OPB Stands with Black and Indigenous Communities & BlackNorth CEO Pledge

September 20, 2021 Update:

Last year, as part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we pledged to keep our members and stakeholders informed of our development and learning as we continue our journey of understanding how racism, discrimination and unconscious bias pose inclusivity barriers within OPB.

As we move deeper into 2021, I want to share an update on a few initiatives we have undertaken this year.

1. We reported against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and progress as part of our 2020 Annual Report, including a summary for members(opens in a new tab) on our Year-in-Review microsite.
2. As part of our goal of broadening our inclusivity efforts, we partnered with The 519(opens in a new tab), a Toronto-based community centre that focuses on 2SLGBTQ+ communities, to provide Gender & Sexual Diversity training for all employees. This work is important for ensuring our staff are equipped with the necessary information and understanding to ensure our members are served and supported in the most inclusive manner.
3. We joined the Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals (CAUFP)(opens in a new tab), a member-based resource organization provides a link between corporations and the Black communities through innovative programs that facilitate economic growth and educational opportunities. CAUFP partners with organizations to strengthen a pipeline of Black Talent, invests in the professional development of their members, and provides a network to foster the economic empowerment of the Black community.
4. We joined the 30% Club Canada(opens in a new tab), whose mission is to enhance gender diversity by reaching at least 30% representation of all women on boards and C-Suites. The 30% Club promotes the importance of gender balance at the board and senior leadership level as a key part of an organization’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, and one that encourages better governance, increases innovation and corporate performance, enhances the ability to attract and retain talent, and enhances reputation and brand.

We remain committed to creating a diverse, safe and inclusive environment for all our employees, clients and stakeholders, and will continue to provide progress updates in the months ahead.

Mark Fuller
President & CEO

December 22, 2020 Update:

While diversity and inclusion are core values for OPB, this year has shown us that we need to do more. Earlier this year we made a commitment to deepen our understanding of racism, discrimination and unconscious bias so that we can identify any biases and inclusivity barriers within our organization and develop a meaningful action plan to address them.

As we approach the end of the year, I want to share an update on a few of the things we’ve done:

1. We joined the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion and all of our leaders and staff completed mandatory training sessions on diversity and inclusion and unconscious bias. We will continue to hold mandatory diversity and inclusion training sessions each year.
2. On behalf of OPB and with the full support of the Board and leadership team, I signed BlackNorth’s CEO pledge against Anti-Black Systemic Racism. OPB is committed to supporting this important initiative.
3. We engaged our investment manager, IMCO in discussions around diversity and inclusion within our investment portfolio. IMCO has included Diversity and Inclusion as one of their core ESG Beliefs, has incorporated Diversity & Inclusion into its due diligence process for new investments, and has signed on to the Responsible Investing Association’s pledge to address systemic racism within the investment industry.  We will continue to work together with IMCO on this important issue over the coming year.
4. We introduced anonymized resume screening to help reduce bias in our hiring process

As we continue to develop our action plan, we will also be looking to engage with our clients and other stakeholders to understand their perspectives on where we have an opportunity to improve. We have a diverse membership and we want to ensure we are providing an inclusive retirement planning experience.

We recognize this is just the beginning and that this journey will require a continued, sustained commitment. We have started providing quarterly progress updates to the Board and our HR Committee and will also continue to provide regular progress updates to our clients and stakeholders as we develop our action plan.

We are committed to creating a diverse, safe and inclusive environment for all our employees, clients and stakeholders.

Mark Fuller
President & CEO

July 21, 2020 Update:

On behalf of OPB, I am  pleased to share that today, I have joined many other CEOs from Canadian private and public sector organizations in signing the BlackNorth Initiative's(opens in a new tab) CEO Pledge Against Anti-Black Systemic Racism. The BlackNorth Initiative is centred around Canadian business leaders coming together to identify systemic barriers and developing concrete action plans to remove them. The pledge will be an important part of the broader approach that we’ll be working on in the months ahead.

As I stated in my letter last month, I will continue to provide updates on our commitments towards greater diversity and inclusion at OPB, and look forward to sharing a further update on our action plan this fall.

Mark Fuller
President & CEO

June 30, 2020 Update:

Black and Indigenous communities are experiencing deep pain and trauma from racism. OPB unequivocally condemns any form of racism and discrimination.

I know some of you may be wondering why we didn’t share a message of support sooner. While statements of support matter, with an issue this important, we recognize that what’s really needed is meaningful action. Over the past month, we have been focused on listening, learning and having in-depth discussions about what we need to do.

At OPB, we hold diversity and inclusion as core values and we have a strong culture of treating one another with respect and dignity. That said, I acknowledge that while we have a diverse staff-level workforce, we need to do more at the leadership level. I also recognize that real change will require taking a systemic view of our organization, programs and processes and challenging our current thinking, biases and ways of doing things. I have declared my commitment to further diversity and inclusion in a meaningful way to the Board and our employees, and the entire leadership team stands with me in this commitment.

First, we need to listen to the voices and experiences of Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities. This is particularly important given the progress we need to make on leadership diversity. Once we’ve had the opportunity to hear from these communities and to educate ourselves more deeply, we will develop an action plan for the whole organization which we will share and provide ongoing progress updates on.

While I know that change won’t happen overnight, here is what we are committing to doing this year:

• mandating inclusion, diversity and bias awareness training for all employees
• supporting our leadership team in understanding and working through their unconscious biases
• reviewing our HR practices and policies
• providing a progress update before the end of the year

We may not always get it right as we move forward, but I want to assure our employees, members and stakeholders that we are committed to doing the work to ensure a safe, diverse and inclusive environment for everyone.

Mark Fuller
President & CEO

We adopt the foregoing remarks as our own.

Peter Shena, EVP & Chief Pension Officer
Val Adamo, Chief Technology Officer
Chris Kautzky, Chief Investment Officer
Mila Babic, Vice-President Client Services
Armand De Kemp, Vice-President Finance
Jasmine Kanga, Vice-President HR & Corporate Services