in Whitehorse, Yukon at their Leadership Training event. All other JCRs received their coins through their Patrols back home.

Additionally in our work to prioritize wellbeing, we continued to provide financial support to Junior Canadian Rangers in remote and isolated regions of Canada.

Recently, it was great to hear from some of the families who benefited from Camps for Children. The program gives military members’ children opportunities to build friendships, learn, and play, while also providing their family with respite care. This year, we sponsored 34 children to go to camp.

“We could have never afforded to send our kids if we had not received this grant! They had an amazing time and created special memories. We are so grateful that they got to go especially with their dad overseas this summer it helped to make positive memories during a tough time otherwise. Thank you!” — Parents of sponsored participant

A Year Worth Celebrating

Undoubtedly, it has been a productive year for us, and there are many more exciting things on the horizon, including a new website for Canada Company, and new partnerships that will lead to continued expansion of our footprint and programs across Canada.

As the holiday season draws near, I hope you find yourself refreshed, reflective, and ready for what’s ahead. Once more, I extend my heartfelt thanks for your unwavering support that allows us to continue to serve those who serve!

If you’d like to recommit to Canada Company, giving generously is one of the best ways to honour our country’s veterans, military members, and their families. See below for the ways your contributions can make an impact.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season,

Blake C. Goldring, C.M., M.S.M., CD
Founder and Chair of Canada Company

Donate this holiday season Impact of your individual or collective donations

Please consider a monthly gift to support our work throughout the year.

Online at canadacompany.ca or by sending your contribution to the address at the bottom of this page.   Thank you and happy holidays! The Board of Directors Blake C. Goldring, François J. Joyet, Garfield Mitchell, George Salamis, Kim Shannon, Paul Hindo, Rose Patten, Scott Burns, Tim Hogarth, William Braithwaite