TORONTO, Sept. 30, 2013 /CNW/ - TD Bank Group announced that a $1 million gift to University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) to support education and research in the field of urban forest conservation and biology.

The donation was announced during TD Tree Days, TD's flagship volunteer program that will see 45,000 trees planted this year. The gift will help support undergraduate and graduate students with research scholarships. It will also create the TD Limited Term Professorship in Urban Forest Conservation and Biology that is a limited term professor with research and teaching expertise in environmental and/or biological science.

"UTSC has particular research strengths in biological and environmental science along with a profound commitment to hands-on education," said Professor Franco Vaccarino, UTSC's principal. "We're grateful to TD for this generous gift and excited by the potential to push the boundaries of our understanding of the natural environment with Canada's first national urban park as our lab."

The research supported by the gift will capitalize on UTSC's proximity to the Rouge Park, a more than 40-square-kilometre ecological "buffer zone" in the midst of one of North America's largest cities.

The gift also contributes to UTSC's drive to raise $35 million for key priorities, and is an integral component of the University of Toronto's $2 billion Boundless campaign. On September 16, the University announced it had surpassed $1.3 billion—a historic high-water mark for fundraising in Canada.

"On behalf of all my colleagues at TD, we are thrilled to support this campaign as it not only underscores our ongoing commitment to green spaces and urban forestry, it straddles all three of our charitable giving priorities in Canada - education, the environment, and creating opportunities for young people," said Alec Morley, Senior Vice-president, Greater Toronto Area Region of TD Canada Trust.

Vaccarino added that the Rouge's particular variety of ecosystems, which include farms, forests, meadows and the city's largest wetlands, opens up a wealth of opportunities. "Students will have the opportunity to advance knowledge across areas ranging from groundwater and soil science to geochemistry and geographic information systems."

Research and programming will also engage Parks Canada through an existing memorandum of understanding that names UTSC as the government agency's primary research and education partner in the Rouge.

About University of Toronto Scarborough
UTSC offers undergraduate and graduate students the academic rigour for which the University of Toronto is renowned. Combined with innovative experiential education opportunities, a focus on emerging areas of scholarship and a wide range of programming spanning the sciences, arts, management, teacher education, and U of T's only co-op prorgrams, UTSC has everything needed to help students achieve their life goals. UTSC's $35 million fundraising campaign is an integral component of Boundless: The Campaign for University of Toronto, which is raising $2 billion for a suite of initiatives directed toward Preparing Global Citizens and Meeting Global Challenges. It is the largest fundraising campaign in Canadian history.  For more information on the University of Toronto Scarborough, visit:http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/home/

About TD Bank Group:
The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group (TD). TD is the sixth largest bank in North America by branches and serves approximately 22 million customers in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Canada Trust and TD Auto Finance Canada; Wealth and Insurance, including TD Wealth, TD Direct Investing, an investment in TD Ameritrade, and TD Insurance; U.S. Personal and Commercial Banking, including TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, and TD Auto Finance U.S.; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities. TD also ranks among the world's leading online financial services firms, with approximately 8 million active online and mobile customers. TD had CDN$835 billion in assets on July 31, 2013.The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.

SOURCE TD Bank Group