Metro Ontario Inc. Commits to Trees Ontario

New charitable program raises awareness and funds to
help plant trees across Ontario

“Metro Ontario Inc. is proud to support initiatives that help our environment grow stronger for the future,” said Serge Boulanger, vice-president, marketing, Metro Inc. “With our partnership with Trees Ontario, we can build on our legacy of supporting our communities and engaging our customers and employees with a cause that is close to home - the environment.”

The Thank A Tree program will support Trees Ontario, North America’s largest not for profit tree planting partnership that is dedicated to planting trees on private land. All proceeds raised will go to Trees Ontario’s rural tree planting programs.

To kick off the relationship with Trees Ontario, Metro Ontario Inc. is offering its customers a unique way to support Trees Ontario. From August 29 to September 26, customers at any A&P, Dominion, Ultra Food & Drug, Loeb and The Barn stores can purchase a recycled paper tree cut-out for $2.00. All of the recycled paper trees collected in the 158 stores will represent the total donation sent to Trees Ontario to help reach their goal to plant 10 million trees a year by 2015.

“Our research shows that environmental issues rank high in importance for Ontarians,” said Michael G. Scott, president and ceo, Trees Ontario. “The issue of air quality and the need to plant more trees is in the hearts and minds of citizens. We’re delighted to have Metro Ontario Inc. on board to help us educate customers in realizing Ontario’s objectives of increasing tree planting across the province.”

Trees Ontario Trees Ontario, working with its partners, is the largest, not-for-profit tree planting partnership in North America. It is committed to the re-greening of Ontario through a range of tree planting activities.

The goal of Trees Ontario is to restore the province’s tree planting capacity, especially throughout southern Ontario on private lands, by providing funding and planning support for its tree planting partners. These include local Conservation Authorities, Ontario Stewardship Councils, the provincial and municipal governments, and community volunteer groups.

This past spring Trees Ontario, with its partners, planted over 2.4 million trees. Its goal is to increase tree planting to 10 million trees every year by 2015. Visit the Trees Ontario website at www.treesontario.on.ca.

Metro Inc. With annual sales of nearly $11 billion and over 65,000 employees, Metro Inc. is a leader in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Québec and Ontario, where it operates a network of close to 600 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, Super C, A&P, Dominion, Loeb, and Food Basics, as well as over 250 pharmacies under the Brunet, Clini Plus, The Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners.