Media and Broadcast Industry

Our contributions to the media and broadcast industry in Canada ensure that the next generation of journalists, videographers, producers, actors and directors are provided every opportunity to excel. Canwest realizes today's students are tomorrow's colleagues, and supporting education is an investment in all of our futures. The funding we provide to post-secondary education programs across the country helps sustain a tradition of excellence and integrity within the Canadian media and broadcast industry.

The Canwest Foundation helps young people prepare for careers in the media and assists colleges and universities in providing the resources they need to offer world-class educational opportunities.

Academic Support

In late 2006 Canwest announced a major gift to the University of Winnipeg in its corporate head office city. The $3 million donation will be used to establish the Canwest Centre for Theatre and Film that will house the University of Winnipeg's internationally recognized School of Theatre and Film.

This generous gift will provide desperately needed theatre and studio space, including new editing labs, rehearsal studios, lighting and sound systems - all in one facility, a renovated heritage building on the University's downtown Winnipeg campus.

The University of Winnipeg Theatre and Film program, one of the largest in Canada, attracts students from all over the world and is unique on the Canadian Prairies. The Canwest Theatre Building is scheduled for completion in Fall 2007.

Wilfrid Laurier University - Brand Communication Chair
Canwest helped establish Canada's first University Chair and Bachelor of Business Administration in Brand Communication by donating a total of $75,000 to Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. The Brand Communication industry is growing in importance and is currently unrepresented at Canadian universities. The program will help ensure that Canadian students and companies have a role in this rapidly changing industry.

Red River College is Manitoba's second largest post-secondary institution and an important training ground for journalists and broadcast technicians, many of whom go on to be employed at Global Television and our specialty networks. Canwest has contributed $200,000 to the college to help fund its main television production studio and establish two ongoing scholarships for students in media programs. In recognition of this gift, the college's main studio is named Canwest Studio.

Canwest, the King family of Calgary, and Carleton University established the Diane Stuemer Fellowship in honour of the late esteemed journalist. The salaried fellowship gives a year's worth of reporting and writing experience at the Ottawa Citizen to a graduate who wants to launch a career in print journalism and has a record of academic excellence. The first recipient of the fellowship, Katie Lewis, is pursuing her Masters of Journalism at Carleton University and recently returned from working on a radio documentary in Uganda.

UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO - CANWEST GLOBAL MEDIA FELLOWSHIP
In 2005, the Canwest Foundation announced the establishment of the Canwest Fellowship at the University of Western Ontario's Graduate School of Journalism. The Fellowship was established with a gift of $1 million to the University of Western Ontario Foundation. A senior fellow is recruited from the executive or management ranks of a Canadian or international media company, to spend a semester at the school conducting research and lecturing on the business aspects of the media. Broadcast journalist, scholar, and theatre artist Rita Deverell was selected as the first holder of the Canwest Fellowship in Media. Ms. Deverell has a long and distinguished career in television and is also a member of the Order of Canada.

Programming Initiatives

Canadians of Excellence PSAs
This is an initiative funded by Canwest to create vignettes that highlight the outstanding achievements of Canadians. These vignettes depict Canadian heroes, academics and medical, business and cultural leaders. Canadian independent producers create the vignettes and make them available to all broadcasters free of charge.

Western Independent Producers Fund
From 2001 to 2006, Canwest gave $23.9 million in support of the Western Independent Producers Fund, which provided funding for film and television projects produced by independent producers in western Canada. Drama, documentaries, and children's programming received support.

Industry Support

The Canadian Broadcast Museum Foundation received $100,000 to help establish the Canadian Broadcast Museum in Ottawa.

CanWest Scholarships

As a major media company, Canwest recognizes the need to take a leading role in the education of future journalists and broadcasters and to ensure those working in the media today have access to professional development. Canwest annual scholarships help provide these opportunities for tomorrow's media leaders.

The Don McGillivray Scholarship
In 2004, Canwest established a new scholarship in Business Journalism at Carleton University. The scholarship honours the late esteemed journalist Don McGillivray. The $5,000 annual scholarship is awarded to a Carleton Journalism student with a minor in Business or Economics.

The Broadcaster of the Future Aboriginal People's Internship Award
The Canwest Foundation is committed to mentoring aboriginal people in the broadcast field. This award offers an aboriginal student an internship at Global Television and is valued at $10,000.

The Scholarship Award for a Canadian Visible Minority Student
The Canwest Foundation is committed to encouraging visible minorities in broadcasting. The award provides $4,500 in support of a student's broadcast education.

The Scholarship-Internship Award for a Canadian with a Physical Disability
This award is valued at $15,000 and provides financial assistance for one year of broadcast education and internship at Global Television.