Toronto-based IGM Financial employees volunteer with a local conversation authority.SUPPLIED
You’ll find fewer and fewer disposable coffee cups at IGM Financial offices. Single-use items are being phased out across several corporate office kitchenettes and cafes. Instead, employees can reach for IGM reusable mugs for their morning cup of coffee. And photocopiers — those ubiquitous office fixtures that were once key office rendezvous points — are purposefully scarce. Making paper copies is highly discouraged unless they are essential for business purposes.
It’s all part of a sustainability and waste reduction mindset that permeates the company’s way of operating, according to Cynthia Currie, executive vice-president and chief human resources officer. “Sustainability is a responsibility we take seriously. When our actions align with our values, people feel included — and that accountability strengthens both our culture and our performance.”
IGM is one of Canada’s leading wealth and asset management companies, with subsidiary companies including Mackenzie Investments and IG Wealth Management. Each company operates separately but shares corporate functions.
In late 2024, IGM launched its refreshed sustainability strategy, built around three key pillars: Indigenous reconciliation, climate, and economic empowerment. “All levels of our organization are contributing to our sustainability strategy,” says Kelly Hepher, executive vice-president and chief risk officer. “We are carbon neutral in our operational emissions, and we have been for a number of years.”
Florence St-Arnaud, program manager for climate and environment, takes a lead role in the company’s climate-related initiatives. “We do a lot when it comes to our office-building footprint,” she says. “Over the past several years, we have been reducing our operational emissions by improving the efficiency of our owned building, rationalizing office square footage, modernizing existing offices and, for leased offices, upgrading to more energy-efficient buildings and preferably ones that hold a Green Building certification when the leases expire.”
St-Arnaud says IGM maintains carbon neutrality in its operations through the purchase of high-quality carbon credits. “This year we purchased carbon credits that facilitate verified emission reductions in Canada and support Indigenous-led projects. That really aligns with our corporate sustainability strategy, specifically our Indigenous reconciliation pillar,” she says.
IGM currently supports several employee-led business resource groups (BRGs) including a Green BRG that promotes positive environmental impact by engaging employees to adopt green living concepts at work and at home. “There is a strong employee interest in our Green BRG,” says Currie. “And we see that commitment shine through their activities and impact.”
Throughout the year, Green BRG members organize shoreline cleanups, tree planting and commuter challenges. The group plays a big part in IGM’s efforts to improve climate and environmental literacy and reduce its carbon footprint. “Green BRG members are plugged in to the issues and are engaged,” says Hepher. “Along with the initiatives they support, they also provide inspiration and ideas to galvanize the employee network more broadly around green issues.”
Employee action is a key part of the company’s sustainability strategy. IGM maintains a network of sustainability champions throughout the organization. “It’s this involvement that fosters the success and impact of our initiatives throughout the business,” says St-Arnaud.
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Advertising feature produced by Canada’s Top 100 Employers, a division of Mediacorp Canada Inc. The Globe and Mail’s editorial department was not involved.