We value
opennness
and a variety
of perspectives
to enrich our
decisions and
enhance our
performance.
of our employees
are women
of our actively managed public companies count at least 30% women on their Boards of Directors
of our employees in Canada identify as a member of one of the following three groups:
- Visible minorities
- Ethnic minorities
- Indigenous peoples
pre-investment opinions
on tax practices
Highlights
We make inclusion part of everything we do, starting with our work environment, where we promote a culture that is enriched by our differences. We also develop this culture by engaging with our portfolio companies and external managers, relying on diverse perspectives, openness and collaboration to make the best decisions.
In addition, because sound community development is based on exemplary tax practices, we strive to comply with fair tax principles throughout our activities and analyze each investment opportunity using stringent criteria.
An open and inclusive work culture
We use our influence to advance inclusion practices, and we work to take concrete action that will have a positive impact on communities.
Our commitment is exemplified by the creation of an environment where our talent can flourish and feel valued through a culture of openness, collaboration, accountability and ambition.
Encouraging the growth of our talent
At CDPQ, we aspire to provide an environment in which everyone can see themselves, be themselves and develop themselves. This is at the heart of an engaging employee experience where everyone can contribute to the organization's performance.
To enable everyone to reach their full potential, professional development programs are at the heart of the measures we take:
- Leadership programs to equip our team leaders to coach our talent and help them embody the behaviours that are valued in our CDPQ culture. For new managers, they serve as accelerators to refine their leadership style.
- A mentoring program to help our employees achieve their professional goals and fast-track their skill development. In 2024, 182 employees were mentored internally by 146 mentors.
- The A Effect, a program for women designed to propel their career development, brought together 24 CDPQ employees.
- To adapt our practices and respond to ongoing needs, we regularly take the pulse of our employees through anonymized surveys that measure engagement and job satisfaction. In this way, we gather feedback and can implement targeted measures in line with CDPQ’s cultural pillars to foster a climate that is conducive to inclusion and collaboration.
Valuing employees in their differences
During the year, we created a new employee resource group dedicated to neurodiversity, bringing the total to five employee groups that support our culture of openness by offering space for discussion around shared realities:
- Les Investies – for women in investment
- Carrefour Diversité – for colleagues from ethnocultural minorities
- Fierté CDPQ – for the organization’s LGBTQIA2S+ colleagues
- Femmes en tech – for women in technology
- Neurodiversité – to leverage the differences and uniqueness of neurodivergent people
Over 15 events were organized in our offices, including:
- An event celebrating Black History Month, organized by Carrefour Diversité, brought together CDPQ employees to hear from a Québec public personality of the Black community who spoke about his career and youth involvement. We also took the opportunity to present artwork from our collection. The piece was created by a Black artist and uses sport to provoke thought.
- In March, special programming was organized in collaboration with the Les Investies and Femmes en tech employee resource groups to mark International Women’s Day. Participants were invited to a highly informative conversation among Québec women entrepreneurs, followed by smaller breakout discussion workshops.
- Pride was celebrated in our offices around the world, with our employees holding a variety of activities to highlight the importance of an inclusive environment.
- In October, a conference organized by our committees in the Equity Markets and Risk Management business units brought together nearly 200 colleagues on the theme of “Creating an inclusive and diverse environment”.
- Initiated by Fierté CDPQ employee resource group, the colours of the rainbow flag adorned the stairs of Édifice Jacques-Parizeau in Montréal. In August, for the second consecutive year, some 50 CDPQ employees took part in the Montréal Pride Parade.
Commitment at every level
Every day, the range of perspectives within our teams and the measures we put in place to promote openness and inclusion help enrich our decisions and enhance our performance. This collective wealth is apparent in particular in the variety of ages among our employees (Figure 8).
This year, our Executive Committee reaffirmed its ambition on inclusion through two promising actions:
- Five projects involving employees from various business units are being led by members of the Executive Committee to advance inclusive practices across the organization.
- The Executive Committee held meetings with our employee resource groups to better understand their realities and to help support their objectives. Members of the Executive Committee also took part in the workshop “Being and acting as an inclusive leader” to anchor our convictions and reinforce management’s commitment in this area.
We also continued to roll out and implement our Action Plan for Persons with Disabilities for the 4% of our employees with disabilities in Canada.
A wide variety of ages among our employees
Contributing to an inclusive working environment
Our ambitions on openness and inclusion are based on our commitment to build on our differences, so that the organization benefits from the expertise and experience of all our employees.
Women represented 47% of our employees, while 42% of our Board and 36% of the Executive Committee were women. Furthermore, 27% of our employees in Canada identified as members of one of the following groups: visible minorities, ethnic minorities or Indigenous peoples.
Results as at December 31, 2024
of the members of the Board are women
of the members of the Executive Committee are women
of our employees are women
of our Canadian employees identify as members of one of the following groups: visible minorities, ethnic minorities or Indigenous peoples
Providing a healthy and safe workplace
Occupational health and safety is a priority for CDPQ. To support our employees, the organization provides ongoing access to professional and confidential support.
In 2024, to enhance our approach, training on psychological health was made available throughout the year.
Our talents were able to take part in activities to strengthen team bonds as well as themed workshops.
To provide safe and effective support, over 350 people were trained on spotting the warning signs of declining mental health.
In addition, in order to maintain the highest standards of professional conduct and foster a healthy workplace, we updated our Policy Against Harassment, Violence and Other Types of Misconduct in September 2024.
Taking social factors into account in our investment strategy
We recognize how important inclusion, human rights and health and safety issues are to the quality and performance of our portfolio. To create value and minimize risk, we continually strengthen our internal practices to integrate assessments of social factors throughout the investment cycle. We also maintain a proactive and open dialogue on these issues with our portfolio companies and external managers.
A rigorous approach
to social issues
When analyzing investment opportunities or carrying out post-investment monitoring, we take social factors into account according to their materiality. We do this by drawing on the internationally recognized framework of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). We also pay close attention to the track record of each company and partner we analyze. For more information on our assessment process, see the Governance section.
In our post-investment monitoring, and when required by the situation, we engage in discussions with our portfolio companies on social challenges as a way to help improve their performance.
We leverage collaboration
To strengthen collaboration with our stakeholders around a shared inclusion objective, we have continued to roll out a guide to offer solutions for advancing these practices in organizations. When a situation requires it, we talk to certain companies to go deeper into the subject and share our expertise.
Actively managed public companies where women make up at least 30% of the Board
Toward diversified representation on Boards of Directors
We believe that the composition of the Boards of our portfolio companies and external managers should reflect a wide range of viewpoints, experience and talent in decision-making, thereby stimulating innovation and growth while reducing risk.
In April 2024, in line with the evolving recommendations of the Canadian chapter of the 30% Club, we amended our Policy Governing the Exercise of Voting Rights of Public Companies to encourage greater diversity on the Boards of our portfolio companies beyond gender. Beginning in 2025, we reserve the option, depending on the disclosure available, to use our shareholder vote in certain targeted jurisdictions to express our position when the Board of Directors does not include at least 30% women and one person from an under-represented group. During the year, we shared our expectations and established a proactive engagement plan with the companies concerned to encourage them to take action.
As at December 31, 2024, 73% of our actively managed public companies had at least 30% women on their Boards of Directors, representing an increase of almost 78% over four years (Chart 9).
We used our levers of influence to encourage action. Accordingly, in the absence of extenuating circumstances, we voted against the appointment of Board members in 203 companies that had less than 30% women on their Boards.
Nominee directors
We engage in ongoing efforts to foster the diversity of the Boards we sit on and strengthen their governance. In 2024, we appointed 78 new nominee directors, of which, 29 were women.
Formalizing our human rights commitments
In order to align our practices with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, efforts are being made in ongoing due diligence processes, and we are taking human rights issues into account in our investment activities according to their materiality:
- In pre-investment, during background checks and reviews of controversies, sustainability analyses and exclusion sectors
- In post-investment, when monitoring controversies, shareholder votes and engagement activities
The human rights factors considered in sustainability analyses include, amongst others, labour rights, working conditions, employee health and safety, supply chain management and community relations.
We continued to take part in the PRI Advance initiative, an effort supported by the United Nations to advance good engagement practices, including dialogue with companies, and foster institutional investor collaboration on human rights challenges.
In April 2024, we adopted our Human Rights Policy, which formalizes our commitment and defines CDPQ’s principles and priorities in this area.
Health and safety
Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) is one of the pillars of our Infrastructure portfolio. It is at the heart of operational excellence and crucial to preserving the social acceptability of projects within the community.
We make this essential element a priority throughout the asset life cycle, both in pre-investment and in asset management. This year, the portfolio has developed a roadmap to support its assets in incident prevention and reduction and promote a health and safety culture.
The portfolio also prioritizes continuing education for its investment teams and provides them with tools and best practice guides. Our investment managers and operating partners play a key role promoting and reinforcing our OHS priorities on Boards of Directors. When a situation requires it, they call for adopting concrete measures and actions that will lead to compelling improvements in our assets.
Lastly, the team has adopted a governance structure with indicators and a dashboard for monitoring OHS performance in order to ensure effective, proactive portfolio management.