Intact Financial Corporation is donating $1.34 million to help tackle the issue of child poverty in Canada.

The company is giving its donation to support United Way Centraide-funded programs and agencies across the country, which support children in their early years (0-6 years old) as well as their parents (through employability, skills building, and networking opportunities).

A company release cited some statistics, which found that one in five children in Canada lives in poverty. About 1.3 million children cannot afford things such as after-school sports, art classes, school trips, or even access to the internet for their school work.

"We need to do more so no child loses the opportunity to learn and grow,” said Intact Financial Corporation president of Canadian operations Louis Gagnon. “We are addressing the root cause of child poverty: funding programs that help children learn and interact in their early years, and funding programs for parents to help them build skills to become more employable.”

Gagnon explained that the donation was made possible thanks to the passion and generosity of Intact’s own employees.

"Poverty is a complex issue. With United Way's expertise and our employees' passion to make a difference, we are working to empower organizations to find ways to help children and their families.”

Last fall, Intact matched the donation its employees made to the United Way campaign – for every $1 employees gave, the company would allocate $1 towards child poverty reduction initiatives.