WATERLOO-BASED PPE MANUFACTURER THE CANADIAN SHIELD DONATES 28,000 FACE SHIELDS TO SASKATCHEWAN’S EDUCATION MINISTRY FOR TEACHERS RETURNING TO CLASSROOMS
The Saskatchewan donation is part of The Canadian Shield’s national donation campaign that will see 750,000 shields sent to education ministries across Canada
SASKATCHEWAN | AUGUST 20, 2020 — The Canadian Shield, a Waterloo Region-based Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) manufacturer, is donating 28,000 face shields to Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education to prepare teachers for a return to classrooms this fall. The face shields, which the Canadian Shield has been certified to produce, will be distributed by the public sector to protect teachers and educators from potential exposure to COVID-19 or other serious health risks.
“We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education to offer our face shields to teachers and educators across the province,” said The Canadian Shield President Jeremy Hedges. “We want to make sure that every teacher going back to the classroom this fall has a Canadian Shield to keep them safe.”
Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education develops and delivers high quality programs and curriculum for students from kindergarten until the end of Grade 12. The 28,000 face shields will be distributed to registered teachers in Saskatchewan. Made-in-Canada with 100 per cent recyclable material, these shields can be sanitized and reused up to 15 times.
“To ensure schools are a safe place for students and staff, we are using an all hands approach, utilizing a strong partnership between the public and private sector,” Deputy Premier and Education Minister Gordon Wyant said. “The Government of Saskatchewan is grateful to the Canadian Shield for this donation to our school communities as we return to in-class learning this fall”.
The donation is part of The Canadian Shield’s national donation campaign that will see 750,000 face shields shipped out and distributed to registered teachers by education ministries across Canada. The monetary value of the donation is $7.5-million.
The Canadian Shield began manufacturing face shields in March 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Canada was having difficulty sourcing PPE from its global suppliers. The Canadian Shield made a call to school boards and organizations across Canada for help in 3D printing the original version of the shield to maximize production capacity and protect as many front-line healthcare workers as possible. Dozens of school boards from across Canada offered support, enabling the company to donate 20,000 shields to healthcare workers in those first critical weeks.
“We are so appreciative of the help we received from school boards and organizations across Canada when we first launched The Canadian Shield,” said Hedges. “This is our way of giving back to the community and supporting Canadian educators.”
Since The Canadian Shield launched in March, it has scaled up from 10 employees to over 300 and secured a contract with the Government of Canada to manufacture 10 million face shields for front-line and essential workers. The company has also introduced several new products, including cloth and surgical masks. Most recently, The Canadian Shield launched a new line of kids face shields modified to fit children aged five to 12 years old.
The Canadian Shield has reached out to all relevant ministries to coordinate donation distribution details. For more information on The Canadian Shield, please visit www.canadianshieldppe.ca.
