Social pillar
Outcome Statement: CDIC’s Public Awareness Strategy helps depositors make informed financial decisions and our culture prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), as well as the growth and development of our employees.
Anchor initiative 1: Informing depositors through CDIC’s Public Awareness Strategy
CDIC’s Public Awareness Strategy informs people about the depositor protection provided by CDIC. CDIC has an ongoing and comprehensive strategy to raise public awareness and deepen the public’s understanding of CDIC deposit protection. This strategy helps reduce the risk of confusion about what is covered by CDIC and what is not, helping people make informed financial decisions, and improving their financial resiliency in uncertain times. It also helps to reduce the risk of bank runs when people know their savings are protected. This in turn supports confidence and the stability of the financial system overall – our key public purpose. The Corporation targets our efforts to raise awareness among groups whose awareness lags the overall average among the general population.
By working to provide people with the knowledge they need to protect their deposits, and specifically targeting groups who may have lower awareness, CDIC is helping to reduce financial knowledge gaps.
CDIC’s public awareness is conducted via national advertising campaigns, and a multi-pronged approach to social media and public engagements.
The success of CDIC’s Public Awareness Strategy is measured against the Corporation’s targets for public awareness levels among the general population and targeted groups. CDIC conducts quarterly polling to measure public awareness. The results of CDIC’s polling will serve as a key metric for the ESG Strategy.
For detailed information on this pillar, please refer to the related documentation.
Anchor initiative 2: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategy & Accessibility Plan
CDIC’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Strategy is designed to help create a culture and foster a work force that is representative of the people that CDIC serves because diverse voices and perspectives make CDIC a more effective organization. The Corporation’s senior leadership recognizes that building that culture requires committed leadership. That is why DE&I is a common performance objective across CDIC’s senior leadership. This approach has produced positive results, with CDIC meeting or exceeding representation of women and racialized minorities and persons with disabilities in its work force, and with 67% of its Corporate Officers identifying as women in 2022.
CDIC’s DE&I Strategy is a long-term plan to continue building a more inclusive organization. Employment Equity representation statistics are key metrics that are tracked and are outlined below. The data included below is representation data and reflects employee self-identification within the CDIC workforce as of the end of 2022. Targets are based on census data and used in the Federal Employment Equity Program.
Within CDIC’s DE&I Strategy a key priority was to develop and publish the Corporation’s first-ever Accessibility Plan. This was accomplished in December 2022. The goal of the plan is to make the Corporation’s information, services, and workplace more accessible for people with disabilities. Through consultation with employees with disabilities, CDIC’s Member Institutions, and people with disabilities, CDIC developed a three-year plan (2023-2025) that outlines clear goals for CDIC’s internal operations to support current and future employees with disabilities, as well as for the Corporation’s external communications and interactions with the public. While the goals included in the Plan are wide-ranging, certain goals provide useful measures of CDIC’s overall progress on continuing to improve accessibility. Those goals and the associated targets are listed below as metrics.
CDIC also has a positive impact in its community beyond that of its mandate. The Corporation has worked to support Reconciliation efforts and opportunities for Indigenous women across Canada by partnering with Indspire’s Building Brighter Futures™ initiative, establishing a bursary program that provides financial assistance to Indigenous women in Canada pursuing higher education. CDIC measures the success of this initiative by the number of bursaries we successfully award each year. Through a partnership with the Government of Canada, the Corporation’s goal is ten bursaries annually (5 funded by CDIC, and 5 matching bursaries funded by the Government). Going forward the ESG Strategy will track the number of bursaries awarded as a key metric. To date, CDIC has funded 25 bursaries over the three-year lifespan of the program.
CDIC’s path to Reconciliation also includes employee education about Indigenous History and Culture. In fiscal year 2022/2023, CDIC provided employees with a training opportunity called, The Path: Your Journey Through Indigenous Canada. Going forward, CDIC will continue providing cultural training opportunities for employees and will track the percentage of employees completing the training as a key metric.
For detailed information on this pillar, please refer to the related documentation.
Anchor initiative 3: Enhancing the employee experience
Alongside our DE&I Strategy, CDIC is also developing new strategies to attract top talent in a tight labour market with fewer qualified candidates available, while also working to retain and engage existing staff.
The health and safety, including psychological safety, of our employees is a top priority. CDIC has scaled up the Corporation’s wellness programs and strengthened its workplace policies, including against harassment and violence. The results are clear: when our employees feel safe and supported, they thrive and do their best work. CDIC is striving to enhance psychological health and safety in the workplace, focusing on augmented mental health supports, targeted education sessions for leaders in creating safe spaces, and tools and resources for employees to build their knowledge of various aspects of psychological support in virtual work environments.
CDIC was proud to be certified as a “Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work Institute Canada this year. The Institute benchmarks CDIC against best-in-class employers. This certification reflects our vibrant and thriving workplace, inclusive culture, and the passion and pride employees have for their work.
The Great Place to Work™ certification measures, among other things, the level of trust employees experience in their leaders, the level of pride they have in their jobs, and the extent to which they enjoy their colleagues. Going forward, CDIC will continue to participate in the Great Place to Work™ process, which will include the Corporation being given a score based on employee survey responses under particular themes. These scores include a Trust Index Score and an Employee Inclusion score, which are built off metrics measuring credibility, respect, fairness, and camaraderie. These annual scores will serve as a key metric for CDIC in determining our success in continuing to enhance the employee experience. CDIC also conducts employee engagement surveys to help identify strengths and areas for improvement within CDIC. The survey is conducted annually and is accompanied by pulse surveys throughout the year. These serve as a gauge of employee sentiment and provide an opportunity for CDIC to continue strengthening itself as a corporation. The surveys include scores measuring how proud CDIC employees are to say they work at the Corporation. The Engagement surveys also include a Diversity score, which reflects metrics such as whether CDIC employees feel included by their colleagues at work, whether diverse identities and ways of thinking are valued at CDIC, and whether employees’ managers create an inclusive work environment. The ESG Strategy will rely on the Scores from these annual surveys as a key metric to determine CDIC’s success in supporting an enhanced employee experience.
For detailed information on this pillar, please refer to the related documentation.