Thousands of Canadians walking with JDRF to find a cure for type 1 diabetes

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - June 08, 2017) - On June 11 and other selected dates this month, over 40,000 Canadians across the country will rally together at the 2017 JDRF TELUS Walk to Cure Diabetes, to raise awareness and funds and help change the face of type 1 diabetes (T1D) forever. This year, JDRF aims to raise $6 million to support life-altering T1D research.

"In the last decade, there have been some incredible advancements in the areas of encapsulation, transplantation, stem cell therapies and artificial pancreas research that have helped move us even closer to a cure," says Dave Prowten, President and CEO of JDRF Canada. "We want to make these innovations happen sooner, and to do this, we need to step up our fundraising efforts. I want to thank everyone walking with us for playing a vital role in helping us reach our fundraising goals, so we can continue to accelerate the pace of research breakthroughs that impact the lives of those living with type 1 diabetes."

"Our title sponsor TELUS continues to help generate public awareness and raise critical funds for T1D research," continued Prowten. "Over the past 10 years, the TELUS team has contributed more than $10 million to JDRF. Supporters like TELUS have enabled JDRF's Canadian Clinical Trials Network to conduct research that will change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people with T1D. Since TELUS first became title sponsor in 2007, the Walk has raised almost $80 million."

"As an organization committed to using technology to drive better health outcomes for all Canadians, we are proud to be actively involved in a community that is innovating to find a cure for type 1 diabetes," said Paul Lepage, President of TELUS Health. "In 2016 alone, over 4,500 members of the TELUS family walked in over 50 communities and raised more than $380,000. Together, we are making, and will continue to make, great strides toward curing diabetes."

Learn more about the work TELUS is doing to provide better health outcomes for Canadians.

"On behalf of JDRF, I would like to thank our sponsors -- TELUS, Sun Life Financial, and our national supplier SunRype -- for their enthusiasm and dedication. Together, we can turn type one into type none," said Prowten.

Using the official #JDRFWalk and #TELUSWalk hashtags, we will follow the excitement of thousands who are walking to accelerate diabetes research.

About JDRF Canada

JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. JDRF's goal is to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people's lives until we achieve a world without T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure T1D. JDRF is the largest charitable supporter of T1D research. For more information, please visit jdrf.ca.

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T) (NYSE: TU) is Canada's fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $12.9 billion of annual revenue and 12.7 million subscriber connections, including 8.6 million wireless subscribers, 1.7 million high-speed Internet subscribers, 1.4 million residential network access lines and 1.1 million TELUS TV customers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video. TELUS is also Canada's largest healthcare IT provider, and TELUS International delivers business process solutions around the globe.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed over $482 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered more than 7.7 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Created in 2005 by President and CEO Darren Entwistle, TELUS' 12 Canadian community boards and 5 International boards have led the Company's support of grassroots charities and have contributed more than $60 million in support of 5,595 local charitable projects, enriching the lives of more than 2 million children and youth, annually. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

For more information about the JDRF TELUS Walk to Cure Diabetes or to arrange interviews and/or photo opportunities with a JDRF Ambassador, JDRF spokespeople and/or TELUS spokespeople, please contact: