Finish Line

Microsoft believes in the transformative power of technology to help create social and economic opportunities for all Canadians. This principal is at the core of our business model, but it's also the driving force behind our corporate citizenship initiatives, helping us focus on projects that create the greatest impact. Our mission is to help Canadians unleash their potential so they can accomplish more than they dreamed possible.

Most of this work takes place as part of Microsoft's Unlimited Potential - Community Technology Skills (CTS) program, which aims to help a quarter of a billion people around the world gain access to the technology and acquire the skills training necessary to support employability and foster economic development in communities where they live.

In Canada more than $3 million in CTS grants has been given out. Earlier this year, Microsoft Canada donated $2 million in cash and software to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada (BGCC) for a program called Can Tech. The program will provide access to technology tools and education for 200,000 Canadian youth.

Microsoft Canada has a long history of working with the BGCC. Every holiday season we host a national Holiday Greeting Card Design Contest and invite all BGCC members to participate. This year, a Toronto area girl was chosen to have her artwork appear on our corporate holiday greeting cards. Microsoft Canada presented her with a laptop computer loaded with Microsoft software, a printer and a laptop bag. Microsoft also made a $1,000 donation to her local club.

Today's youth live highly digitized lives - email, the Internet, instant messaging, and social networking sites are the tools they use on a daily basis to do homework and connect with family and friends. Regrettably, children who experience frequent or lengthy periods of hospitalization are often cut off from technology while receiving treatment, disrupting their academic pursuits and creating a sense of social isolation.

To bring a sense of normalcy to the lives of hospitalized children, we partnered with the Children's Miracle Network and their affiliated children's hospitals to create the Child Life Interactive Computers for Kids (CLICK) program in order to provide connectivity, hardware, software, Xbox(r) video game consoles and games. This technology connects them with school, family, and friends in the hospital setting.

As part of the IWK CLICK program, Microsoft will also establish a virtual classroom. Using a laptop and webcams, patients will join their classes from the hospital, allowing them to interact seamlessly with their teachers and fellow students. Microsoft Roundtable webcams and LiveMeeting technology allows the patient to participate in classroom activities in real time. This is a new development for CLICK and will be of tremendous benefit to children who will continue their education uninterrupted.

Internet safety remains a very important subject matter for Canadians of all ages. This is why Microsoft Canada has championed an Internet safety awareness campaign since 2002. In 2009, Microsoft Canada will embark on another Internet safety campaign and release results from a new survey to promote safe online behaviours.

Microsoft Canada believes that through access to technology and education we can transform people's lives and their communities, creating economic opportunity while addressing social issues.