Insurance companies rank among “best corporate citizens” in Canada

The Co-operators Group and Intact Financial were among the companies ranked on a list of top corporate citizens in Canada.

 The 2013 Best Corporate Citizens in Canada rankings of 50 companies from Corporate Knights magazine, looks at 12 sustainability metrics, including greenhouse gas productivity, health and safety performance and pension fund quality.

“Companies are ranked exclusively against their industry peers, and scored on a 0-100% scale using only those metrics that are widely disclosed in their respective industry,” according to the magazine.

The Co-operators ranked third, behind only Vancouver City Savings Credit Union and Treck Resources. Intact Financial ranked as No. 18, while Sun Life Financial also made the list at No. 41.

“Four of the top ten organizations on the list are co-operatives, which reflects the commitment of co-ops to contributing to the well-being of their communities,” Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators noted.

“We’re proud of the efforts our employees are making across the country to help The Co-operators live up to our vision of being a ‘catalyst for a sustainable society.’ At every level of the organization, people are engaged in our sustainability journey, and it is because of their combined efforts that we receive this sort of recognition.”

Several major Canadian brands including Tim Horton’s and Bombardier, are also on the top 50 list.

“The investment community, both in Canada and abroad, is increasingly demanding clear and standardized information about companies’ sustainability performance,” says Doug Morrow, Corporate Knights Capital’s managing director. “This year’s batch of Best 50 corporate citizens stand out as top performers on a suite of forward-looking financially relevant sustainability metrics.”