About ACT

The ACT Foundation is a multiple award-winning, national charitable organization with a mission to promote health and empower Canadians to save lives. Since its inception in 1985, the organization has concentrated its efforts on promoting citizen CPR training, early defibrillation programs and paramedic systems. ACT's primary goal now is to establish mandatory high school CPR in communities across Canada.

CPR in schools
The ACT Foundation is spearheading an initiative to establish CPR training in all high schools so that all youth will graduate with the skills and knowledge to save lives. Youth will take their lifesaving knowledge to their present and future families. The program has a strong health promotion component and educates youth in the importance of adopting healthy lifestyle habits from a young age.

While national in scope, ACT’s programs have deep reach at the community level. To date, ACT has brought its award-winning program to more than 1500 high schools and 1.4 million youth have already been empowered by their high school teachers to save lives. Many lives have been saved.

ACT’s corporate health partners, Canadian companies in the research-based pharmaceutical industry, are committed to ACT’s goal of establishing the lifesaving High School CPR Program across Canada. They are: AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada, Pfizer Canada and sanofi-aventis. ACT and its core partners are winners of Imagine’s “New Spirit of Community Partnership” Award and provide an outstanding example of corporate citizenship and community investment.

The Foundation is also the recipient of multiple national awards for media and advertising campaigns focused on empowering Canadians to save lives. These campaigns have won numerous prestigious awards on the Canadian and international stage including the London International Advertising Awards, the Marketing Awards in New York and recognition at Cannes. Through ACT’s programs, an unprecedented number of Canadians are being empowered to save lives.

The ACT High School CPR Program is based upon the ACT Foundation’s successful community-based model of partnerships and support. ACT first gains commitment from schools to a long-term, self-sustaining program. ACT then brings together multiple community partners to provide start-up resources for schools. These partners include corporations, foundations, service clubs and governments who support ACT’s community coordination role and donate funds for mannequins, teacher training and materials.
 
Paramedics
ACT spearheaded the successful public advocacy campaign for paramedics in Ontario in 1994, focusing on Ottawa as a watershed. The campaign resulted in a $22 million commitment by the Ontario government for the establishment of a multi-centred paramedic program involving 11 sites around the province.

Contact ACT: 1-800-465-9111
Web site: www.actfoundation.ca