Johnston Group created the Advisor Charitable Match Program to team up with our advisors across the country who are supporting community initiatives that make a difference.
May 2025
They say it takes a village to raise a child. For advisor Jake Lacourse, The Village at Canadore College shows how communities can come together to take care of everyone.
The Village is the first of its kind in Canada: equal parts health and wellness facility and college classroom. Canadore College students get real-world experience by providing North Bay locals with important medical and social services.
We all age, and one of The Village’s primary goals is finding ways to make everyone’s life as a senior better through The Village Collective Impact Project (CIP).
Along with improving physical health, The Village CIP fosters an inclusive, age-friendly and dementia-friendly community to prevent the social isolation many seniors face. Local and Indigenous seniors have access to a free dental hygiene clinic, weekly group walks, fitness classes, recreational events, workshops and more.
“The medical services are almost like a door crasher special,” says Lacourse. “One senior with next to no social network registered for a podiatrist through Canadore College and was suddenly introduced to this huge support system at The Village. Now he’s a repeat ‘customer,’ going to all their social events, coming out of his shell, and becoming part of the fabric of the community.”
The Village is also a mosaic of experiences, blending Indigenous and Eastern medicines with Western practices, creating intergenerational connections between staff and clients of all ages, and connecting international and local students with the community.
“It allows these folks to mix together and get a better understanding of each other’s needs and wants,” says Lacourse.
A long-time supporter of the Canadore College Foundation, Lacourse has made an additional financial donation in support of The Village.
Lacourse is the local advisor for Chambers Plan group benefits in North Bay, ON. The Plan’s administrator, Johnston Group, was excited to help share his story and match his contribution through their Advisor Charitable Match Program, which is designed to support charitable organizations that are having a direct impact on their local communities.
Lacourse says The Village and the Canadore College Foundation are always looking to better serve the community, highlighting their early childhood education programs, a new recreational facility, and Indigenous programming and ceremony space through the First People’s Centre.
The next step for The Village CIP is providing long-term care and affordable housing for seniors through a new 160-bed facility.
“We’re all pulling together to make our community better. We need to support people like that to create more opportunities for our citizens to get better and better.”
