8 mfgs. among Canada’s Best Corporate Citizens
By DE Staff
General Sustainability Metal Fabrication Energy Cascades Celestica Corporate Knights EcoSynthetix Gildan Activewear Kruger Lion Electric Royal Canadian Mint Transcontinental
A diverse set of companies takes top honours in the 24th edition of Corporate Knights’ ranking of the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM)—a public corporation operating public transit services in the Greater Montreal area—is the country’s best corporate citizen.
Eight Canadian manufacturers and producers landed in the Top 50:
- Royal Canadian Mint (metal products) — No. 6
- Cascades (packaging and tissue products) — No. 12
- Lion Electric (all-electric truck and bus manufacturer) — No. 18
- EcoSynthetix (engineered biopolymers) — No. 34
- Kruger Products (forest products) — No. 35
- Transcontinental (packaging and printing) — No. 42
- Gildan Activewear (clothing manufacturing) — No. 43
- Celestica Inc. (electronics manufacturing) — No. 45
The Best 50 includes many firms in industries central to the energy transition, such as power gen-eration and transmission, which includes a whopping 14 companies. Among them are Innergex Renewable Energy (No. 4), Brookfield Renewable Partners (No. 7), Alectra Inc. (No. 8), Hydro-Québec (No. 10) and Toronto Hydro (No. 11).
From the top spot, STM stood out for its large-scale investments in public transit infrastructure. Among other major projects this includes the Bellechasse Transport Centre, which features the necessary equipment to operate a complete fleet of 100-per-cent electric buses. More than 85 per cent of STM revenues were from sustainable sources, and it also achieved a doubling of racial di-versity on its board of directors.
The Best 50 Corporate Citizens are identified each year from among the full universe of Canadian corporations with at least $1 billion in annual revenues. They are assessed relative to the percentage of their investments and revenues that are sustainable, and to up to 25 other metrics that reflect both global carrying capacities in areas such as carbon emissions and aspirations for greater social equi-ty.
Collectively, this year’s Best 50 companies account for most of the sustainable investments made by large corporations, and a substantial proportion of the sustainable revenues earned. Among the full universe of companies assessed, sustainable investments rose by 82 per cent from 2019 to 2022 and sustainable revenues by 77 per cent. In contrast, non-sustainable investments among the same group of companies rose by only four per cent and non-sustainable revenues by 20 per cent.
For the full list and more detailed report, visit Corporate Knights.
