 
On March 12, 1998, the Government of Canada launched its millennium initiative to support community, national, and international activities that will leave lasting legacies for future generations, under the theme, Sharing the Memory, Shaping the Dream.
An invitation was extended to all Canadians to come forward with projects that will take stock of our past and look ahead to our future, preserve and enjoy our natural heritage, honour the generous traditions of Canada's diversity, and make a lasting difference in our lives as well as the lives of others.
The Government of Canada's millennium Web site (http://www.millennium.gc.ca) lists many of these projects and provides a central source of millennium information for Canada and for Internet visitors from around the world.
Industry Canada is contributing to this initiative through projects helping Canadians to innovate, connect and prosper in the new millennium. Departmental programs which are helping to mark the millennium include:
 Connecting Canadians
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Canada's Digital Collections
Francommunautés virtuelles
Canada's SchoolNet
Imagine 2020
Computers for Schools
Voluntary Sector Network Support Program (VolNet)
Community Access Program
SchoolNet GrassRoots
Smart Communities
2000 for 2000
Generations CanConnect
CA*net 3 - Canada's National Optical Internet
Canada in the 21st Century - A Time for Vision
Net Gain: Doing Business on the Internet
 
Connecting Canadians is the Government of Canada's vision and plan to make Canada the most connected nation in the world by the year 2000.
Visit the Connecting Canadians web site at http://connect.gc.ca or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
The Canadian Virtual War Memorial (CVWM) is a unique national monument on the World Wide Web, honouring Canadians who died for their country in wars fought since Confederation.
Visit the CVWM web site at http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
The Canada's Digital Collections (CDC) program has funded youth to develop over 300 significant web site projects about Canada since 1996.
Visit the CDC web site at http://collections.ic.gc.ca or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
Since 1998-99, the Francommunautés virtuelles program has supported the development of applications, services and content in French on the Internet, promoted networking among all Francophone and Acadian communities in Canada, and stimulated the development of the Canadian French-language multimedia industry.
Visit the Francommunautés virtuelles web site at http://francommunautes.ic.gc.ca or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
As of March 31, 1999, SchoolNet, with the assistance of its partners, successfully connected Canadian schools and public libraries to the Internet.
Visit the SchoolNet web site at http://www.schoolnet.ca or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
Launched in 1999, Imagine 2020 asked Canadians to imagine that they are the Prime Minister of Canada in the year 2020, and to submit ideas by December 1999 as to what they would like to be able to highlight as Canada's three greatest achievements during the first two decades of next century.
Visit the Imagine 2020 web site at http://www.schoolnet.ca/general/special/2020/e/ or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
Working with the provinces, territories, learning institutions, and the private sector, Industry Canada will expand Computers for Schools to provide 250,000 computers for use in classrooms across the country by March 31, 2001.
Visit the Computers for Schools web site at http://www.schoolnet.ca/cfs-ope or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
VolNet will link 10,000 voluntary organizations to the Internet and to each other, enhancing the technological capacity of the sector to better service the needs of Canadians.
Visit the VolNet web site at http://www.volnet.org or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
As the new millennium approaches, the Community Access Program (CAP) draws closer and closer to reaching its goal of helping to establish up to 10,000 public Internet access sites in rural, remote and urban communities across Canada.
Visit the CAP web site at http://cap.ic.gc.ca or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
The GrassRoots Program, together with its provincial and corporate partners, is promoting academic, employability and computer skills in Canadian youth by integrating information and communication technology into learning.
Visit the GrassRoots web site at http://www.schoolnet.ca/grassroots or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
The federal government envisions Smart Communities as communities with a vision of the future that involves the use of information and communication technologies in new and innovative ways to empower their residents, institutions and region as a whole.
Visit the Smart Communities web site at http://smartcommunities.ic.gc.ca or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
2000 for 2000 is a joint initiative of Industry Canada and STEM-Net which preserves the history surrounding the hundreds of war monuments across Canada in digital format and makes these treasured symbols available to a world-wide audience through the Internet. The goal is to have 2000 monuments on-line by November 2000.
Visit the 2000 for 2000 web site at http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/monuments or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
Launched in September 1999, Generations CanConnect will help to bring together young people and senior citizens across Canada by exploring and recording the contribution of seniors' to their country and their communities by using the power of the Information Highway.
Visit the Generations CanConnect web site at http://generations-canconnect.ic.gc.ca or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
CA*net 3, the world's fastest optical R&D; national network, was developed by CANARIE Inc. -- Canada's advanced Internet development organization, with federal funding support.
Visit the CANARIE web site at http://www.canarie.ca or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
Industry Canada co-sponsored the conference "Canada in the 21st Century - A Time for Vision." The two-day event took place in Ottawa in September 1999. The conference brought together some 300 participants from academia, the private sector and all levels of government to focus on and discuss the microeconomic challenges and prospects facing Canada at the beginning of the new millennium.
Visit the Millennium Bureau web site or review the papers presented at the conference at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_ecnmy/mera/engdoc/02e.html
Net Gain, currently accessible on the Internet, has been designed to help Canadian businesses understand the opportunities that exist on-line and develop effective Internet operations.
Visit the NetGain web site at: http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/netgain or check out the program description on the Millennium Bureau web site.
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