IDRF’s Get Job Ready program adjusts with new content & delivery technology  

TORONTO, April 17, 2020 – With face-to-face training in classroom settings no longer a viable option during the COVID-19 pandemic, IDRF (International Development and Relief Foundation) today announced that it has moved its highly successful Get Job Ready and Licensed to Learn (L2L) programs to online environments.

 “With the economic challenges created by the current public health crisis, programs designed to train, prepare and empower our Canadian youth for the future of work are more vital than ever,” said Mahmood Qasim, CEO of IDRF. “By moving our job training programs online and updating our content, we can continue to help at-risk youth, including those in First Nation communities, as well as those who are new to Canada.”

Get Job Ready is an IDRF initiative dedicated to helping young Canadians overcome the barriers they face in getting academic support and gaining access to the labour market, and helping them achieve their career goals. Since 2017, Get Job Ready has taught hundreds of Canadians how to navigate the job market and acquire essential employment skills. For example, more than 55% of Get Job Ready participants have found jobs, and 68% report they have been called for two or more job interviews.

What makes Get Job Ready unique is that beyond teaching the job searching strategies, through group work, mock interviews, ice breakers and debates, the sessions build each participant’s soft skills, such as critical thinking, communication, social cohesion, problem-solving and leadership. Furthermore, IDRF offers support for participants upon completion of the program, helping them prepare for interviews by conducting practice sessions through video and even using the voice notes features on What’s App and Instagram.

The Get Job Ready initiative, which includes L2L, is supported through the RBC Future Launch program, which for the past three years has been a major sponsor.  RBC Future Launch is a 10-year, $500-million initiative to help young people gain access and opportunity to the skills, job experience and career networks needed for the future world of work.

In addition to being delivered online, the new digital version of Get Job Ready has been adapted to the current economic climate. For example, the program identifies the various types of jobs available in today’s market, provides training on how to do effective video job interviews, stresses the importance of learning new skills during a period of isolation, and encourages relationship building with professionals in their chosen fields.

“Get Job Ready alumni often send us positive messages about landing their first job or securing the internship they believe will create a pathway towards a bright future,” explains Mr. Qasim. “However, since the outbreak of COVID-19, the tone of the messages we’ve received has been much different. Youth that previously completed Get Job Ready have been victims of cutbacks. Others are worried that landing a summer job now becomes impossible.”

Get Job Ready will instill a more robust level of confidence for young Canadians facing the most challenging employment market in a generation. Moreover, youth that complete the digital training will be offered the opportunity to participate in in-person workshops once social distancing ends, so they can meet the peers they connected with online.

About IDRF:

IDRF is a Canadian registered charitable organization dedicated to empowering disadvantaged people in Canada and around the world. Founded in 1984, IDRF has an enviable reputation as one of Canada’s best-run charities and has been recognized by third-party organizations such as the Financial Post and MoneySense for its effectiveness, efficiency, and results.  IDRF has also been blessed with outstanding leadership and governance, and has board directors who have been publicly recognized with Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for volunteerism. Find out more about IDRF’s programs for youth, and follow us on Facebook, Instagram  and LinkedIn.

For more information and interviews, contact:

Nabil Ali
647-685-8780
Nali@idrf.ca

Donations being accepted to purchase much-needed Personal Protective Equipment

TORONTO, April 12, 2020 – IDRF (International Development & Relief Foundation) is pleased to announce it has partnered with Conquer COVID-19 to accept donations that will be used to procure Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other essential supplies for Canada’s healthcare community.

Donations for the Conquer COVID-19 fundraising campaign can be made on the IDRF website at: www.idrf.com/conquercovid19. Tax receipts will be issued for all donations.

The COVID-19 pandemic is stretching the limits of Canada’s healthcare system and putting frontline workers at risk as they work without adequate protective equipment to save the lives of Canadians. IDRF and Conquer COVID-19 are working together to raise funds so that face shields, surgical masks, respirators, gowns, and other urgently needed supplies can be provided to healthcare workers in their fight to prevent the spread of COVID-19 across Canada.

“In Canada, our frontline healthcare workers have been doing an outstanding job and are working around the clock to ensure people affected by the virus receive the care they need,” said Mahmood Qasim, CEO of IDRF. “Our organization is pleased to support the heroic efforts of Canada’s healthcare community by partnering with Conquer COVID-19.”
Since its creation some three weeks ago, the Conquer COVID-19 team has already distributed or facilitated the donation of thousands of items – including gloves, masks, gowns, face shields, two-way baby monitors, etc. – to healthcare workers throughout the GTA and along the Ottawa to Hamilton corridor. And with the continued generous support of Canadians, many more urgently needed items will make their way to healthcare workers across the country.

About Conquer COVID-19
Conquer COVID-19 is a grassroots incubator that is facilitating access to personal protective equipment (PPE) and other priority products and supplies that are essential for frontline healthcare workers and primary care providers in treating patients and minimizing the spread of the virus. The multidisciplinary team of more than 70 volunteers includes frontline healthcare workers, engineers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, medical students, and NGO members that are joining together to tackle pressing issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Conquer COVID-19 has support from a broad range of Canadian society including hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser and actor Ryan Reynolds, as well as from businesses such as Toys ‘R’ Us, Volvo Car Canada, XYZ Storage, and VTech. For additional information, visit conquercovid19.ca.

About IDRF:
IDRF is a Canadian registered charitable organization dedicated to empowering disadvantaged people in Canada and around the world. The organization has an enviable reputation as one of Canada’s best-run charities and has been recognized by third-party organizations such as the Financial Post and MoneySense for its effectiveness, efficiency, and results. IDRF has also been blessed with outstanding leadership and governance, and has board directors who have been publicly recognized with Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for volunteerism. Through this joint effort, IDRF will play a critical role in managing donations for Conquer COVID-19 and will ensure funds collected support healthcare workers and that results are monitored.

Media contacts:

For IDRF
David Moorcroft
416-727-1858
david@strategy2communications.com

For Conquer COVID-19
Jodi Echakowitz
416-271-7250
jodi@boulevardpr.com

140 major charities form Emergency Coalition to save sector and maintain support to Canada’s most vulnerable.

TORONTO, March 25, 2020 — The leaders of 120 Canadian charities have written a letter to the Government of Canada asking for urgent financial support to prevent the irreparable collapse of the sector, and their vital programs, due to the COVID-19 crisis. Canada’s charities are a critical  part of the Canadian economy, contributing more than eight percent to Canada’s GDP ($162 billion in 2017) and employing more than ten percent (1.4 million) of working Canadians.

Without immediate support from the federal government, most Canadian charities will have to lay off massive numbers of employees, greatly impeding their ability to support vulnerable people and communities. Many are facing a very real threat of permanent closure.

The Emergency Coalition of Canadian Charities, which includes War Child, United Way, the Canadian Cancer Society, YMCA, Indspire, Kids Helpline, Community Food Centres Canada, Women’s Shelters Canada, Covenant House, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, and Heart and Stroke Foundation, among many others, is recommending the following:

1. The immediate establishment of an emergency $10 billion stabilization fund that will allow charities to survive, retain staff, cover critical expenses, and continue essential, frontline operations during the pandemic;
2. Loan guarantees to Canada’s banks to ensure that charitable organizations have easy access to urgent, substantial short term low- or no-interest loans to support their operations;
3. Increase the Charitable Donation Tax Credit through to the end of 2021 from 50% to 75% (in line with the rate that is provided for political donations) to encourage Canadians to donate;
4. Continue to flow already-contracted funds to charities and allow for maximum flexibility and re-budgeting as charities struggle to deliver and/or redesign their programs in the wake of COVID-19; and
5. Ensure that charities have access to the same recovery programs that businesses do at every step.

These measures will help ensure Canada’s charitable sector survives and can continue providing vital support to vulnerable Canadians and families hit hard by COVID-19. These recommendations are also in line with those being advocated by Imagine Canada.

Dr. Samantha Nutt, Founder and President of War Child Canada said: “The impact of current events on charities cannot be overstated. Few charities have the financial reserves and access to capital that will allow them to stay afloat through this pandemic.  It is a brutal irony that as vulnerable groups in Canada and around the world are confronting the social hardship and economic fallout of COVID-19, charities who might support and assist them are struggling themselves to figure out how they will continue to resource their operations, employ their staff and provide vital support to vulnerable people.”

David Morley, CEO of UNICEF Canada commented: ““We risk losing the core of the non-profit sector in Canada. We will have to rebuild these non-profits that are so important for the life of Canada, we mustn’t lose this incredible social structure.”

Charities are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 crisis because organizations rely on a steady stream of donations, business support and government investments to survive. All of these revenue sources have been disrupted and are under threat.

“Oganizations in the charitable sector care for all of Canada’s most vulnerable populations, filling in where our social safety net fails people. We survive on donations and the efforts of volunteers in the community, all of which are being drastically curtailed through the pandemic. Charities are too important to the fabric of Canada to be forgotten during this crisis,” says Andrea Seale, CEO, Canadian Cancer Society.

Dan Clement, President & CEO, United Way Centraide Canada said: “Canada has an adaptive and innovative network of community services for vulnerable people, but the very nature of this pandemic is striking at the heart of this service capacity, drastically reducing the availability of volunteers due to social isolation, spiking demand for basic needs, putting front line community service staff at risk and threatening the very existence of this critical service capacity as revenues dry up. Flexible community funding to support our most vulnerable and delivered in local communities is what we need immediately. Equally, a broader charitable sector stabilization program to backstop our essential community service infrastructure is critical to ensuring it will be there to serve Canadians today, in six months and in the years to come.”

Without the presence of charities supporting Canada and the world’s recovery, more and more vulnerable members of our society will be at risk, which in turn will worsen and deepen the impact of COVID-19 for all Canadians.

Roberta Jamieson, President and CEO of Indspire, a national Indigenous charity that invests in education, said: “Throughout Canada, charitable organizations are serving the needs of citizens. Every dollar donated to Canadian charities goes back into the community to continue serving the needs of the most vulnerable which includes Indigenous peoples. We call on the Government of Canada to establish an emergency stabilization fund that will allow charities to stay afloat and continue to meet the need of groups at risk, including First Nations, Inuit and Metis youth who are working to create a better future for their communities.”

Read the letter:

English version

French version

Press release (English)