Scotiabank Donation to displaced Ukrainians arriving in Canada under the “Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel”

On July 20, 2023, Scotiabank made a generous donation of $100,000 to support displaced Ukrainians and other newcomers with immediate needs. The donation was used to purchase gift cards to address the immediate needs of displaced Ukrainians. Starting in April 2023, food insecurity has been stressed as one of the challenges of displaced Ukrainians by the national steering committee of the operation and the provincial and territorial umbrella partners, this donation was earmarked to support the distribution of gift cards for groceries to the service provider organizations involved at arrival hotels.

OUSH-OHPU worked with eleven provincial and territorial coordinating partners to allocate and coordinate the donation (see Annex 1 for Corporate Donation Process Map). To ensure equity between provinces and territories, the donation was allocated based on available data including Financial Assistance data from Employment and Social Development Canada which provides percentages of displaced Ukrainians who applied for financial assistance in each province or territory. In coordination with the provincial and territorial partners, the settlement agencies distributed the donated items to displaced Ukrainians in their communities.

Provincial and Territorial Coordinators, alternatively known as Provincial Territorial Hub (PT Hub) coordinators, play a key role as essential sector partners. They contribute significantly to needs assessment, provincial allocation, and the seamless distribution of donations within their respective provinces. OUSH-OHPU maintains a close collaboration with PT Hub coordinators, convening biweekly meetings at the PT Hub Coordination Table. The table plays important role in implementing a collective response effort to support displaced Ukrainians in Canada.

The table below illustrates the allocation process which is based on the Financial Assistance from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) in each province indicating percentages of displaced Ukrainians in the provinces, to ensure equity in the allocation between provinces and territories.

Our Approach: together with its provincial and territorial coordinating partners, OUSH-OHPU implemented the approach to ensure Scotiabank’s generous donation is directed towards meeting the basic needs while taking into account accessibility for the intended clients.

Meeting the basic needs.

Scotiabank donation was utilized to address the basic needs of displaced Ukrainians in Canada. To facilitate an impactful distribution, the fund was used to purchase gift cards. All cards were standardized to a $50 denomination, ensuring the efforts contribute to requirements of the recipient clients.

Ensuring accessibility.

In order to facilitate clients’ access to stores where they could purchase immediate needs, two types of cards were selected: Loblaw Companies gift cards and Blackhawk MasterCard. The two types of cards were identified by taking into account availability of the stores as well as distance between the stores and the clients’ reception centres in each province.

Securing Discounts and Donations.

OUSH-OHPU negotiated with the two companies to secure discounts in order to maximize the number of clients for each of this donation. As a result, Loblaw Companies provided 5% discount and long with additional $5,000 in 100 gift cards; and Blackhawk Network provided a reduced issuance fee of $1.50 CAD per card instead of the standard $6.10 CAD issuance fee per card. These discounts covered for transaction costs that were incurred during the shipment process as well as effectively increased the number of gift cards.

These initiatives not only stretched the value of the fund but also exemplified collaborative efforts to enhance the reach of the assistance. By leveraging partnerships and negotiating discounts, OUSH has amplified the impact of Scotiabank’s fund.

In total, OUSH purchased 2,086 gift cards, strategically divided into 885 MasterCards and 1,201 LCL gift cards. The cumulative value of these cards amounted to $104,300. This figure incorporates both the 5% discount and the $5,000 addition (100 gift cards).

Following the shipment of gift cards to provincial and territorial coordinating partners by OUSH-OHPU, these partners then proceeded to distribute the cards to the pertinent settlement agencies in their respective provinces. Settlement agencies across various communities in Canada then took charge of distributing these gift cards to displaced Ukrainians and other individuals facing displacement and in need across the country.

Gift cards were mailed to 19 service provider organizations that distributed gift cards to displaced Ukrainians and other displaced people across all provinces.