Scotiabank is putting the spotlight on one of its partner organizations that helps bring hockey to under-served Canadian communities.
Working with Project North and northern Canadian airline First Air, Scotiabank recently helped deliver 25 bags of new hockey equipment to youth in Kuujjuaq, QC, located in the province’s northern Nunavik region that is home to much of its Inuit population. The bank also partnered with the NHL and the Alumni Association to bring the Stanley Cup along for the trip, while former Cup winners John LeClair and Marty McSorley ran clinics for young players and coaches throughout the day.
The trip was captured by a film crew sent along by Rogers, for which Scotiabank is a sponsor of its NHL broadcasts, in a video that was shown during the pre-game broadcast before Hockey Night in Canada last weekend.
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John Doig, CMO at Scotiabank, says through the support of Rogers, the bank was able to provide more than financial support to Project North, giving the organization exposure and recognition it wouldn’t otherwise by able to pay for itself.
“Part of the sponsorship program has been that there will be good community messages delivered through [Rogers’] platforms,” Doig says, which include the Sunday Hometown Hockey broadcasts, which Scotiabank is a sponsor for. “What better message to deliver than this one?”
Scotiabank has been partnered with Project North for the last six years, assisting the organization in its efforts to better northern communities through providing their youth with access to sports. In many of those areas, everything from hockey equipment to groceries need to be shipped great distances to get there, and therefore are sold at what are sometimes staggering premiums.
Doig says part of its activities as the official bank of the NHL means it goes through the entire “hockey pyramid,” from the professional teams at the top to the communities where its customers live and work.
“Most of what we do in sponsorship, to be successful, needs to land on community,” he says. “We engage the frontline of our bank with the consumers in the communities, and working with Project North allows us to provide that same support in remote communities.”
