TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. announced today it has committed $400,000 to a national outreach program they have named “Investing in Youth”. The program is intended to increase the awareness and participation of inner-city kids in The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

TD Waterhouse’s plan will start in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto in fall 2005, spreading to nine cities across Canada over three years. The initiative will ensure the award is made available to all inner-city youth who are interested as well as provide funding for the employment of field officers, responsible for introducing the award to communities and providing support for participants.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program is open to Canadians between the ages of 14 and 25, regardless of circumstance or ability. The program rewards youths for attaining personally set goals in almost every aspect of life. There are three levels of the Award (bronze, silver and gold), each requiring increasing degrees of effort and commitment.