Montréal, QC – Canada Basketball and Sun Life officially tipped off the community initiatives phase of their multi-year partnership this past weekend with a youth basketball activation in collaboration with Basketball Québec.

The event, held Friday, September 12, 2025 at Parc Villeray, marked the official launch of Sun Life’s new community basketball court donation in Québec. The new 3x3 court, combined with a $15,000 contribution to Basketball Québec, will provide local athletes year-round access to grassroots basketball programming, clinics, and community events.

More than 25 young athletes from Pagé Basketball, Les Phénix de Marie-Favery, and Les Aigles de Georges Vanier participated in skills sessions and games, cheered on by families, friends, and community leaders. The activation highlighted the power of collaboration between national, provincial, and corporate partners in creating meaningful opportunities for youth to get active through basketball.

“Basketball continues to be one of the fastest-growing sports in Canada, and it’s our mission to ensure that youth in every community have safe, welcoming spaces to play,” said Michael Bartlett, President & CEO of Canada Basketball. “At Canada Basketball, we are committed to being the best in the world and best for Canada and we believe partnering with Sun Life and Basketball Québec to launch this court donation builds more opportunities for youth and this country to connect, grow, and thrive through the game.”

Sun Life and Canada Basketball announced the partnership in 2023 with Sun Life being named Official Health and Wellness partner and front of jersey sponsor of the senior men’s and women’s teams.  This court donation is the latest in the sponsorship which focuses on helping Canadians live healthier lives.

“We are proud to partner with Canada Basketball and Basketball Québec to invest in the growth of the game in our Quebec community,” said Annie Martin, Director, Outreach and Communications, Office of the President of Sun Life Quebec. “This next phase of our community impact initiative is about taking action to build healthier communities both on and off the court.”

Since 2023, Sun Life is also committed to modernizing basketball courts in Quebec through the Hoops for My Hometown initiative. Developed jointly by Sun Life and the Fondation Maurice-Tanguay, this initiative aims to renovate and build basketball courts across the province, while encouraging young people to adopt a healthy and active lifestyle.

This Montréal donation is the first in a series of community basketball spaces to be created through the Canada Basketball and Sun Life partnership.

"We’re incredibly grateful to Sun Life and Canada Basketball for this generous financial contribution and court donation,” said Carl Comeau, Executive Director of Basketball Québec. “With this new court, we can offer more kids in different communities the chance to play and grow through basketball. It’s an important step toward greater access and inclusion in our sport."

For more information about the Basketball Québec and their plans for the court, please visit https://www.basketball.qc.ca/fr/index.html

Media Contacts:

Abby Albino, Canada Basketball, aalbino@basketball.ca

To contact Sun Life Media Relations, please email Media.Relations@sunlife.com

About Canada Basketball

Canada Basketball is the national governing body for the sport, recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Government of Canada. A not-for-profit organization, Canada Basketball leads the growth and development of the game at all levels, from grassroots participation to high performance international competition, including the development of athletes, coaches, and officials across the country, in alignment with its provincial and territorial sport organizations. The organization strives for excellence on the world stage while serving the best interests of Canada by making basketball safer, more accessible, more equitable, and more impactful in communities coast-to-coast-to-coast. Canada’s Senior Women’s, Men’s, and 3x3 National Teams, along with its age-group programs, proudly represent the nation in international play, competing with the best in the world.

About Sun Life

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing asset management, wealth, insurance and health solutions to individual and institutional Clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bermuda. As of September 30, 2023, Sun Life had total assets under management of $1.34 trillion. For more information, please visit www.sunlife.com.

Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF.