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As our exposure to private markets continues to grow, so do our specialized ESG expertise and in-house resources. Building on more than a decade of ESG action in private markets, BCI welcomed dedicated ESG professionals to support our programs in 2022. Learn more from Evan Greenfield, managing director, ESG, who supports private equity, as he shares his perspectives on the implications and possibilities for ESG in private markets.

How is ESG evolving in private markets?

The COVID-19 pandemic was a watershed moment for the ESG movement. During a time of significant volatility, ESG integrated funds in the public markets outperformed their non-ESG integrated benchmarks, which led to an inflow of capital to ESG strategies. During this period, the private equity asset class started to recognize the benefits of ESG integration especially from risk reduction and return enhancement. We believe that ESG will continue to have a significant impact in the private equity market as it is well suited for our asset class. Private equity investors can influence management behaviour and company strategy, given their ownership positions and governance rights, and the longer-term hold periods. ESG integration is at the beginning of a long-term structural change to private equity investing.

Which key considerations are informing the investment landscape?

Private equity is unwavering about value creation during the life of the investment, and focusing on material ESG factors fits squarely into the value creation model. We see several catalysts that will continue to advance the focus on sustainability. These include a shift in purchasing decisions to incorporate sustainability, talent looking to work with firms where there is a mission around purpose, increased regulation, credit ratings that integrate material ESG factors, and greater flows of capital to sustainable-oriented strategies

What will you focus on in 2023?

Private equity’s ESG focus in 2023 is centred around continuing to build a highly scalable ESG program. We want to ensure all our investment professionals have the knowledge and tools to seamlessly integrate ESG throughout the investment process: screening, due diligence, monitoring, value creation, and exit. At the core of this approach is engaging with each of our six sector teams — financial services, business services, healthcare, consumer, industrials, and technology, media, and telecom — and developing an internal view on material ESG factors for the industry segments with clear financial linkages. We will also proactively support our portfolio company management teams to educate them on emerging ESG topics. We want to ensure our portfolio companies have the tools to make ESG diffusive through their organizations. This will ensure they are able to recognize the disruptive challenges and opportunities in a sustainability-integrated economy.

As our exposure to private markets continues to grow, so do our specialized ESG expertise and in-house resources. Building on more than a decade of ESG action in private markets, BCI welcomed dedicated ESG professionals to support our programs in 2022. Learn more from Mel de Jager, Director, ESG, who supports infrastructure & renewable resources, as she shares her perspectives on the implications and possibilities for ESG in private markets.

How is ESG evolving in private markets?

There are no shortages in the number and complexity of risks facing businesses today, which are tied more and more to ESG and climate-related factors. Private markets are no exception. The scrutiny of private company ESG performance is increasing as investor, government, and societal expectations change and ESG data becomes more available. Private markets investors have a strong voice with companies through board seats and management oversight, and can use this to drive ESG integration and reporting. This growing focus on sustainability in private markets is driven by the clear relationship between positive ESG performance and a company’s ability to navigate long-term risks and opportunities. This is particularly true for real assets like those held within BCI’s infrastructure & renewable resources portfolio.

Which key considerations are informing the investment landscape?

Infrastructure and renewable resources are typically long life and capital-intensive assets, with potential for outsized impacts on the environment and society. This makes macro-environment trends and long-term thinking key to any investment decision. While critical factors like health and safety will always be top of mind in industrial asset classes, the physical and transition risks associated with climate change continue to define the investment landscape. On the other hand, the opportunities for investors to support the transition to a low-carbon economy by allocating capital to investments like renewable energy are significant and increasingly attractive.

What will you focus on in 2023?

In 2023, infrastructure & renewable resources will continue advancing our decarbonization plans to mitigate risk and create value for our clients. This includes leveraging our ownership positions to influence and guide our portfolio companies through the green energy transition. With our growing global footprint and new office in London, we are building capacity and empowering our investment teams to manage ESG across the portfolio. With our long-term outlook, research and staying ahead of the fast-changing trends in regulation and new technology will also be key.

Victoria, British Columbia – Today, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) released its 2022 ESG Annual Report. The publication provides key updates and insight into how we capture opportunities and manage risks associated with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in the best financial interests of our clients.

“BCI’s ESG leadership builds on more than two decades of intentional action,” says Jennifer Coulson, senior managing director & global head, ESG. “We have established deep expertise and support for integration across asset classes, while using our size and influence to drive tangible ESG improvements. We continue to raise our expectations for portfolio companies, investment partners, and other players in the capital markets.”

The 2022 ESG Annual Report demonstrates progress under the four components of our corporate-wide ESG Strategy: Integrate, Influence, Invest, and Insight. During the year, BCI published our updated Climate Action Plan, which affirms our commitment to use our influence to drive actions aligned with the global goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050; expanded ESG expertise and support across asset classes; leveraged ESG and climate change as a source of value creation; and continued to address material ESG factors through direct and collaborative engagement.

“Preserving and growing long-term value for our clients remains the driving force behind our ESG commitments and decisions, particularly as the complexity of the investment landscape grows,” says Gordon J. Fyfe, chief executive officer and chief investment officer. “Active asset managers are playing a critical role in advancing ESG objectives within an increasingly nuanced and fast-changing environment.”

Our 2022 ESG Annual Report is available on BCI.ca/ESG

Highlights from the report 

Integrate

• Completed 260 ESG reviews for investment opportunities and 38 ESG evaluations of external managers and partners across asset classes, leveraging proprietary and industry datasets and frameworks.
• QuadReal Property Group (QuadReal), a BCI-owned company that manages our real estate equity and debt programs, ranked first in the Americas and fourth globally for its Canadian portfolio of office, industrial, retail, and residential assets in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) diversified category.

Influence

• Voted at 3,478 public company meetings and increased expectations on climate change disclosure and performance, diversity, and protection of shareholder rights in the 11th edition of our Proxy Voting Guidelines.
• Participated in public markets collaborative engagement initiatives targeting 2,294 companies on climate change, gender diversity, and sustainable finance.
• Responded to or participated in 11 ESG-related policy consultations, roundtables, and joint statements, including feedback on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposed climate disclosure rule.
• Escalated our engagement with companies on key issues through shareholder proposals filed on climate risk disclosure and freedom of association.
• QuadReal committed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 in alignment with BCI’s expectations for portfolio companies, building on its track record of emissions reduction initiatives.

Invest

• Pursued climate-related opportunities, including acquiring Reden Solar as our first direct investment in solar energy in our infrastructure & renewable resources program.
• Participated in 26 sustainable bond issuances valued at over $1.45 billion, increasing total historical participation to more than $4 billion; we expect this to grow to $5 billion by 2025.
• Supported the expansion of the Sustainable Development Investments (SDI) Asset Owner Platform, including increasing the number of companies assessed using the UN Sustainable Development Goals and adding new datasets for investors.

Insight

• Continued to build our ESG team and strengthen our corporate-wide approach, including appointing our first global head of ESG and adding dedicated ESG experts for private markets.
• Initiated a climate opportunity sector scan to complement, enrich, and validate our in-house and third-party research.
• Provided education and learning opportunities to BCI staff, clients, and board members on climate change, Indigenous reconciliation, human capital management, and other topics.

Aligned to the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, BCI is now integrating our climate-related disclosures into our Corporate Annual Report alongside our financial reporting. Our TCFD report will be published in our 2022-2023 Corporate Annual Report in July 2023.

CONTACT
Olga Petrycki, Director, External Stakeholder Engagement
media@bci.ca

ABOUT BCI
British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is amongst the largest institutional investors in Canada with C$211.1 billion under management, as of March 31, 2022. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, with offices in Vancouver, New York City, and London, U.K., BCI is invested in: fixed income and private debt; public and private equity; infrastructure and renewable resources; as well as real estate equity and real estate debt through our independently operated platform company QuadReal Property Group. With our global outlook, we seek investment opportunities that convert savings into productive capital that will meet our clients’ risk and return requirements over time. This compels us to integrate long-term ESG matters into all investment decisions and activities. BCI’s clients include pension plans representing over 715,000 plan members, insurance funds providing more than three million Autoplan insurance policies annually, benefits coverage to more than two million workers and 225,000 companies, and special purpose funds within British Columbia’s public sector. Founded in 1999, BCI is a statutory corporation created by the Public Sector Pension Plans Act.

Canadian pension investment manager British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (“BCI”) and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investor Mubadala Investment Company (“Mubadala”) have become the new anchor investors in Cube Highways Trust (“CHT”), an infrastructure investment trust (“InvIT”) in India.

Cube Highways Fund Advisors Private Limited, the Investment Manager to InvIT, announced the listing of its fully subscribed privately placed ordinary units to INR 52,258.27 million (c. US$630 million). The InvIT has a diversified portfolio of 18 toll and annuity road assets with an aggregate length of 1,423.60 kilometres. BCI, Mubadala and domestic institutional investors have subscribed to the ordinary units.

The first tranche of assets held by the InvIT will have 17 NHAI toll road assets and one NHAI annuity road asset. These road assets are located across 11 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. In addition, pursuant to a right of first offer, CHT will also have an opportunity to access a pipeline of seven highway assets.

Mr. U K Sinha, an independent director at Cube Highways Funds Advisors Private Limited (acting as the Investment Manager for the InvIT), said, “This marks a significant milestone in the development of India’s infrastructure sector and InvIT in particular. The trust in Cube by such marquee investors affirms its capability and personnel. The Board and Cube’s team are eager to work with all stakeholders to continue generating value and worth for all. I’m thrilled to participate in Cube’s journey towards a more prosperous and sustainable future.”

The InvIT has also signed a facility agreement with the State Bank of India for an amount of INR 100 billion (c. USD 1.2 billion) to be used for refinancing of the existing debt within the initial portfolio.

The InvIT has been rated “Provisional Ind AAA/Stable” for its loan facilities from three rating agencies, including Crisil Ratings Limited, ICRA Limited and India Ratings & Research Private Limited. The ratings derive comfort from the portfolio’s track record and geographic diversification, cash pooling structure, strong debt protection metrics and experienced management team.

Zaman Velji, Senior Managing Director, Infrastructure & Renewable Resources at BCI, said, “BCI’s investment in Cube Highways is in line with our long-term strategy of investing in infrastructure platforms that meet the essential needs of the communities they serve. Additionally, this investment increases and diversifies our exposure in the infrastructure sector, as well as in India, enabling BCI to contribute to national economic growth. We look forward to working with Cube Highways to build long-term value for our public sector clients.”

Saed Arar, Executive Director – Head of Traditional Infrastructure, Mubadala, said, “India offers the most significant global growth opportunity in roads with a robust and well-regulated market for infrastructure investment. With more than $100 billion allocated to the road construction program, and a potential $20bn+ addressable acquisition pipeline, Cube Highways is the most well positioned platform for Mubadala to drive investments in roads and capitalize on this market opportunity. As a responsible investor, we are proud to be working with Cube Highways and supporting India’s road infrastructure ambitions to further deliver socioeconomic benefits to the country.”

About Cube Highways

The Cube Group is a 100% institutionally owned platform backed by a diversified investor base, including I Squared Capital, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and Japan Highways International BV. It is engaged in implementing the public-private partnership (“PPP”) model in the country’s highways sector to operate and manage highway projects in association with the central and state governments.

For more information, please visit: www.cubehighwaystrust.com

Media contact: corpcomm@cubehighways.com

About Mubadala Investment Company

Mubadala Investment Company is a sovereign investor managing a global portfolio, aimed at generating sustainable financial returns for the Government of Abu Dhabi.

Mubadala’s $284 billion (AED 1045 billion) portfolio spans six continents with interests in multiple sectors and asset classes. We leverage our deep sectoral expertise and long-standing partnerships to drive sustainable growth and profit, while supporting the continued diversification and global integration of the economy of the United Arab Emirates.

For more information, please visit: www.mubadala.com

Media contact: Danielle.Ferns@edelman.com, Mazar.Masud@edelman.com

• Sets industry-leading guidelines for climate risk disclosure in the audit process
• Expands expectations for board diversity to include ethnic and racial representation
• Takes action to ensure separation of CEO and board chair roles in Canada and the U.S.

VICTORIA, British Columbia – Today, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) released the 11th edition of our Proxy Voting Guidelines outlining our increased expectations on climate change disclosure, diversity, corporate governance roles, and protection of shareholder rights.

“Proxy voting is a key shareholder right and powerful tool for BCI to drive action aligned to our clients’ best interests,” said Daniel Garant, executive vice president & global head, public markets. “We consistently leverage voting to make our expectations clear and hold companies and their boards accountable on material issues like climate change and diversity.”

CLIMATE RISK DISCLOSURE  
Building on our industry-leading climate risk disclosure requirements, BCI’s 2023 guidelines include the expectation for climate-related metrics and risk considerations in the audit process. As a means to escalate our engagement with high-emitting companies, this guideline enables BCI to hold directors accountable when they fail to ensure climate risk is incorporated into corporate disclosures rigorously and accurately, including some level of assurance. We have also added a focus beyond disclosure to target unsatisfactory performance on climate change risk management, which could result in votes against the relevant board committee or entire board of directors, including the CEO.

“It is critical that investors understand how climate assumptions are affecting financial statements and, in turn, company performance,” says Jennifer Coulson, senior managing director & global head, ESG, BCI. “BCI has been increasing our support for more prescriptive shareholder proposals and voting against directors for weak responses to climate change. Our new guidelines give us another avenue for escalation to hold companies accountable on climate risk.”

For companies in high emitting sectors, BCI may vote against a company’s financial statements if they lack sufficient details on climate change risk to the company’s operations and finances and may vote against audit committee members if there is no reference to climate risk impacts in the auditor’s opinion.

DIVERSITY BEYOND GENDER
Since 2021, BCI has been at the forefront in holding boards to account for a lack of ethnic and racial diversity on boards in the U.S. Starting in 2023, we will apply this guideline to the Canadian market and will expand to other markets as disclosures permit. BCI maintains its expectation of 30 per cent female representation on boards where practical to implement, while increasing our expectation for Japanese boards to have at least one female director.

• BCI will vote against the chair of the nominating committee if a board lacks adequate racial or ethnic diversity
• BCI will vote against top executives on Japanese boards if the board lacks adequate gender diversity

SEPARATING BOARD AND MANAGEMENT POWERS
Since a board chair plays a key role in hiring and firing a CEO, the roles must be separated in order to protect shareholders’ interests. Targeting the CEO directly is rare among investors and escalates our voting strategy from exclusively holding the nominating committee accountable.

• BCI will consistently vote to ensure the separation of chief executive officer and board chair roles

PROTECTING SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS
BCI has long supported the principle of one share, one vote but multi-class share structures, occurring when some shareholders have unequal voting rights over others, continue to negatively impact shareholders. To ensure the protection of shareholder rights, we will begin holding directors accountable for unequal voting rights at Canadian and U.S. companies.

• BCI will vote against independent board chairs or lead directors and governance committee chairs at companies with unequal voting rights unless there are mitigating factors such as reasonable sunset clauses

Other material updates to our Proxy Voting Guidelines include supporting more employee ownership plans if dilution is reasonable and explicitly stating our continued support for shareholder proposals requesting improved disclosure and adoption of policies and practices related to reconciliation and Indigenous inclusion.

As an active owner, proxy voting is one of several ways BCI engages companies to encourage adoption of best practices that add long-term value to shareholders, including our clients. We update our guidelines every two years. For more information, see our Proxy Voting Guidelines as well as a searchable database of our proxy voting records here.  

CONTACT
Olga Petrycki, Director, External Stakeholder Engagement
media@bci.ca

ABOUT BCI
British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is amongst the largest institutional investors in Canada with C$211.1 billion under management, as of March 31, 2022. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, with offices in Vancouver, New York City, and London, U.K. BCI is invested in: fixed income and private debt; public and private equity; infrastructure and renewable resources; as well as real estate equity and real estate debt through our independently operated platform company QuadReal Property Group. With our global outlook, we seek investment opportunities that convert savings into productive capital that will meet our clients’ risk and return requirements over time. This compels us to integrate long-term ESG matters into all investment decisions and activities. BCI’s clients include pension plans representing over 715,000 plan members, insurance funds providing more than three million Autoplan insurance policies annually, benefits coverage to more than two million workers and 225,000 companies, and special purpose funds within BC’s public sector. Founded in 1999, BCI is a statutory corporation created by the Public Sector Pension Plans Act.

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer Coulson as our first global head of ESG. This newly created role reflects our corporate-wide commitment to sustainable investing and will further strengthen oversight and integration of our ESG and climate-related ambitions.

As global head, Jennifer is responsible for all ESG strategies and programs at the total portfolio level. She will continue to evolve our approach in line with the fast-changing ESG landscape and lead our work supporting the global goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

“BCI continues to look to the future to meet our clients’ long-term financial goals. Appointing a global head of ESG allows us to expand our ability to manage risks and capture opportunities,” says Gordon J. Fyfe, BCI’s chief executive officer and chief investment officer. “Since joining BCI in 2012, Jennifer has built a world-class public markets ESG team focused on active ownership and laid the foundation for our corporate-wide ESG governance structures and strategies. I look forward to her continued leadership at BCI.”

As a long-term investor, BCI continues to expand its ESG strategies as well as increase capacity across all teams. This centralized ESG leadership role will increase consistency and coordination across the corporation, while allowing for ESG professionals to be embedded across their respective business, allowing flexibility for tailored approaches within each asset class.

“BCI has actively considered ESG and climate change for more than two decades. As we grow our global presence and our ESG talent, having a unified ESG approach is increasingly important,” says Jennifer Coulson, newly appointed senior managing director & global head, ESG. “There is a tremendous opportunity to build on our leading ESG practices and work across teams to create value in our portfolio and for our clients.”

Jennifer holds a degree in environment and resource management from Western University and a masters in environmental studies from York University. She has received the corporate director designation (ICD.D) from the Institute of Corporate Directors; chairs the 30% Club Canada investor group; serves on the Government of Canada’s Sustainable Finance Action Council; sits on the investment advisory committee for the University of Victoria Student Investment Fund; and is a board member for the SDI Asset Owner Platform. Jennifer has been recognized as one of British Columbia’s most influential women in finance by BC Business Magazine.

Learn more about BCI’s approach to ESG and climate action at BCI.ca/ESG

Publishes white paper on modernizing trading to help establish gold standard at large institutional asset managers.

Victoria, BC – British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) has released an industry-first white paper detailing our innovative centralized trading framework which provides clients with greater portfolio returns, lower fees, and allows for improved risk management.

“As BCI transitioned successfully to an active in-house global asset manager, we built a value-added, modern centralized trading framework,” said Daniel Garant, executive vice president & global head, public markets. “Our framework was designed with a cross-asset mindset to enhance portfolio returns, lower costs and better manage risk. It was imperative that our platform deliver best trade execution, as well as have strong governance to help influence ESG practices with our global financial partners, in addition to streamlining processes, efficiencies, and scalability for our continued growth.”

Our centralized, end-to-end trading approach ensures connectivity at the highest levels and enables one cross-asset desk to execute for the entire corporation. Having a complete picture of trading activities, fees, and data allows for better aggregated pricing on total transactions with partners, and further allows for better decision making grounded in centralized data sources.

“We are pleased to be working closely with BCI in the provision of front- to back-office capabilities that help facilitate and accelerate BCI’s ambitions to generate enhanced performance and greater cost efficiencies for their clients. Centralized trading exemplifies their commitment to achieving these goals, and we are excited to continue solutioning for their needs as they continue to grow.” said Dane Fannin, global head of securities finance at Northern Trust, a leading provider of asset servicing to institutional investors.

Promoting collaboration in what is typically a siloed function at many large institutional asset managers, BCI’s centralized trading framework also shifts the role of the trader from operations to advisor, allowing trading professionals to add significant value to the investment process.

“Joining BCI at a time when the corporation transitioned to active management allowed me to lead a trading team implementing processes and frameworks from scratch. There has long been an established, back, middle and front office approach to trading, coming in to create something new without legacy frameworks to constrain us was very exciting,” said Samir Dhrolia, senior managing director, global derivatives, trading and indexing portfolio management. “The executive management team at BCI empowered us to deliver a world-class solution and we’ve been able to draw top talent from a very competitive market to Victoria to work on this.”

As outlined in our Centralized Trading White Paper, the key benefits of a centralized trading framework include:

• Cross-asset view that enhances portfolio returns, reduces costs and allows for better risk management
• A central voice facilitated via BCI’s One Wallet platform, a relationship management tool that manages a total view of payments across BCI, negotiating with external parties for the best possible results for clients on commissions, deal flows and third-party services. This is increasingly important as BCI’s operations spans the globe with teams in Victoria, Vancouver, New York, and this year, London, UK
• Fosters a performance-focused team, and offers an environment where employees collaborate across the portfolio management, cross asset risk and liquidity functions
• Streamlines processes, effectiveness, and scalability for continued growth
• Optimizes management oversight, and strengthens legal, compliance and operational controls thus reducing a variety of operational and investment risks

Download the Centralized Trading White Paper.

About BCI
British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is amongst the largest institutional investors in Canada with $211.1 billion under management, as of March 31, 2022. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, offices in Vancouver, New York City, and London, U.K. BCI is invested in: fixed income and private debt; public and private equity; infrastructure and renewable resources; as well as real estate equity and real estate debt through our independently operated platform company QuadReal Property Group. With our global outlook, we seek investment opportunities that convert savings into productive capital that will meet our clients’ risk and return requirements over time. This compels us to integrate long-term ESG matters into all investment decisions and activities. BCI’s clients include pension plans representing over 715,000 plan members, insurance funds providing more than three million Autoplan insurance policies annually, benefits coverage to more than two million workers and 225,000 companies, and special purpose funds within B.C.’s public sector. Founded in 1999, BCI is a statutory corporation created by the Public Sector Pension Plans Act. For more information, visit our website BCI.ca or follow us on LinkedIn.

CONTACT
Olga Petrycki
Director, External Stakeholder Engagement
778-410-7310 | media@bci.ca

What is centralized trading? This white paper explores the benefits and drawbacks of centralized trading for institutional investors. We offer decision criteria for asset management firms who are considering or on their way to centralized dealings, to assess their unique circumstances, costs, and other constraints before implementing a centralized framework. We develop best practices to implement centralized dealings, including good governance, regulatory requirements, defining order types and cross-asset best execution, working from home and technology prerequisites. The analysis draws on the existing body of research for trading desk structures, industry trends and best practices, scenario analysis to estimate the benefits net of costs, and case studies from global asset management firms.

Centralized Trading Whitepaper

Victoria, British Columbia – BCI is proud to be named as one of BC’s Top Employers for the fourth consecutive year for offering employee programs that promote a healthy work/life balance.

“It is an honour for BCI to once again be recognized as a top British Columbia employer,” said Norine Hale, BCI’s executive vice president, human resources, “Receiving this award during a period of tremendous workforce and workplace change speaks to the strength of our programs.”

Supporting employee health and wellness with flexible options that empower each to make choices that best suit their needs benefits everyone. As BCI continues to grow its global reach with investments and operations abroad, as well as attracting top talent from around the world, a new remote work program was introduced for opportunities to travel to where families, colleagues, and partners live and work. BCI team members can apply to work remotely from anywhere in the world for a maximum of one month each year.

“Our workplace culture at BCI is designed with the individual in mind, we are more than just employees. Our people-centric culture means we bring our whole selves to work,” said Umar Malik, senior vice president, finance, and chief financial officer. “Our people are our single biggest asset. At BCI you get the opportunity to do challenging and rewarding work for our clients with incredibly smart people. That’s what drew me to the company and what keeps me here.”

BCI’s performance-based culture fosters a healthy balance between professional and personal time. At BCI, the starting annual vacation allowance is four weeks and increases at long service intervals. Additionally, each year employees have six paid personal days for when life happens.

Mediacorp Canada Inc. operate Canada’s Top 100 Employers – the nation’s largest publisher of employment periodicals, reaching over 15 million Canadians each year. The award recipients were announced today in a special feature published in The Vancouver Sun and on the Canada’s Top 100 Employers website.

This is the fourth time that BCI has applied for selection as one of BC’s Top 100 Employers. Applicants are evaluated by the editors using eight criteria^[1] and are compared to other organizations in their field to identify those that lead their industries in offering the most forward-thinking programs and exceptional workplace cultures.

Find out more about our culture and opportunities to work with us at BCI.ca/careers

CONTACT
Olga Petrycki, Director, External Stakeholder Engagement
778-410-7310 | media@bci.ca

Victoria, British Columbia – BCI is proud to be named as one of Canada’s Top Family-Friendly Employers for the fourth consecutive year, offering employee programs with robust benefits and flexibility, including for working parents.

“I’m incredibly proud BCI has once again be recognized as one of Canada’s Top Family-Friendly Employers,” said Norine Hale, BCI’s executive vice president, human resources, “At BCI we have tried to develop and evolve programs that are able to meet the needs of our employees. We recognize flexibility is key to enabling our employees to meet both their professional and personal requirements.”

Employee wellness at BCI is a priority, and we are proud to support parents with a comprehensive leave program including, pre-leave meetings to discuss leave options, financial considerations, government and BCI benefits, planning for pension purchase options, and leave entitlement calculations for before and after the parental leave. Meetings help ensure parents can make a well-informed decision on how to best plan the leave for themselves and their family. As the return-to-work date approaches, early communication and planning with employees on parental leave is key to ensure the returning parent has a smooth transition back to the office, including the potential for a phased return to work plan.

Parents receive generous leave top-up payments, 85 per cent of salary for up to 52 weeks for maternity and parental leaves, and 85 per cent of salary for up to 36 weeks for fathers and adoptive parents.

“Employees are instrumental to the success of BCI and our clients. When you support their work/life balance with flexible options that empower each parent to make choices that best suit their needs, and that of their family, everyone benefits,” said Hale.

Mediacorp Canada Inc. operate Canada’s Top 100 Employers – the nation’s largest publisher of employment periodicals, reaching over 15 million Canadians each year. The award recipients were announced today on the Canada’s Top 100 Employers website.

This is the fourth time that BCI has applied for selection as one of Canada’s Top Family-Friendly Employers. Applicants are evaluated by the editors using eight criteria [1] and are compared to other organizations in their field to identify those that lead their industries in offering the most forward-thinking programs and exceptional workplace cultures.

Find out more about our culture and opportunities to work with us at BCI.ca/careers

CONTACT
Olga Petrycki, Director, External Stakeholder Engagement
778-410-7310 | media@bci.ca