Community Investments and Programs

ENMAX's Community Investments

Stephanie Robertson of SiMPACT talks about ENMAX in the community.
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At ENMAX, we believe communities become better places to live, work and play when the people who reside in them are encouraged to participate in healthy, safe recreational and cultural activities that cultivate awareness of and respect for our shared environment. Youth, environment and safety are the areas ENMAX chooses to champion. As part of ENMAX's commitment to Imagine Canada we invest a minimum of 1% of pre-tax profits, on a three-year rolling average basis, in sponsorship, donations and community investments that support non-profits and registered charities.

Additional criteria that assist ENMAX in working toward a higher standard in the management, valuation and performance measurement of our community investments is provided by the London Benchmarking Group (LBG) Canada. The LBG Canada model classifies corporate community giving into three key "motivation" areas: Social Investments, Philanthropic Investments and Commercial Initiatives. According to LBG criteria, in 2009, $3.3 million of our expenditures are classified as solely community investment (excluding marketing activities). PricewaterhouseCoopers provided assurance on community investment.  These criteria include cash and in-kind donations, staff time volunteered during work hours and related community investment program management costs.

ENMAX’s Community Investments (2007 – 2009)

A portion of the community investments ENMAX makes each year are directed to infrastructure projects that benefit the community at large. For example, in 2009 ENMAX donated $250,000 to the North East Centre of Community Society's capital campaign for building a new facility.

In 2009, ENMAX also contributed $50,000 to the Town of Crossfield to promote the use of renewable and alternative energy in its municipal building. These contributions are included as part of ENMAX's overall community investment expenditures.

ENMAX Conservatory Opens at Calgary Zoo

The doors to the new ENMAX Conservatory at The Calgary Zoo opened in November 2009, bringing a "living classroom" and its energy efficiency message to the public. The ENMAX Conservatory contains a new ethno-botany garden, botanical classrooms and a renovated Butterfly Garden. ENMAX Corporation helped develop one of the conservatory's feature facilities – five interactive alternative energy information stations – including micro-wind, solar photo-voltaic, co-generation, solar thermal and geothermal power generation. The stations are designed to provide an engaging, hands-on learning experience for visitors of all ages, and form an important platform for promoting energy efficiency and environmental awareness.

Northern Alberta Children's Festival

Over 60,000 visitors enjoyed the Northern Alberta Children's Festival held in St. Albert, northwest of Edmonton in 2009, which provides a celebration of cultural excellence while increasing awareness of the performing and visual arts for children. This is ENMAX Energy's third year of sponsorship of the Northern Alberta Children's Festival. In addition to support for the overall staging of the festival, in 2009 ENMAX Energy commissioned Rooney & Punyi Theatre Productions to write a children’s play about alternative energy and conservation, called "Power Up! The Alternative Energy Show". The play was presented at various times throughout the day and after participating, children move to an "environment postcard" activity where they designed the front of a postcard and wrote a message on the back promoting environmental stewardship. Postcards were mailed to family and friends after the Festival.