(HALIFAX) 19 March 2018: Students from Memorial University of Newfoundland are employing at-risk youth to create a healthy, edible cookie dough for kids. For every SmartCookie sold, a breakfast is donated to a child in need.

Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia, Saint Mary’s University students have launched a 20-week program called Options Youth that aims to help youth join the workforce, return to school or launch their own businesses.

Enactus Memorial University of Newfoundland and Enactus Saint Mary’s University have been named 2018 Scotiabank Youth Empowerment Challenge Regional Champions. The winning teams were selected by Canada’s largest experiential learning platform, Enactus Canada, and program supporter Scotiabank.

“Being a young Canadian isn’t easy; they’re experiencing high unemployment rates and increasing debt levels,” said Nicole Almond, President of Enactus Canada. “Through this challenge, we encourage young Canadians to disrupt this cycle by empowering fellow youth to take charge of their personal and professional futures.”

To-date, two at-risk youth have been employed by Memorial’s project SmartCookie and six retailers have also expressed interest in selling their product.

Through Saint Mary’s Options Youth, 10 youth have found sustainable employment, three have launched their own businesses and six have returned to school

The Scotiabank Youth Empowerment Challenge encourages post-secondary students to develop and deliver projects that address the needs and opportunities facing youth. Focused on education, skill development and supporting the life-long success of youth aged 25 and under, this challenge has engaged 5,085 students since 2015, who have impacted more than 31,265 youth through 302 empowerment projects.

“At Scotiabank, we are committed to helping young people reach their infinite potential—supporting organizations that share this goal is one way we deliver on this promise,” said Craig Thompson, Senior Vice President, Atlantic Region, Scotiabank. “Congratulations to the Regional Champions, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Saint Mary’s University, who have displayed a tremendous amount of commitment and creativity through their work in the 2018 Scotiabank Youth Empowerment Challenge.”

On March 16, student teams demonstrated their youth empowerment projects to panels of business executives as part of the Enactus Canada Regional Exposition – Atlantic Canada, held in Halifax.

Enactus Memorial and Enactus Saint Mary’s will now move on to the national level of competition taking place May 14-16 at the 2018 Enactus Canada National Exposition, taking place in Toronto.

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ABOUT ENACTUS CANADA: Enactus Canada, a national charity and the country’s largest post-secondary experiential learning platform, is shaping entrepreneurial leaders who are passionate about advancing the economic, social and environmental health of Canada. Guided by academic advisors and business experts, more than 3,300 post-secondary students led 275 community empowerment projects and business ventures last year in communities coast to coast, positively impacting over 26,000 lives.

As a global network of 36 countries, Enactus uses the power of entrepreneurial action to transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world. For more information, visit enactus.ca.

ABOUT SCOTIABANK: At Scotiabank, we aim to support organizations that are committed to helping young people reach their infinite potential. Young people are our future leaders and Scotiabank’s goal is to help ensure that they have the necessary skills and resources they need to support their success. Together with our employees, the Bank supports causes at a grassroots level. Recognized as a leader for our charitable donations and philanthropic activities, in 2017, Scotiabank contributed more than $80 million to help our communities around the world.

Scotiabank is Canada’s international bank and a leading financial services provider in North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and Central America, and Asia-Pacific. We are dedicated to helping our 24 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 89,000 employees and assets of over $923 billion (as at January 31, 2018), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (TSX: BNS) and New York Exchanges (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @Scotiabank.

Media Inquiries:
Jennifer Falzon
Director, Marketing & Strategic Growth, Enactus Canada
jen@enactus.ca | 416.304.1566 x222