ESG at
OPB

OPB is the administrator of the PSPP; guided by our Advise and Protect mission, we help our members plan for retirement with security and dignity. Our primary objective is to effectively and efficiently manage the PSPP so we can deliver the pension promise and keep the plan affordable for our members and employers over the long term. Doing this requires a robust governance structure that helps us effectively adapt to evolving risks and opportunities to protect the best interests of the Plan and our members.

In recent years, we have worked to advance ESG within our organization by enhancing our governance and Board oversight when it comes to ESG, working with IMCO to address climate risks and opportunities in our portfolio, and advancing DEI within our organization. We believe effectively addressing ESG is critical to delivering on the pension promise to our clients.

Governance at OPB

OPB’s Board is an expert board with nine highly qualified members, each appointed by the Plan Sponsor (the Government of Ontario), including three members who are nominees of bargaining agents representing PSPP members. To fulfil our governance role, we need the right mix of skills and expertise on the Board, which is why candidates are assessed against a skills matrix that sets out the overall mix of skills and expertise needed by the Board.

ESG Governance

Effectively managing ESG is a priority for the Board and management. OPB’s Board of Directors includes several members who have significant experience and depth in relevant ESG areas.

Over recent years, we have focused our attention on advancing DEI at OPB and working with IMCO to address climate risk in our portfolio. To read more about IMCO’s approach to risk management, visit IMCOInvest.com.

To support the Board and leadership in their oversight of advancing ESG, we hold regular expert-led education sessions on ESG topics, provide ongoing educational resources, and engage expert support to help us with the development and implementation of key activities. The Board receives regular updates from management on its progress on ESG, including DEI.

See page 14 of our 2022–2023 ESG Report for more information on our governance of ESG within our investments.

Employee Engagement and Culture

People are at the heart of OPB. As a close-knit team of dedicated and skilled professionals, we do important work that has a meaningful impact on our Plan members’ lives. Delivering retirement security now and into the future is a responsibility we take seriously. We take pride in being a leader in the pension industry and a trusted advisor to our clients and stakeholders.

We conduct regular employee engagement surveys to help us understand employee perspectives and experience and to see where we have opportunities to improve the employee experience. Our surveys have an exceptional response rate of 90% or above.

We took a purposeful and gradual approach to returning to the office to help people adjust after working remotely. Our approach helped support the health and well-being of our staff through a prolonged pandemic period.

We provide our employees with access to educational resources and expert sessions to help support their ongoing well-being. Over the past few years, we’ve focused on resources to help our employees with stress management and resilience.

Embedding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at OPB

We believe that having a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace is fundamental to achieving our mission and vision. It makes us a stronger, more agile organization, helps us attract and retain employees, and positions us to better serve our diverse membership. Diversity, equity and inclusion are core OPB values and have been for many years. However, in 2020, after events in Canada and the U.S. brought diversity, inclusion and racism to the forefront, and the challenges facing Black and Indigenous communities in particular, we realized that there was more OPB could do to truly live those values. We committed to developing a plan to advance DEI within our organization. Over the past few years, we have taken a number of steps to help advance DEI at OPB, including developing and regularly sharing educational content, holding dedicated training and educational sessions throughout the year to help foster awareness and understanding of DEI issues, and launching a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Council.

Establishing a DEI Advisory Council

In 2022, OPB established our own DEI Advisory Council (the Council) to support continuous improvement in building an inclusive culture at OPB. The Council is composed of two co-chairs and eight members, half of whom are unionized staff. Membership was established through an open application process. Working closely with Human Resources, the Council serves as a trusted advisor to help ensure OPB’s DEI initiatives, programs and policies resonate with our employees and align with our values and overall organizational and business priorities.

We were assisted in creating the Council through our partnership with the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI). Working with CCDI, OPB gathered anonymous feedback from a volunteer employee focus group. Using this information and information from other sources, the Council has established OPB’s definitions of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as well as a DEI mission, vision and roadmap.

See page 10 of our 2022–2023 ESG Report for more information on the steps we’ve taken to advance DEI.

Advancing Inclusion for Clients

We understand the importance of providing our clients with excellent service that is accessible and inclusive. While we recognize that there is more work to be done in this space, here are a few ways that we are working to make our services more inclusive for our clients today:

Over the past few years, we have enhanced the accessibility of our member and employer portals to improve the experience for clients with low vision and those using screen readers and accessibility software and devices to navigate the portal.
We are working on making our communications more gender inclusive.

Partnerships/Pledges That Support Our Commitment to DEI

Joined: 2020

The BlackNorth Initiative (BNI) works to overcome systemic racism in all facets of Canadian life, leveraging a business-ﬁrst approach. The organization runs a variety of programs including the BNI Homeownership Bridge Program, BlackNorth Academy, scholarships, bursaries and networking opportunities.

In 2020, OPB’s CEO Mark Fuller signed the BlackNorth Initiative CEO Pledge, which states: “Working through the BlackNorth Initiative, we will increase our efforts to make our workplaces trusting places to have complex, and sometimes difﬁcult conversations about anti-Black systemic racism and ensure that no barriers exist to prevent Black employees from advancing within the company.”

Since 2020, we have built pledge commitments into our DEI approach.

Joined: 2021

The mission of the 30% Club Canada is to encourage organizations to increase the presence of women and underrepresented groups on their boards and C-suites to a minimum of 30%.

OPB’s Board and leadership team have strong female representation; however, we have more work to do to advance broader leadership diversity at these levels.

Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI)

Joined: 2021

The CCDI was established in 2013 to foster diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in order to build a more inclusive Canada where everyone is treated with dignity and respect and has equal access to opportunities and resources. They endeavour to achieve this by empowering people to become change agents through thought leadership, research, education and action.

As an employer partner, OPB has benefited from CCDI’s advice and resources and established our own DEI Advisory Council. Working with CCDI, OPB has gathered anonymous feedback from a volunteer employee focus group. Using this information, our DEI Advisory Council has established OPB’s definitions of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, as well as a DEI mission, vision and roadmap. We have also leveraged educational DEI opportunities.

Canadian Association of Urban Financial Professionals (CAUFP)

Joined: 2022

CAUFP is a resource organization with more than 2,000 members providing a link between the Black community and corporate Canada through professional development, networking, ﬁnancial literacy and youth engagement.

OPB has partnered with CAUFP to promote awareness of career opportunities at OPB and further diversify our candidate pool through their job boards. In addition, OPB offers membership and event opportunities to all employees.

Environment at OPB

OPB understands the urgency of addressing climate change. While we recognize that the most significant impact we can make on protecting the environment will come from efforts made by IMCO to address climate change in our investment portfolio, here are some of the ways we are trying to reduce environmental impact in our operations:

Approximately 90% of our active members and 25% of retired members receive digital communications where possible. As a result, we have reduced the number of pages mailed by over 500,000.

Where members are still receiving paper communications, all our mailings are printed on recycled paper that is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified.

Currently, OPB’s offices are located at 200 King Street West, which is an energy‑efficient building that is rated Platinum under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification system.

Surveying Our Members on ESG

We know that how OPB addresses ESG is of growing importance to our members. This is why, in 2022, we committed to developing a communications strategy to continue improving our transparency on ESG issues.

We invited nearly 10,000 Plan members to complete a survey to help us better understand what ESG issues matter most to them and how they want to stay informed on ESG topics.

Here are some key findings:

73%

of respondents believe that ESG should be an important consideration for the Plan, while 27% feel investment returns should be the primary focus.

While most respondents felt ESG should be an important consideration, only 55% felt well informed about how ESG investing works.
Respondents were most likely to rank environmental protection (39%) in their top three ‘most important considerations’ for investments, followed closely by climate change (38%) and human rights (34%). Business ethics (26%), good corporate governance (24%) and labour standards (23%) were also cited.

This feedback helped inform our communications strategy, including the development of this inaugural report, which highlights how integrating ESG into our investments can contribute to higher long-term returns, includes educational content to help members understand key concepts in ESG investing, and speaks to the issues OPB and IMCO are focused on and how we are progressing towards them.

See page 13 of our 2022–2023 ESG Report for more information from the survey.