WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Dec. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MADD Canada is showcasing its 2025-2026 School Program in Winnipeg with Provincial Sponsor Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI). Today, a special screening will be held at Westwood Collegiate in Winnipeg, delivering life-saving messages to students about the dangers and consequences of impaired driving, an entirely preventable crime.
Road crashes are a leading cause of death among youth in Canada, with alcohol, cannabis and/or other drugs involved in more than half of those crashes. To help prevent these senseless tragedies, MADD Canada’s School Program, designed for students in Grades 7 through 12, reaches thousands of youth across the country each year. The one-hour presentations offer a powerful look at the dangers and consequences of driving after consuming alcohol, cannabis and/or other drugs. The presentations equip students with the knowledge and motivation to avoid driving impaired or riding with an impaired driver.
“Our School Program gives youth the tools to make choices that can save lives,” says Dawn Regan, Chief Operating Officer of MADD Canada. “Hosting this screening during the holiday season is especially important. This time of year brings increased risks on our roads, and empowering youth with life-saving knowledge can help prevent devastating crashes before they happen. We are grateful to our Provincial Sponsor, MPI, for helping us deliver 109 presentations this year.”
This year’s 60-minute presentations include the choice of five English and four French dramatic short films that illustrate the risks of impaired driving. Additionally, an interactive quiz reinforces key lessons and encourages students to reflect on their choices. Each session ends with powerful testimonies from victims and survivors, including a new testimonial from Alyssa Kryger, who was injured in a 2018 crash involving cannabis and whose father, Mike, and uncle Mark, were killed in the same crash.
“Too many lives have been lost to impaired driving, and it is heartbreaking because all of these deaths were preventable,” said Maria Campos, Vice President & Chief Customer and Product Officer for MPI. “MPI is proud to support MADD Canada’s School Program which sends a profound message that impaired driving is a choice, and we all have the power to make the life-saving choice to drive sober, during the holidays and all year round.”
Schools can select the presentation format that works best for them — traditional assembly, classroom, or virtual. Following the presentation, each school receives an Educators’ Guide and a School Kit with additional content to help teachers continue the sober driving conversation with students throughout the school year.
MADD Canada is grateful to its National and Provincial sponsors for supporting the School Program. For more information on our sponsors and to view a clip of MADD Canada’s School Program, check out: maddyouth.ca/school-program/.
About MADD Canada
MADD Canada (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) is a national, charitable organization that is committed to stopping impaired driving and supporting the victims of this violent crime. With volunteer-driven groups in close to 100 communities across Canada, MADD Canada aims to offer support services to victims, heighten awareness of the dangers of impaired driving and save lives and prevent injuries on our roads. For more information, visit www.madd.ca.
About Manitoba Public Insurance
Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI) is a Crown corporation that delivers auto insurance, registration and licensing services to Manitobans. MPI contributes to safer roads across the province through community outreach programming as well as educational awareness campaigns designed to help all Manitobans make the right decisions behind the wheel.
For more information:
Dawn Regan, MADD Canada Chief Operating Officer, 905-330-7565 or [email protected]
