EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Our differences make us unique, and even stronger. That’s why, at iA Financial Group, we are committed to supporting and celebrating diversity. We are continually building a team that is as diverse as the people and communities we serve. By combining our different ways of seeing and experiencing the world, we will always be stronger than the sum of our parts!
Cultivating equity, diversity and inclusion
At iA Financial Group, we recognize diversity and inclusion as a key driver of our innovation and growth. Each year, our markets are expanding to new communities. We need to understand our clients in order to best serve them, and to develop the right products for them. To do this, we need our teams to represent the communities we serve.
Moreover, if we want to remain successful, we have to constantly innovate, finding new solutions to new challenges. To achieve this, we need the best minds working together in every field. And we need diversified minds—a variety of points of view, from all our employees, who know that their ideas will be heard.
By promoting teamwork, respect for individuals and quality of service, we make every effort to ensure that our employees thrive in an environment of trust, solidarity and authenticity. These are the keys to success that will help them reach their full potential.
“I believe that equity, diversity and inclusion are key to the future success of iA, both for business and human reasons. As our markets expand into new communities, our employees need to be representative of them in order to understand and serve our new customers well. And to innovate, our employees must represent the best talent in all fields, and know that their diverse perspectives will be heard. Finally, we must use the privilege of being employed by a successful company to promote equality in our society.”
Denis Ricard
President and Chief Executive Officer
“I believe that Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) are not just moral imperatives but also strategic advantages for our company. Embracing EDI helps us to attract top talent, foster innovation, and better understand our diverse customer base. It creates a workplace where every employee, regardless of their background, can feel valued and empowered to contribute their best work. This commitment to EDI is a reflection of our core values and is integral to our success as an organization. We strive to create an environment where differences are celebrated, and everyone has the opportunity to thrive.”
Stéphanie Butt-Thibodeau
Executive Vice-President, Talent and Culture and EDI Executive Sponsor at iA Financial Group
“At iA, we work every day to create the conditions for an equitable, diverse and inclusive environment for our employees and the diverse communities we serve. We promote sincere dialogue, listening and an open-mindedness that allows each of us to express ourselves and develop with confidence. The close collaboration between senior executives, management and our employee resource groups also allows us to effectively prioritize and deploy our action plan.”
Inderpal Palmier
Manager, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at iA Financial Group
Mission statement
Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee, which was created in 2020 and includes representatives from across iA Financial Group, has progressively implemented programs fostering EDI development. The committee’s mandate covers all forms of diversity and makes inclusion an equally important target for every form of diversity. The following is our mission statement:
“At iA Financial Group, we support and celebrate diversity. We strive to provide and be recognized as an inclusive workplace for all regardless of ethnic origin, nationality, language, religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family situation or physical or mental disability.”
Diversity and Inclusion Statement (PDF)Human Rights Statement (PDF)
2022-2025 action plan
To achieve our mission of integrating equity, diversity and inclusion into the core iA culture and having an inclusive workplace for all, we have put in place a three-year action plan, spanning from 2022 to 2025, which includes continuing and further rolling out our diversity and inclusion programs and laying the foundation to continue to listen to, engage and educate employees in our diversity and inclusion journey.
In 2023, we formalized our governance. The EDI Advisory Committee is composed of employee resource groups (“ERG”) and senior managers. This committee ensures that the voice of our employee resource groups is heard, and that the EDI strategy meets the organization’s needs. Moreover, a manager has been appointed to the EDI Centre of Expertise. Supported by a team of advisors, this manager is responsible for strategy deployment
Recent achievements
Recently, we have continued to make significant strides in implementing programs and initiatives that not only enhance the employee experience, but also promote our values within the communities we serve.
Explore all our achievementsAwareness and education
We have put in place numerous awareness and education activities for both employees and managers, including training on unconscious bias and how to break down or eliminate it. To this day, close to 100% of managers and employees have received training on this topic. We also regularly offer conferences and other sources of quality information to all of our employees to support them in acquiring new knowledge related to diversity and inclusion.
Employee resource groups
In 2022, we launched an employee resource group (ERG) program within the company. ERGs are brought together based on shared qualities or life experiences and form a network of contacts primarily dedicated to enhancing professional and personal development. These voluntary, employee-led groups aim to foster an equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace that takes into account multiple realities. We are very pleased that the following groups have a voice in our organization:
- Women
- LGBTQ+
- BRIDGE Network (Black community)
- Indigenous Network
Certifications and partnerships
We recognize that company policies and practices regarding relations with diverse communities or underrepresented groups, the recruitment and advancement of employees from these groups and internal education, among other things, should be certified based on external standards of practice set by recognized organizations. Here’s an overview of some of our certifications and partnerships:
- Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) certification from the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business
- Silver level of Women in Governance Parity Certification;
- Catalyst;
- Association des femmes en finance du Québec(AFFQ;
- Fierté Montréal;
- Pride at Work Canada.
Philanthropy
We have established collaborations with charities and organizations that support equity, diversity and inclusion such as the Inclusion Fund, Fondation Émergence, GRIS-Montréal, Women in Capital Markets (WCM), Women of Influence, Indspire, and Mission inclusion, Wits Program and Académie Zénith. We have also made donations to more than a dozen charities whose mission or project supports diversity and inclusion.
Discover all our commitments