Vancity ranked as one of Canada’s top corporate citizens
Vancouver, June 8, 2012. Vancity is pleased to announce it has been ranked number 2 on the annual list of Canada’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens in a report issued by Corporate Knights, a Toronto-based media, research and financial products company focused on clean capitalism.
“Our approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goes beyond donating money or volunteering time to worthy causes,” says Tamara Vrooman, CEO of Vancity. “It’s about operating in a way that is responsible to our members and employees, respectful of the environment and supportive of the communities where our members live and work. Our vision is to develop products, services and business practices that improve not only the financial well-being of members, but also their social and environmental well-being as part of a vibrant, healthy community.”
Corporate Knight’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens of Canada ranks the relative impact of companies’ carbon, water, waste, and energy use. Other citizenship indicators include pension fund quality, board diversity, ratio of highest-paid executive to average worker pay, and tax dollar generation, as well as sector-specific indicators such as renewable energy investments (for financial companies) and respect for human rights (for mining companies).
The Corporate Knights Best 50 methodology for grading corporate citizenship, developed with financial support from Industry Canada, has helped raise the rigour and professionalism of what it means to be a good corporate citizen. The methodology was recognized by the global initiative Rate the Raters as a leading global practice. Corporate Knights defines a good corporate citizen as a company that fulfills its part of the social contract, while innovating solutions to the pressing social and environmental challenges of our time.
The full methodology and analysis of the Best 50 Corporate Citizens is detailed at http://www.corporateknights.com/best50 and summarized in the Best 50 2012 issue (Vol. 11.1) of Corporate Knights.
About Vancity:
Vancity is Canada’s largest community credit union with $16.1 billion in assets, more than 479,500 members and 59 branches throughout Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Victoria and Squamish. Vancity has distributed $221 million to members through dividends and to communities through grants and community investment initiatives since 1994. We are a member of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values – a network of the world’s leading sustainable banks sharing the commitment to achieving triple-bottom-line impact through responsible banking practices and Living Wage Employer. For more information visit vancity.com.
Media Contact:
Lorraine Wilson
778-837-0394
mediarelations@vancity.com