For immediate release

Toyota Earth Day Scholarships encourage young Canadian environmentalists to live Earth Day^®, Every Day
Toyota Canada and Earth Day Canada recognize 15 of Canada’s top young environmentalists for their academic and environmental excellence in the seventh year of this prestigious award

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 (Toronto, ON) – Fifteen exceptional Canadian high school and cégep students, who have combined a passion for environmental stewardship with academic excellence, are being given a helping hand as they embark upon their post-secondary school pursuits. Announced on April 22, Earth Day^®, these 15 are the 2009 award-winners in the Toyota Earth Day Scholarship program.

“These students are involved in an array of inspiring projects that are having a significant impact in their communities,” said Jed Goldberg, President of Earth Day Canada. “They are truly stepping forward as the environmental leaders of tomorrow.”

“How Canada’s youth engage with the world now says a lot about how they’ll shape the world tomorrow. That’s why we’re so pleased to honour these 15 students who have demonstrated exemplary academic and environmental excellence over the past year,” said Yoichi Tomihara, President of Toyota Canada Inc. “Over the past seven years, the Toyota Earth Day Scholarship has celebrated 100 inspirational students across the country committed to improving our environment. I’m confident these passionate student leaders will help show all Canadians how they can live Earth Day, Every Day.”

The Toyota Earth Day Scholarship Program was established to reward and encourage environmental commitment and action among students. It is awarded as an entrance scholarship to graduating high school students entering their first year of post-secondary education. Recognizing that environmental leaders will come from a broad range of academic backgrounds, winners are selected regardless of their intended program of study. Now in its seventh year, $500 000 have been awarded to 100 exceptional young students in Canada.

In addition, one winner will be chosen from among these finalists to receive a Panasonic notebook computer and a trip to the World Changing Careers Symposium in Vancouver, organized by past Toyota Earth Day Scholarship national winner Alysia Garmulewicz.

A brief description of each winner is attached, highlighting some of the incredible environmental successes they have already achieved. For more on the Toyota Earth Day Scholarships and the winners, visit www.earthday.ca/scholarship.

About Earth Day Canada
Earth Day Canada (EDC), a national environmental charity founded in 1990, provides Canadians with the practical knowledge and tools they need to lessen their impact on the environment. In 2004 it was recognized as the top environmental education organization in North America, for its innovative year-round programs and educational resources, by the Washington-based North American Association for Environmental Education, the world’s largest association of environmental educators. In 2008 it was chosen as Canada’s “Outstanding Non-profit Organization” by the Canadian Network for Environmental Education and Communication. EDC regularly partners with thousands of organizations in all parts of Canada. www.earthday.ca

About Toyota Canada Inc.
Toyota Canada Inc. (TCI) is the exclusive Canadian distributor of Toyota and Lexus cars, SUVs and trucks, and Toyota industrial equipment. TCI’s head office is in Toronto, with regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Halifax and parts distribution centres in Toronto and Vancouver.

TCI supports more than 300 Toyota, Lexus and Toyota Industrial Equipment dealers in Canada with services that include training, marketing and environmental and customer satisfaction initiatives.

Toyota’s Canadian operations include automotive assembly plants in Cambridge, ON (Toyota Corolla, Toyota Matrix, Lexus RX 350) and Woodstock, ON (Toyota RAV4), which together employ more than 5,700 Canadians.

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For more media details, including a full list of Toyota Canada media contacts, please visit media.toyota.ca. For consumer details on Toyota Canada, please visit www.toyota.ca.

Digital photos:
Digital photos of the winners will be available by request at scholarship@earthday.ca

Contact Vijaya Chikermane at 416.599.1991 ext. 109 for details.

For interviews:
Keith Treffry, Director of Communications, Earth Day Canada – 416.599.1991, ext. 107

Dawn Soulis, Public Relations Manager, Toyota Canada Inc. – 416.431.8333

Toyota Earth Day Scholarship winners – 2009
Toyota Canada Inc. and Earth Day Canada announced the 2009 Toyota Earth Day Scholarship winners on Earth Day, April 22nd. In alphabetical order, the winners are:

• Adil Adatia: Adil, from Lethbridge AB, is founder and president of his high school environmental club and youth coordinator of the Southern Alberta Community for Environmental Education. Among his achievements, he spearheaded the creation of a drought-tolerant garden on unused grounds at his school.
• Magellan Charmonneau: Magellan, of Montreal QC, implemented a program at his high school to recover recyclable waste from student meals and convinced the city to add this waste to its collection route. Now at Cégep, he still sits as a consultant to the environment committee at his former high school.
• Elizabeth Ferreira: Elizabeth, of Winnipeg MB, is a student researcher and research assistant with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, where she developed the first non-invasive methods of analyzing mercury levels in the Ringed Seal. This work has earned her numerous awards from across North America. She is also a Educator and Mentor at the Kelburn Farm Wetlands Centre of Excellence.
• Eden Full: Eden, of Calgary AB, founded Rosicollis Technologies in 2005 and developed Dynamic Protovoltaics, the world’s first environmentally-friendly non-electrical solar panel tracking system. Her work has earned her a United Nations High Distinction Award for Humanitarian Services.
• Catherine Gauthier: Catherine, of Montreal QC, was a World Youth Representative at the opening session of the High Level Meeting on Global Warming, where she spoke to heads of states at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. She also sat on the Concerted Action Committee on the Environment at her Cégep and was a member of the Ecology Group.
• Ryan Hreljac: Ryan, of Kemptville ON, has worked since age seven on a movement to ensure children in developing countries have access to clean water. This movement – Ryan’s Well Foundation – is now an international charitable organization that has built 484 wells in villages in 16 countries. He is a UNICEF Global Youth Leader, a Global Citizen with the United Nations Association of Canada and the official Ambassador for Global Kidz.
• Lauren Law: Lauren, of Vancouver BC, launched Plan-et For The Future, a program that raises interest and understanding of environmental issues and has delivered presentations on the importance of environmental stewardship to inner-city children as part of the Urban Promise after school program. She has also represented Canada at the British Council: Road To Davos Forum and the Greening Cities: International Youth Student Summit.
• Alison Lee: Alison, of Toronto ON, founded her school’s EcoTeam, organized the Green Screens youth film festival about environmental ideas, and coordinated the Operation Litterless parks clean-up event.
• Marc-André Lemay: Marc-André, of Rivière-du-loup QC, helped create the environment committee at his high school and his work has resulted in recycling bins being installed throughout the school, and a new program to manage the disposal of fluorescent tubes. He also works for Société Provancher d’histoire naturelle du Canada, as a guide and interpreter on the Île aux basques.
• Meagan McKeen: Meagan, of Oakville ON, was one of three Canadian representatives on the British Council’s International Climate Champions. As part of this, she travelled to Kobe, Japan to represent Canada at the G8 Environmental Ministers Climate Change Summit in May, 2008. She has managed Canada’s Climate Change Champions program and founded her high school’s environment council.
• Taryn McKenzie-Mohr: Taryn, of Fredericton NB, was a member of the Canadian Youth Delegation to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Poland and was one of four people chosen to deliver the official Youth Address, on behalf of 500 international students. She is also a founding member of Project Urafiki, which raises funds to support schools in Kenya.
• Niles Riz: Niles, of Victoria BC, co-founded Teens Against Climate Change and organized meetings between voters and candidates on environmental issues during the November, 2008 federal election. This year he is hosting a dinner and auction to raise funds for solar panels for his high school.
• Roopa Suppiah: Roopa, of Deep River ON, has developed a photo-electrochemical reactor that converts carbon dioxide into useful products such as ethanol. She is also the founder and leader of her school’s recycling program and will travel to South India this summer to drill wells and provide sanitation education in villages.
• Catherine Véronneau: Catherine, of Waterville QC, proposed a Univert Project to the management of the boarding school she attended, which resulted in a composting project to reduce the amount of waste produced at the establishment and in turn resulted in an environmental policy applicable to the whole school. She’s also the environment lead on the Student Council and is co-chair of the Environment Committee.
• Kaleb Zelman: Kaleb, of Charlottetown PE, has been a Cape Farewell Green Team Leader since 2007, where he helps develop programs to involve youth in promoting environmental stewardship. He was also one of his school’s representatives at the Polar Perspectives Youth Forum in 2008.