Mr. Normand W. Bernier, Director General of Vanier College is pleased to announce that after two days of mounting excitement and imaginative presentations at the 11^th annual 2016 Vanier College BDC Case Challenge on February 13 and 14, the first place Gold Award went to SAIT Polytechnic (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) from Alberta composed of students Andrea Cubillos, Megan Miller, Becky Salmond, and Pinder Sangha and coaches Kevin Pahl and Vicky Roy.  This is the first time the first place Gold Award goes to a Western province.

The Silver Award went to St Lawrence College-Kingston, and Cégep régional de Lanaudière à Joliette won Bronze.  The three other teams that made it to the finals were Vanier College, Collège Montmorency, and Okanagan College. During the weekend event, thirty-two teams of marketing students from colleges across Canada had three hours to analyze a real business case and present viable marketing solutions before a panel of expert judges.

“The Case Challenge is a perfect example of how a collaboration between Vanier College and an organization such as BDC, the principal sponsor of this event, can create unique learning opportunities for students that motivate them in their educational and career pursuits,” said M. Bernier.

BDC is very proud to be a long-time supporter events that allow students, professionals and mentors to come together and form valuable relationships. “For us it’s a chance to be actively involved and connect directly with what we think are some of the very best marketing students and promising young leaders we’ve come across,” says Michel Bergeron, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Public Affairs at BDC.

David Moscovitz, Vanier College BDC Case Challenge organizer, was thrilled with this year’s 11^th competition. “I am so pleased to see how this event allows students to meet other Marketing students from across Canada and network with them. No other case competition provides college and cegep level students with this kind of opportunity.”

“On a more personal note, I am ecstatic with the performance of the Vanier team consisting of Andrea Baaco, Chloé Barreau, Sabina Khan and Seham Allison, who won a Scotia Bank Award and made it to the finals. Their talent and capability, and their development and evolution in preparing for this event was utterly remarkable and inspiring.”

ScotiaBank finalist award winners included Vanier College, Collège Montmorency and Cégep régional de Lanaudière à Joliette from Québec, Okanagan College from British Columbia, St Lawrence College-Kingston from Ontario and SAIT Polytechnic (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) from Alberta.

BDC is the principal sponsor of this competition.

About BDC
Canada’s business development bank, BDC, puts entrepreneurs first. With almost 2,000 employees and more than 100 business centres across the country, BDC offers loans,  consulting services, growth and business transition capital, securitization, as well as venture capital to more than 30,000 small and medium-sized companies. Their success is vital to Canada’s economic prosperity. To learn more, please visit www.bdc.ca.

The Vanier College Foundation is very pleased to announce that over the past 6 months it has awarded more than $70,000 in scholarships and grants to support Vanier students and college projects.  At a ceremony held on November 26^th, a total of $11,500 in entrance scholarships provided jointly by the Foundation and the Office of the Academic Dean was awarded to the 75 top new students beginning their studies at Vanier College in the fall 2015 semester.  As well, last June, the Foundation provided $8,600 in scholarships to students of the 2014-2015 graduating class. In addition to scholarships, this fall semester, the Foundation awarded $7,375 to support a book loan program for students in need, and more than $40,000 to support fifteen projects taking place during the 2015-2016 school year.

Among the projects to receive support are important annual Vanier events that have proven their value in the past by enriching student learning both inside and outside of the classroom. Support was allocated to the Malawi Vanier Nursing Exchange for students doing a 7-week internship in Africa in the spring. A new Humanities complimentary course entitled “The Tropics” will receive funding for a student study-trip to Belize in March. Grants will also go to students participating in the 5-week Russian Language Study Program in St Petersburg in June. Students in Early Childhood Education undertaking an internship in Germany, and students in Environmental & Wildlife Management planning internships abroad, are also receiving funding.

As well, the Foundation will also help defray the costs of Business Administration and Micropublishing and Hypermedia students studying for a semester abroad in Belgium or doing their program internship in France.

In addition to support for international education projects, the Foundation will also help Industrial Electronics students participating in a week-long study trip to the Siemens Company in Ontario in March, and students attending a Building Systems Engineering Technology Conference outside Canada.

Other major activities that will receive support include the Holocaust and Genocide Symposium and the Humanities Symposium. The Foundation is also helping a new initiative aimed at providing daycare services for single parents attending classes at Vanier, and athletes participating in U.S. tournaments.  A major grant also went to the Music Department for its upcoming presentation of the musical Into the Woods to be performed in April at Vanier College.

“Over the years, the Vanier Foundation has been one of our greatest supporters,” says Jennifer Joseph of the International Education Office. “It has helped hundreds of students to enrich their education through study abroad programs, which give them the skills to work in an ever-changing and interconnected world. We thank the Foundation for its continuous generosity and its help in fostering a new generation of global citizens.”

The Vanier College Foundation is proud to announce the following scholarships recipients for the 2015 Graduation Ceremony held on Wednesday, June 17, 2015:

John Economides Scholarship
Petar Stoyanov,  Commerce: Major in International Business

Careers and Technical Program Scholar
Emile Brûlé-Champagne,  Computerized Systems Technology

Pre-University Diploma Program Scholar
Jenisha Patel,  Pure & Applied Science Honours

Continuing Education Attestation Scholar
Maria Andrea Barile,  Accounting

Gustav Levinschi Scholarships
Michael Pratte,  Health Science
Arvhic Jay Salazar,  Social Science
Alicia Williams,  Nursing

CAMMAC Graduation Scholarship
Caitlin Berger,  Music
Sam Fleury,  Professional Music: Performance

Cy Cooper Band Scholarship
Caitlin Berger,  Music

The Gloria Di Murro Creativity Award
Caroline Araujo-Calisto,  Communications: Art, Media, Theatre
Anamaria Bodea,  Modern Languages

David Johnson Memorial Science Scholarship
Anne Yin,  Health Science Honours

Cedric Kunicek Memorial Scholarship
Jessica Shumko,  Social Science: Major in Law & Society

The John Pitre Architectural Technology Scholarship
Firas Mahboub-Saab,  Architectural Technology

Nadia Turbide Scholarship
Caitlin Berger,  Music

Le Groupe Compass Perseverance Award
Manar Aoude,  Social Science

The Women’s Studies Fran Davis Award
Tristan Masson,  Social Science