Speakers - Canadian Chamber of Commerce · The Canadian Chamber of Commerce. 450 local, regional and provincial chambers. 200,000 businesses represented in our network. The Voice

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Speakers

Christiane BergevinChair, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Ginny FloodVice President, Government Relations,Suncor Energy Inc. and First Vice Chair, TheCanadian Chamber of Commerce

Hon. Perrin BeattyPresident & Chief Executive Officer,The Canadian Chamber of Commerce

Anne-Marie HubertAdvisory Managing Partner, EY CanadaErnst & Young LLP and Director, The Canadian Chamber of Commerce

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Agenda

1. Introduction

2. The Canadian Chamber

3. Why Diversity Matters

4. Diversity and Performance

5. Women and Diversity

6. Board Commitment and Support

7. What Can You Do?

8. Conclusion

9. Q&A

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The Canadian Chamber of Commerce

450 local, regional and provincial chambers

200,000 businesses represented in our network

The Voice of Business in Ottawa and internationally

Managed by a board of dedicated business leaders

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Why Diversity Matters

• In a survey of Canadian corporate board directors, more than

half of respondents (51%) stated a lack of diverse thinking is a

barrier to innovation in the economy.

• Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are

35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective

national industry medians.

• Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more

likely to have financial returns above their respective national

industry medians.

• Statistics demonstrate an increase of 15% in additional profit

observed when the share of women in leadership positions went

from 0% to 30%.

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Diversity and Performance• The Institute of Corporate Directors has

shown that companies with diverse boards tend to file more patents.

If Canada aspires to be an innovation economy, this hasfar-reaching implications.

• Companies with diverse executive boards enjoy significantly higher earnings and returns on equity.

• Over an eight-year period, S&P/TSX companies with at least one woman on their board produced an annual 11% compound return – outperforming peers by more than 3%.

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Womenand Diversity

• Only 3% of companies have adopted targets for the number of women executive officers (14% S&P TSX companies).

• 47% of companies disclosed they have a written board diversity policy.

• Women make up 56% of Canadian university graduates, but only 29.6% in STEM faculties.

• A 10% advance in the number of women owned SMEs would result in a $198 billion increase toward Canada Gross Domestic Product.

• With an aging population, we must tap into the potential of all Canadians, men and women alike.

• Help build a pipeline of women ready for senior leadership and corporate boards. When you have a position to fill, demand a balanced slate of women and men – don't accept a male-only shortlist, nor the response that there aren't enough qualified women.

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Board Commitment and Support

• Our board has strong geographic

representation, sectoral representation and

various skill sets.

• What we are aiming for is a more diverse board,

where we can count on a multitude of different

viewpoints, which will include a strong female

representation and people from diverse ethnic

backgrounds, including Indigenous peoples.

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What Can You Do?• Policies and programs put in place to address diverse employee needs

encourage loyalty and reduce turnover.

• The Institute of Corporate Directors and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP

have created a complimentary board diversity policy template

designed to help companies meet gender diversity disclosure

requirements and to provide a tool for boards to begin or further their

process of diversification.

• Visit chamber.ca/resources/diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace/

for more resources.

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Conclusion• We are moving from goal to action.

• We will be reviewing our performance annually to

hold ourselves to account.

• We are working with the Rick Hansen Foundation on

the construction of our new office to make sure it is

compliant with their standards on accessibility.

• We are working with the Mental Health Commission of

Canada to adopt workplace standards for mental

health.

• We are working to include an Indigenous perspective

in our policy and advocacy areas.

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Q&A

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THANK YOUMERCI

For more information, visit us at Chamber.ca.

Or follow us on Twitter at @CdnChamberofCom.