Our success relies on diversity of thought, culture, background and perspective.
Serving a membership as diverse as ours and investing in a global market means cultivating an environment that embraces diversity and inclusion in everything we do. We know diversity of thought, background, culture and perspective is critical to creating long-term value.
OPTrust is highly diverse across several dimensions of diversity and inclusion, and we are actively engaged in building on our unique strengths. We are on a journey and recognize there is much more to accomplish in the coming years to make meaningful progress towards a more inclusive organization for our membership and team.
Celebrating International Women’s Day (March 9, 2020)
Diversity Highlights
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Gender balance
Our Board of Trustees enjoys good gender balance and our Executive Team is gender equitable with 50 per cent female representation. -
Diversity and Inclusion Committee
We have a Diversity and Inclusion Committee chaired by a member of our Executive Team that serves as an advisory body to help the organization look at everything it does through a diversity and inclusion lens to advance our goals. -
Diversity and inclusion efforts on five communities
In seeking ways to become more diverse, we focus our diversity and inclusion efforts on five communities:
LGBTQ+ People
Indigenous Peoples
CORE (culture, origin, race, ethnicity)
Gender Equity
People with Disabilities
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Women in Capital Markets and Investor Leadership Network
We are members of Women in Capital Markets (WCM) and the Investor Leadership Network (ILN), and partner on a wide range of initiatives to accelerate progress on gender diversity in investments and in the spheres where we can collectively exert collective influence. -
Committed to pursuing EDGE certification
We are committed to pursuing EDGE certification by maintaining a strong gender-balanced pool of talent, proactively managing pay equity, maintaining a strong framework of effective policies and practices, as well as maintaining an inclusive culture while developing an action plan to further progress. -
Raising awareness on Indigenous communities
We recognize the Indigenous land on which we conduct our operations with a land acknowledgement sign and continue to raise broader awareness in the organization on Indigenous communities. -
Creating an inclusive environment
We have introduced new resources to ensure that the OPTrust team is comfortable being their authentic selves at work, including adding the option to include pronouns and proper name pronunciation in email signatures. We have also launched internal educational campaigns around gender identity, the importance of using people's correct pronouns and taking the time to learn how to pronounce each other’s names.
News and Articles
To celebrate #InternationalWomensDay 2021, over the past week we’ve shared inspirational words of wisdom from 10 female leaders at OPTrust.
As part of our #BlackHistoryMonth initiatives, we hosted a panel for our employees about combatting anti-Black systemic racism.
As a Black Canadian woman in a position of senior leadership at one of Canada’s largest pension plans, I have a responsibility to add my voice to the current discourse on racism. I’m encouraged by the tide of optimism and change sweeping the globe.
Recognizing the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and groundswell of support for social justice and equality around the world, the 14 member CEOs emphasized the need for investors to work collectively to promote progress on these and other issues, and they reiterated their commitment to contribute to a fairer and more equitable economy.
Diversity and belonging is an organizational imperative - a shared responsibility. We all must be open to learning and sharing. Thank you to our virtual panelists for your insights on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.
Celebrating Pride Month looked a little different this year. But that didn’t stop us from coming together to show our Pride. We celebrated the rich and diverse history of the LGBTQ+ community. While Pride Month concludes, creating a sense of inclusion and belonging for every person of diverse sexual and gender identities is part of our cultural DNA each day.
Leadership expert, Vanessa Judelman interviews Audrey and Kourtnie Forbes, a Black female executive and her daughter as they discuss racism in Canada today.
Sunday June 21st is National Indigenous Peoples Day! We celebrate Indigenous heritage, diversity and culture while acknowledging and reflecting on the achievements of First Nations, Métis and Inuit people in Canada.
Connecting with others doesn’t just feel good.
It’s good for our Mental Health. This Mental Health Week, connect with others and get real about how you feel.
Visit www.mentalhealthweek.ca to learn more.
To celebrate Black History Month, we hosted an event – Diversity and Inclusion: Being Black on Bay Street. We believe that making progress in diversity is about finding areas of commonality, and driving cultural change.