Canadian Investors Representing $2.3 Trillion Pledge to Promote Diversity & Inclusion in Their Portfolios and Institutions
Institutional investors managing more than $2.3 trillion in assets have signed the new Canadian Investor Statement on Diversity & Inclusion, an initiative coordinated by the Responsible Investment Association (RIA).
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“Accelerating progress on diversity and inclusion within our organizations and investment portfolios requires a purposeful and collective effort on behalf of many investors. Together, we can build a more inclusive business and investment landscape in Canada.”
Signatories to the statement, which include some of the largest institutional investors in the country, acknowledge the existence of systemic racism and its impacts on Black and Indigenous communities and People of Colour, while further acknowledging the existence of inequities and discrimination based on other factors including, but not limited to, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, culture and socio-economic status.
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The joint statement declares, “We all have a responsibility to ensure that the persistent inequities in business and our society are eliminated. As institutional investors, we can contribute to addressing these inequities in Canada by taking intentional steps to promote diversity and inclusion across our portfolios and within our organizations(Canadian Investor).”
The signatories will take steps to integrate diversity & inclusion (D&I) into their investment processes, for example by monitoring the D&I practices of Canadian public companies and conveying their expectations of improved D&I disclosures. The investors collectively state that they expect Canadian public companies to aim for the adoption of policies, targets and timelines to improve diversity on boards and in senior management, with the ultimate goal of being aligned with the racial and ethnic demography of Canada.
The signatories will also take concrete steps to strengthen D&I practices within their own institutions, such as providing training to foster inclusive cultures, collecting data to identify and address any barriers to the advancement of underrepresented groups, and seeking out underrepresented voices to inform D&I activities. The signatories commit to reporting on their efforts to promote D&I, and to reviewing and updating their practices as they learn from experience.
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