Vancity recognized as one of Canada's Best Corporate Citizens
Vancity ranked first among financial institutions and recognized for its work on climate, community impact, diversity, governance and supports for employees
Wednesday, June 30, 2021, Territories of Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations/Vancouver B.C. – Vancity, Canada’s largest community credit union, has been named as one of Canada’s Best Corporate Citizens for the thirteenth consecutive year. Corporate Knights Inc’s. 20th annual Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada ranking is an assessment of 271 Canadian companies, including all those with revenues over $1 billion – that are each evaluated on a set of 24 environmental, social and governance indicators, relative to their industry peers and using publicly available information.
The Best 50 companies set the standard for sustainability leadership in Canada and Vancity is listed number eight on the 2021 Best 50 list and earned the top spot among financial institutions. Acknowledgments of leadership came from achievements in ESG and economic indicators, with top scores in diversity, clean investment, and clean revenue from Vancity's impact (triple bottom line assets under administration [TBLAA] loans and treasury investment earnings.
"We are honoured to be recognized once again as one of Canada’s Best Corporate Citizens,” said Christine Bergeron, CEO and President, Vancity. “Since our founding, Vancity has used the tools of finance and our community relationships to expand economic opportunity, improve the wellbeing of our members, and make our communities clean and fair for everyone.”
“Financial institutions have an enormous economic and social footprint. Vancity will continue to use that influence to take on the crisis facing our planet, and to dismantle barriers that stem from legacies of discrimination and exclusion, and systemic inequities,” continued Christine.
“The Best 50 Corporate Citizens are living proof that there is a cleaner, more fair and inclusive way to do business,” said Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights. “These are companies where people can be proud to work and where investors can invest in the growing clean and fair economy the world is hungry for.”
This year’s Best Corporate Citizen Roundtable event is intended to help galvanize Canadian businesses to adopt science-based targets that align with a low-carbon future, most notably the Business Ambition for 1.5°C commitment, a “call to action from a global coalition of UN agencies, business and industry leaders,” and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero for financial sector companies.
This recognition builds on Vancity’s work in the areas of climate and diversity including:
- Vancity set its net-zero by 2040 target in January 2021.
- In April 2021, Vancity became the first, and so far, only, Canadian financial institution to join the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
- Vancity is a signatory to the BlackNorth Initiative pledge to take action by committing to end anti-Black systemic racism and creating opportunities for underrepresented groups. It is also a signatory to the federal 50-30 Challenge, a framework to accelerate diversity among organizations.
- Vancity has partnered with the Federation of African Canada Economics and the federal government on Canada’s Black Entrepreneurship Program. The program aims to ensure Black entrepreneurs have equitable access to loans and support to grow their businesses.
- In 2020, Vancity declared its support for the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD
- In 2019, the credit union signed the Global Alliance for Banking on Values’ Climate Change Commitment and joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), committing to measure and disclose the climate impact of its loans and investments.
- Vancity is also a signatory to the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s (UNEP FI) Collective Commitment to Climate Action, which requires signatories to set and publish targets for aligning their portfolios to strive for a 1.5 degree Celsius trajectory, based on scientifically established climate scenarios.
- Vancity’s President and CEO, Christine Bergeron, represents North America on the UNEP FI’s Banking Board.
For more information on Vancity’s work on climate and equity, visit rethink.vancity.com
For full list and methodology, go to https://www.corporateknights.com/reports/best-50/
About Vancity
Vancity is a values-based financial co-operative serving the needs of its more than 550,000 member-owners and their communities, with offices and 55 branches located in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Victoria, Squamish and Alert Bay, within the territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw people. With $30.5 billion in assets plus assets under administration, Vancity is Canada’s largest community credit union. Vancity uses its assets to help improve the financial well-being of its members while at the same time helping to develop healthy communities that are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.
Media Relations | Vancity
mediarelations@vancity.com
T: 778-837-0394
About Corporate Knights
Corporate Knights Inc. includes the sustainable business magazine Corporate Knights and a research division that produces rankings and financial-product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance. Corporate Knights was named Magazine of the Year at the National Magazine Awards in 2013 and won the SABEW Canada Silver Award for Investigative Reporting in 2019.
For further information: Toby Heaps, CEO, Corporate Knights Phone: +1 (416) 274-1432, Email: toby@corporateknights.com