Metro donates $1 million to the Université de Montréal and HEC Montréal
Tuesday January 20, 2015
Metro Inc., a leader in the food and pharmaceutical distribution sectors in Quebec and Ontario, today announced that it has donated a total of $1 million to Campus Montréal, the joint fundraising campaign for HEC Montréal, Polytechnique Montréal, and the Université de Montréal (UdeM).
A quarter of that amount – $250,000 – will fund research activities at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC), and another $250,000 will be used to create two Metro scholarships, one in management at HEC Montréal and one in nutrition at UdeM. This donation follows the gift of $500,000 by subsidiary McMahon Distributeur pharmaceutique Inc., franchisor of the Brunet banner, to the UdeM Faculty of Pharmacology Teaching Fund announced in October 2011.
“It’s an honour for Metro to be associated with these prestigious universities,” said Eric R. La Flèche, President and CEO of Metro Inc., “as well as a privilege to participate in the growth of our higher education institutions and, ultimately, in the betterment of society. As Quebec’s second largest employer, we firmly believe that it’s our duty and responsibility to invest in knowledge and in our future generations and leaders.”
“Metro is a valuable contributor to our fundraising campaign and we owe them our heartfelt thanks,” stated UdeM Rector Guy Breton. “This generous donation will support our top researchers in the fight against cancer and our brightest students in nutrition and management; these are three areas that are particularly important to us and have an impact on the development of Quebec society.”
“We thank Metro for creating this scholarship program to promote educational opportunities for academically gifted students,” said Michel Patry, Director of HEC Montréal, “and helping them achieve their dream of becoming the next generation of leaders to help Quebec and Canada manage a thriving economy.”
Metro’s latest donation will be put to immediate use: two UdeM nutritionist students and two HEC Montréal management students will each receive a $2,500 scholarship this year. The scholarships are awarded on an annual basis to financially needy students who maintain a solid academic record. The $250,000 donation to IRIC will enable it to further its research activities and pursue its goals of unravelling the mysteries of cancer and build on an integrated drug discovery chain.
About Metro: www.metro.ca
About the Université de Montréal: www.umontreal.ca
About HEC Montréal: www.hec.ca
About Campus Montréal: www.campus-montreal.ca
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Information:
Université de Montréal
Mathieu Filion
m.filion.rivest@umontreal.ca
514 343-7704
HEC Montréal
Julie Lajoye
julie.lajoye@hec.ca
514 340-7320
Metro Inc.
Geneviève Grégoire
genevieve.gregoire@metro.ca
514 643-1000, ext. 2055