Canada’s extractive sector includes some sustainable business leaders, while consumer brands need to sharpen up
Canada’s extractive sector includes some sustainable business leaders, while consumer brands need to sharpen upThe corporate responsibility scene in Canada mirrors the country as a whole: regionally diverse, thinly populated, a few clusters of activity, and a lot of looking outside the nation for leadership and inspiration.
Canada has historically been strong in the extractive industries: mining, oil and gas, and forestry. While most Canadian consumers assume these firms are the Big Baddies, they have actually been out in front in terms of corporate responsibility.
According to GlobeScan’s Radar 2009 Report, the Canadian public perceives petroleum and mining companies near the bottom in terms of “fulfilling their commitment to society”. Only the tobacco and chemical industries ranked worse.
And yet a quick survey of the larger companies active in this sector – from Nexen, a Calgary-based energy company, to Cascades, a Quebec-based forest products group – reveals that they had been engaging stakeholders and increasing transparency for at least a decade before their consumer-facing peers even knew how to spell greenwash.
The more visible companies in Canada – retailers and consumer brands – have typically lagged behind in terms of corporate responsibility, in spite of receiving top ranks in the same GlobeScan survey of public perception.
In 2007, when UK-based Marks & Spencer released its highly touted Plan A and US-based brands such as Nike and Levi’s were publishing social compliance data, only two Canadian retail brands, Hbc and Mountain Equipment Co-op, made any meaningful data publicly available.
This has started to change in recent years thanks to a combination of factors.
One is the realisation that when a company publishes a sustainability report, the sky does not fall. This is probably because the few who read them are not likely to criticise a company for finally being more transparent. Hence we see companies such as grocery retailer Loblaw and clothing manufacturer Gildan producing rather thorough, GRI-based reports for a second year in a row.
There has also been a realisation by a handful of progressive firms in Canada that managing waste, product sustainability and societal impacts can be good for business.
Xerox’s Toronto-based global research and development facility, for example, is a hub of innovation striving to create environmentally sound document management systems. It recognises that the workplace norm can no longer be mountains of single-use paper, heaps of obsolete electronics and tubs of toxic ink.
Regional differences
An often overlooked element of Canada’s corporate responsibility landscape is the degree to which Quebec – specifically French-speaking Quebec – is host to some very promising initiatives.
The inter-university life-cycle analysis group, Ciraig, based in Montreal but closely tied to several European universities, has been working with leaders such as home renovation retailer Rona, forest products group Cascades and energy firm Hydro Quebec.
Meanwhile the Quebequois people are particularly engaged in social dialogue. Retailers such as Mountain Equipment Co-op report that they are more likely to field direct corporate responsibility-related questions from customers in Quebec than elsewhere.
The French-English gap is just one example of diversity of Canada. The vast north holds great economic promise and yet the needs of the people, particularly Canada’s First Nations, must also be met.
And in the prairies, resource extraction takes place within the country’s largest farming region. Saskatchewan alone comprises 41% of Canada’s arable land, yet its oil, gas and uranium is responsible for 28% of the national output. Recent industrial growth has led to the nickname “Saskaboom”, and yet not all segments of society are benefiting from the upward economic trend.
A report by the Canada Council on Social Development – Poverty Reduction Policies and Programs – states that in 2006 nearly 15% of the province’s population was of aboriginal descent, and that half of Saskatchewan’s aboriginal children live in poverty.
Large companies such as Saskatoon-based Potash Corp are supporting inner city programmes. And while these are steps in the right direction, major long-term efforts that go beyond philanthropic donations will be required to reverse the trend.
There are a few other stations to visit on Canada’s corporate responsibility tour: strong governance in the financial sector, leadership in green energy and a burgeoning corporate water responsibility movement. But many companies are only just beginning to learn from the nation’s resource-based trailblazers.
