(Montréal, October 2, 2003) - A World of Projects, the funding campaign launched in April 2000 with a target of $125 million, has achieved resounding success, raising $218 million - a record for an initiative by a francophone institution.

The campaign also exerted formidable leverage: to complement the donations received, a further $228 million was injected by the various levels of government, bringing the total benefits of the campaign for École Polytechnique, HEC Montréal and Université de Montréal to $446 million. 

This new investment of almost half a billion dollars will result in 47 new chairs, some 150 bursary funds and five new buildings.

The campaign was led by honorary president Paul Desmarais, chairman of the executive committee of Power Corporation of Canada, and two co-presidents, Robert Brown, chairman of the Board of Air Canada, and André Caillé, president & CEO of Hydro-Québec and newly appointed chancellor of Université de Montréal. The campaign team, made up of about thirty high-profile personalities from the world of Québec business, ensured the vast operation's success by acting as highly motivated and highly persuasive ambassadors.

"I am delighted by the marvellous success of the campaign," said honorary president, Paul Desmarais. "This achievement is especially important because it serves the noblest of causes: the advancement of our three foremost university institutions - institutions that train our young people, preparing them to take their place in the world and face the challenges of the future."

The success of A World of Projects resulted essentially from the commitment of over 4,000 people, both donors and volunteers, who believed in the importance of this quest in the service of knowledge. It is worth noting that 36% of donations came from individuals. The publicity slogan thanking the partners of École Polytechnique, HEC Montréal and Université de Montréal emphasizes the participation of all sectors of society: "To succeed, it helps to be well surrounded."

A site for the construction of buildings...

The campus, at present humming to the rhythm of cranes and concrete trucks, will soon boast five new buildings whose design respects the environmental heritage of Mount Royal, equipped with cutting-edge laboratories and instruments. This huge construction site includes an expansion of École Polytechnique (the Claudette MacKay-Lassonde and Pierre Lassonde buildings) and the construction of buildings that will soon house the Faculty of Pharmacy (the Jean Coutu building), the Institute of Immunovirology and Cancer (the Marcelle Coutu building) and Technopole Montréal, an applied research centre common to the three institutions (the J. Armand Bombardier building).

... but most of all, a site for the construction of knowledge

Underlying the concrete and steel is another construction site, less tangible but equally crucial for the future of Québec's premier higher education and research complex. These initiatives, unprecedented in the recent history of the Université de Montréal, aim at consolidating research communities and developing new ones in key scientific domains. They will make the three institutions centres of research and training capable of attracting the best researchers and the best students, a crucible for both the renewal of the teaching staff and the development of higher studies.

This will ensure that the complex made up of École Polytechnique, HEC Montréal and Université de Montréal maintains its position as the leading higher education and research institution in Québec.

 

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Sources :   École Polytechnique, HEC Montréal, Université de Montréal

Information:   Sophie Langlois
    Press Attaché
    Université de Montréal
    (514) 343-7704
    sophie.langlois@umontreal.ca