Diversity, Equity
and Inclusion
Diversity, equity and inclusion are essential to advancing our collective purpose and vision, living our values, and delivering winning results.
We’re so much stronger
We’re so much stronger when we know we’re accepted and valued for who we are and what we each bring to the workplace.
We believe in the benefits a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace brings.
A diverse and inclusive work environment
It’s a work environment that inspires curiosity, creativity, and innovation. It’s an environment where all people feel valued for their uniqueness. It’s a place where people feel heard, seen, and that they belong. It’s a workplace where everyone has an equal opportunity to grow and succeed.
Our strategic plan to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion
We believe in building, investing in, recognizing, and rewarding remarkable people who value an inclusive workplace, embrace all forms of diversity, and commit to including every voice in our collaborative environment.
Our Values guide our decisions. They compel us to confront hard truths through education and action. We know we all have a role to play in building a more equal, just, and inclusive world.
Our strategic Diversity and Inclusion Blueprint guides our approach to building an environment where all our people feel they are seen, heard, valued, and empowered to thrive. We aren’t perfect, but we’re committed to getting better every day.
Four Pillars
- Drive Accountability to Represent the Communities We Serve: Educate and empower people leaders to set measurable goals, and champion and realize our company-wide commitments and goals.
- Align Our People Practices to Our Values: Audit, evaluate and embed diversity awareness and inclusive practices into people programs and policies to mitigate bias and make talent practices fair, equitable, and reflective of our Values.
- Facilitate Deep Listening and Nurture Curiosity: Enable people to convene, learn, share, and elevate desired action. Foster curiosity and encourage people to listen and understand.
- Foster Cultural Change that Creates Broad Engagement: Build awareness and understanding around the spectrum of individual and organizational behaviours that reinforce cultural outcomes to motivate personal change commitments.
Our new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Goals
Over several months, we dedicated significant effort to developing new goals, drawing on internal insights, benchmarking with other organizations, and analyzing crucial people data points to develop new, impactful objectives.
Diversity:
– By the end of 2030, we aim to increase the representation of women in management to 50% outside manufacturing.
– By the end of 2030, we aim to increase the representation of women in management to 25% in manufacturing.
– By the end of 2030, we aim to increase the representation of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour in management to 25%.
Equity: Every year, we aim to achieve top quartile scores (77 and above) across all core demographic groups* on the People Survey question: “Regardless of background, everyone at Maple Leaf Foods has an equal opportunity to succeed.”
Inclusion: Every year, we aspire to achieve top quartile scores (82 and above) across all core demographic groups* on the People Survey question: “I feel comfortable being myself here.”
These goals underscore our confidence in advancing diversity, promoting equity, and maintaining a steadfast focus on fostering an inclusive culture within our organization.
Supporting women at Maple Leaf Foods
We’ve introduced a number of programs and initiatives to support women at Maple Leaf Foods. We’re breaking down barriers to their inclusion and advancement into leadership roles. And we’ve seen improvements!
In 2023, women accounted for:
46% of our salaried team and 39% of our hourly team
36% of director roles (10% increase since 2017)
35% of vice president roles (13% increase since 2017)
41% of manager roles
Our Employee Resource Groups are instrumental in helping build and sustain a sense of belonging. They reflect our diverse and inclusive workplace.
AccessAbility unites people with visible and invisible disabilities, team members with loved ones with disabilities, and allies, creating a community and culture that empowers and values all abilities, and works to advance Maple Leaf Food’s accessibility and accommodation strategies.
EcoAction is a network of colleagues that is passionate about protecting the planet and promoting a sustainable future. Their aim is to inspire the sharing of knowledge, experience, and passion for the environment, promote sustainable working and living and empower employees to take action.
Maple Leaf Pride & Allies fosters psychological safety so that our people are assured a safe, welcoming, and empowering environment when they come out at Maple Leaf Foods. It supports the professional and personal growth of LGBTQ2S+ team members, and builds awareness and understanding, so that all our people know how to be better allies.
The Mental Health Advocacy Network works to build mental health awareness and reduce stigma across the Company and supports team members with learning and a community. The team is passionate about fostering safe and brave spaces and actively support Maple Leaf Foods’ You Are Not Alone initiative.
The Multicultural Advocacy Network (Multi-CAN) is committed to sharing knowledge, promoting cultural fluency and celebrating the strength of our differences. Multi-CAN’s Indigenous Friends Circle promotes truth, reconciliation and healing, for only by acknowledging the truth of the past and its ongoing legacy and impacts can we take meaningful action towards reconciliation. Together, we honour, respect and celebrate the cultures and significant contributions, past and present, of the First Nations of Turtle Island, now known as North America.
The Women’s Impact Network (WIN) advance gender equality by creating meaningful connections so that all talent thrives at Maple Leaf, and its Women in Manufacturing chapter works to attract, engage and advance women in Manufacturing to close the gender gap and unleash the full potential of our talent.
2023 Integrated Report
We’re documenting and calculating all the changes we’re making. See our progress in our 2023 Integrated Sustainability Report.