For the third year in a row, CIBC is the top “Movember” fundraising team in the country, donating over $320,000 to Prostate Cancer Canada.

During the month of November, more than 450 CIBC (TSX:CM) employees participated in the global fundraising campaign known as Movember that has men growing moustaches and women providing encouragement to their moustache growing teammates, all while raising funds to build awareness and support around men’s health – specifically prostate cancer.

“I am proud of the commitment and focus shown by the hundreds of CIBC employees who participated in Movember this year — our best showing yet,” says Richard Nesbitt, chairman and CEO, CIBC World Markets. “This was a fantastic team effort to raise funds and build much needed awareness around prostate cancer.”

In addition to the success of the team, CIBC employee Rick McCreary is the top individual fundraiser in Canada, collecting nearly $50,000 in donations. Over the past two years, McCreary has raised more than $80,000 through the Movember campaign. This marks the second year in a row that a CIBC employee has been named Movember’s top individual fundraiser in Canada.

The Movember campaign began in Australia in 2003 and since then has grown into a global initiative with over a million Mo Bros and Sistas to date raising awareness and funds in support of men’s health. This year over $65.3 million has been raised globally, with 118,903 Canadians raising $21,314,358.

“For the past three years CIBC has been the top fundraising team in Canada for Movember,” says Steve Jones, president and CEO, Prostate Cancer Canada. “With their support and dedication to the campaign, they have shown corporate Canada the massive success that can be achieved and the true impact that can be made in the fight against prostate cancer. We thank CIBC for all their support in raising awareness and for helping to change the face of men’s health.”

In 2009, CIBC helped to launch the Movember Bay Street Challenge, encouraging other Bay Street firms to participate in the campaign. This year participating companies helped to raise $1,183,954 for the campaign.

In Canada, one in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, almost 25,000 this year alone. It is the most common cancer affecting Canadian men. Building awareness is a key factor in saving lives, as this disease is over 90% curable, if detected and treated in its earliest stages.

IE