Training for Presidents and Vice Presidents of Student Companies at HEC Montréal – December 2, 2023

A big thanks to our dedicated volunteers for their participation in the training day for the presidents and V.P.s in finance, information technology, production, marketing, and human resources of student companies at HEC Montréal last Saturday! Thanks to your support, we trained 195 young individuals that day (approximately thirty student companies). In the afternoon, the young participants were able to engage in team-building activities, including delivering sales speeches.

A special thanks to Jordan Madore, Patrick Ghazal, Nyrlande Marcellus, Nicolas Dostie, Gabryel Duck, Chemali Gassan, François Bélanger, Nacer Zhara, M’Hamed Mobarki, LongJing Chu,  Joanne Ly, Claire Keller, Maelle Michelet, and Caroline Schnoering.

Partner Day at La Voie School – November 17, 2023

This Friday, November 17, 2023, we delivered our programs ‘Economics for Success’ and ‘A World of Choices’ to eight high school classes at La Voie School. 240 students received our educational programs with the assistance of our volunteers. The success of this day would not have been possible without the generous support of our partner, EY.

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to making this day a resounding success: Alain Ghobril, Clément Thibaudier, Rachel Simmons, Christophe Thibodeau, Steven Arsan, Maelle Michelet, Joanne Ly, Pascale Attendu and Sharis Malians.

Cap Campus – Dragons’ Den Workshop – July 27, 2023

📣 Cap campus brings together the Université de Montréal community to offer high school and cegep students a unique experience that enlightens them about academic and career perspectives, encouraging them to surpass themselves. This event offers conferences, workshops, mentoring, campus tours, and networking activities, allowing each individual to find their path and become a key player in society.

🗓️ On July 27th, JA Québec is organizing the Dragons’ Den workshop, a program that introduces young people to the world of entrepreneurship. Participants will have the opportunity to prepare sales pitches to present their innovative and original projects to a panel of expert judges. Nicolas Dostie (Alumni JA Québec and former president of the student company Arrière-Saison) will have the honor of giving a speech during this event. This interactive and enriching experience will allow them to concretely explore the world of entrepreneurship and benefit from the wise advice of the judges to develop their entrepreneurial skills. Don’t miss this exceptional opportunity to practice in front of seasoned professionals and discover the potential of entrepreneurship. Join us for this stimulating and inspiring day! Click here to learn more

The Diversity Olympics at Patro de Charlesbourg

On July 19th, JA Québec hosted the program ‘Stronger Together: Diversity in Action’ for over 675 young individuals at the Patro de Charlesbourg! 🎉 Young people aged from 7 to 15 had the opportunity to experience an unforgettable day filled with fun and inspiring activities, emphasizing healthy competition, communication, and, most importantly, collaboration. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to each and every one of you, the fifteen exceptional volunteers, who made this day possible. Lamiae Tidaf, Elise Perreault, Djibrim Gourouza, Marie-Josée Chabot and Annie Bois from The National Bank of Canada, Marie-Claude Dube, Simon Normand and François Valois from Bentley Systems, Yves Moreau, Chloé Baussant, Nancy Laneuville, Stéphane Poitiers, Josée St-Onge, Andréanne Thivierge, Stéphane Dupont, Gaetan Houde, Adriana Ramirez Razo, and Geneviève Gagné. Thanks to your caring and dedicated presence, we successfully demonstrated to our young participants that by celebrating our differences, we can work together towards a common goal. The theme of ‘Diversity Olympics’ allowed each individual to discover, listen to, and learn from one another. This day served as a powerful reminder that diversity is an invaluable asset, and we firmly believe that the values of inclusion and solidarity we nurtured together will continue to shine in the hearts of the young participants for a long time. Thank you all for your commitment and support towards our cause! Discover the photo gallery of the event

Youth Toward Employment program with AIEM

Our objective is to help break down barriers that adversely affect certain communities, particularly in terms of access to knowledge about entrepreneurship, job readiness and financial wellness. JA Quebec has succeeded in promoting this cause by joining hands with Accueil aux Immigrants de l’Est de Montréal (AIEM), a non-profit organization whose mission is to help the socio-economic integration of immigrants and visible minorities, enabling them to grow into independent citizens of their new community. We are participating in Youth Toward Employment, a provincially funded program that facilitates the professional integration of young people in the Montreal area. In a nutshell, this great program is open to newcomers ages 15 to 30, offering them 15 weeks of paid training and a 5-week paid internship. As part of this initiative, every Thursday in June and July, JA Quebec will offer talks and educational programs to the Summer 2023 cohort. I’d like to express my gratitude to Allan Alva Lopez and Anaïs Le-Juez, employees of National Bank, for getting this event started this week. The young attendees and the teacher, Sherelyng Vanessa Peña, very much enjoyed the talk by the two speakers, who recounted their educational and professional background with admirable humanity. If you’d like to participate in this excellent and important initiative, please write to dberard@jaquebec.org to reserve your spot today. You can also do this experience as a duo if you want to share it with a colleague!

Therrien Couture Joli-Coeur law camp (July 10–14)

A perfect opportunity for kids ages 10 to 14 to learn about law and everything related to it! ⚖️The law camp, presented by Therrien Couture Joli-Coeur, is back this year! The week-long camp will revolve around entrepreneurship, which is all the more reason to attend! Does your teenager want be their own boss when they’re older? Do they have brilliant ideas and a passion for starting a business? Or maybe they just want to make new friends? With games, surprise guests and even a virtual visit to the Supreme Court of Canada, we’re sure they won’t regret this action-packed adventure. The cost? We simply ask for a donation in the amount of your choosing. All donations will to go to JA Quebec.

Date: July 10–14, 2023
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Location: Online

Complete the registration form today!

2023 Grand Boucan in Quebec City (May 21, 2023)

JA Quebec had the opportunity to participate in the “Grand Boucan” in Quebec City. At this community event, we presented activities from our Stronger Together: Diversity in Action program to more than 50 families and 100 kids. This work readiness program teaches kids that together they can go further! We also had the opportunity to meet Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus, MP Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, with whom we spoke about the importance of our entrepreneurship, financial literacy and work readiness programs. With a long background in the business world, he readily understood the importance of instilling this passion in future adults! Thank you to the Patro de Charlesbourg community centre for giving us this wonderful opportunity!

Partner Day at Joseph-François Perreault school (May 18, 2023)

On Thursday, May 18, JA Quebec was at Joseph-François Perreault secondary school for a Partner Day, delivering the Economics for Success program to all Secondary 2 students. On this special day, our volunteer experts helped more than 200 students think about their future, whether in terms of post-secondary education or career choice. They displayed tremendous commitment to the students. With their generosity of time, knowledge sharing and life experiences, they undeniably left a lasting impression on the students, who now have an idea of what their future could look like if they make smart decisions based on their interests and dreams. Teaching anyone, not to mention teenagers, is not an easy task. It’s a demanding exercise that requires patience, creativity and empathy. Many thanks to CIBC, BMO and Fairstone Financial!

Partner Day in Quebec City

Last month in Quebec City, Chaudière-Appalaches and even Donnacona, more than 375 elementary and secondary school students received free workshops on financial wellness, entrepreneurship and work readiness. Thank you to Annie Bois, Gabriel Giroux, Meghan Turcotte and Karine Fortier. We are extremely fortunate to be able to regularly count on our volunteers from National Bank. You’re making a significant impact in the lives of many young elementary and secondary school students! Thank you for getting involved! Many thanks to Alexandre Racicot and Jerome Chouinard, from Fairstone Bank financial services, who gave their first class with JA Quebec to a Secondary 5 group. Thank you to Luc Tremblay for putting us in touch! Thank you to Marie Sigmen from Cégep de Sainte-Foy, who managed to free up her schedule so she could donate her time and share her wealth of experience with the students! Another thank-you to Olivier Couette from Agrotours Charlevoix. Your classroom appearances always capture the attention of students and teachers. Thank you to Olivier Rousseau from Spectrum media who went to speak to students about networking, interviews and how to stand out from the crowd. Thank you to Samuel Labbé, a recent graduate with a degree in business management from Cégep de Sainte-Foy. Thank you to Stephanie Bernadet from Naturmania Inc., who had the generosity to give not one, but 4 talks at the Donnacona secondary school!

Dragons Day at Cégep Édouard Montpetit (March 3, 2023)

We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all the volunteers who participated in our “Dragons’ Den” workshop at Cégep Édouard Montpetit on March 3, 2023. We would especially like to thank Maxime Lapratte (Director and P&C Insurance Broker, DPA Assurances), Alina Mrut (Senior Relationship Manager, Commercial Services, BMO), Arnaud Ferrand (Strategy, Business Transfers and Valuation Advisor) and Caroline Schnoering (JA Quebec) for their commitment and valuable contribution that helped make this day a success.

The DRAGONS workshop is a JA Quebec pilot program that aims to introduce students to the world of entrepreneurship, offering them the opportunity to pitch a business to businesspeople or experienced entrepreneurs who judge their work. Multimedia students were invited to participate in an adaptation of the “Dragons’ Den” TV show, where they would come up with innovative and original business ideas and pitch them to a panel of expert judges. Click here to learn more.

Partner Day at La Voie school (November 16, 2022)

On November 16, we delivered 8 classes to Secondary 3 students at La Voie school. Some 220 students, 8 teachers and the resource centre staff were recruited to participate in 2 of our programs (World of Choices and Economics for Success). Six volunteers and the JA Quebec team were at the school to deliver the program content to mark Financial Literacy Month. Special thanks to Maria Giacomodonato, a guidance counsellor at La Voie school, for being involved with JA Quebec for over 20 years! A huge THANKS goes out to our sponsoring partners, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Zurich Foundation, and to our volunteers, Jean Abdallah (TD), Tatamo Andrian, Caroline Cornu, Hanyin Chen, André Grégoire and Marcos Rodolfo (National Bank).