Better Communities
Our Goals
- Continue conducting a high-impact external campaign that engages consumers and policy makers to advance food security
- Multiply our impact through convening and collaboration
- Contribute more than $1.5M in healthy food products in 2021
- Develop a comprehensive People Strategy to attract, retain and engage the best talent
- Execute on our Diversity & Inclusion Blueprint and achieve gender parity in management roles by the end of 2022
- Strive for a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.55 or less and a Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) Rate of 0.22 or less
- Strive for 100% completion rate on plant safety and health accident reduction plans (SHARP)
2020 Highlights
- Conducted the #ApartTogether campaign in spring 2020 and generated almost $600K in donations reaching more than 2 million people with social content
- Donated more than $2M to support emergency food access and donated over $2.5M of healthful products, a 67% increase from 2019
- Announced our Diversity and Inclusion Blueprint, outlining our comprehensive approach to how we will address systemic and cultural barriers and provide an environment with equal opportunity to thrive
- Achieved 38% representation of women at the manager level and 32% representation of women at the director level
- Delivered mental health training to 88% of people leaders
- Achieved a world-class TRIR of 0.48 and a DART of 0.24
Partnering with Organizations
The Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security partners with organizations across Canada to advance food security.
Here are some of the innovative programs we are supporting:
Food Insecurity
4.5 million Canadians, or 12.7% of households, face food insecurity.
It is unconscionable that in Canada, a country of considerable wealth and food resources, over four million people face food insecurity. This is not a food issue – Canada has plenty of food to nourish everyone. It is largely the result of insufficient or increasingly unstable income, worsened by geographic location, social isolation, health and knowledge barriers, and structural racism.
The statistics are shocking
- Over 4.5 million Canadians (one in eight households) experienced some level of food insecurity, affecting one in every six children before COVID-19*
- Food insecurity increased by 39% in the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic **
- 72% of children in Nunavut live in food insecure households, the highest level in Canada***
- Indigenous & Black households have a rate of food insecurity that is over 2.5 times higher than that of other Canadians****
Food insecurity is a serious public health problem, as physical and mental health is closely linked to peoples’ ability to access healthy foods. Levels of food security in Canada over the past decade have not improved and have in fact worsened in some provinces.
Our principles
- We support food-based initiatives that promote dignity and build individual and community capacity to advance food security.
- We support partnerships that advance sustainable solutions to food insecurity.
- We support innovation, learning from what doesn’t work as well as what does.
- We connect our people and their expertise with our partners through skill matching and volunteerism.
- We build partnerships with governments, academia, non-profit organizations and the private sector to advance change and progress.
- We seek to advance collective knowledge and impact, sharing the learnings with others.
Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security
Maple Leaf Foods has a long-term commitment to shared value creation, including meaningful social change. As part of this commitment, we conducted over two years of consultation to establish a community impact strategy, resulting in the creation of the Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security (the Centre) in 2016, a registered charity governed by an independent Board of Directors. The Centre is committed to working collaboratively across sectors with the goal of seeing food insecurity in Canada reduced by 50% by 2030.
Since its launch, the Centre has made investments in 22 initiatives across Canada that apply innovative approaches to increase reliable access to good food and reduce food insecurity. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic put a spotlight on the challenges of food access in Canada and beyond and the disproportionate impact on racialized and low-income communities. Working with our partners, we advocated for direct financial benefits for those in need and directed additional support to emergency food efforts. While emergency food relief never has, and never will, solve food insecurity, it has been a critical and essential service through the pandemic.
In 2020, the Centre and Maple Leaf Foods donated more than $2 million to support emergency food access (beyond the Centre’s ongoing commitments) and donated over $2.5 million of product, a 67% increase from 2019. We also ran a national campaign to both raise awareness of the issue and additional funds for Community Food Centres Canada and Food Banks Canada.
As part of our ongoing focus on increasing knowledge regarding barriers to food security and the efficacy of interventions to provide sustainable solutions, the Centre awarded the first three Maple Leaf Board Chair Scholarships in Food Insecurity to Master’s and PhD students from the University of Toronto, University of Saskatchewan and University of Calgary.
Partnering with Organizations
The Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security partners with organizations across Canada to advance food security.
Here are some of the innovative programs we are supporting:
Here’s what our partners have to say about our working relationship:
“The Maple Leaf Centre for Action on Food Security has been key in helping Community Food Centres Canada (CFCC) to become a national leader in the food security sector. As the Centre has worked to innovate in their own approach, we’ve enjoyed a collaborative relationship with the shared goal of changing the national conversation around food insecurity. As a funder, they understand the importance of dedicated and flexible support that has enabled us to innovate and expand our work. The Centre’s commitment to supporting communities was a catalyst in our response to the pandemic, with a generous gift and matching campaign that helped us launch the Good Food Access Fund. To date, the Fund has raised an incredible $40 million and supported more than 800 communities across Canada during this time of crisis.”
Nick Saul, CEO, Community Food Centres Canada
"The team at FoodShare really values our relationship with the Centre. It's one of those true partnerships based on a commitment to shared goals. Support from the Centre has come in various forms, from mentorship and financial investment to strategic introductions, all in service of advancing our vision of a Toronto where all people can feed themselves with dignity and joy."
Paul Taylor, Executive Director, FoodShare Toronto
“The Northern Manitoba Food, Culture and Community Collaborative partners with about 30 community-led food security projects annually, and through those partnerships thousands of people in northern Manitoba have developed food-related skills, increased the availability and quality of foods, and have planted the seeds of possibility for the future. The people of northern Manitoba are leading a movement to health and strength through strong food systems, and we are proud to be good partners in that movement.
It has been a pleasure and benefit to have staff from the Centre and Maple Leaf Foods contribute to and take part in this work. We didn’t know what to expect from this partnership, as the Centre represented our first deep connection to the business world. The team has demonstrated great enthusiasm and support for the work as regular participants in our work.”
Julie Price, Tides Canada
Stories of Food Insecurity
What does food insecurity look like in Canada? Watch these videos of Canadians sharing their personal experiences.
Kerry is a single mom who has experienced first-hand the struggle of trying to make ends meet.
Affording food – let alone healthy food – while paying for school expenses is a challenge that impacts students’ ability to succeed. Hear from students Naja and Hansel.
Ervin, Brian and Chuck are empowering people in their remote Manitoba community to overcome food insecurity.
Supporting the Frontline Fund
Maple Leaf Foods was a founding partner and a catalyst to launch the Frontline Fund, with a contribution of $2.5 million. The Fund was created to support hospital foundations across Canada dealing with COVID-19 by arming front-line healthcare workers with additional supplies and support. Over $12.2 million was raised through the campaign, with 58% of hospital funding directed to supplies such as PPE, disinfectant, testing equipment and ventilators. Another 28% was directed to provide food and hotel vouchers that allowed front-line workers to self-isolate, particularly during the early days of the pandemic. Approximately 14% of proceeds have been directed to support research, including clinical trials and vaccine development.
Supporting UNICEF
Maple Leaf Foods has been a long-time supporter of UNICEF’s work to provide children with emergency relief in times of crisis. Before COVID-19 around 135 million people across the world were suffering from extreme hunger, with under-nutrition taking a heavy toll on children’s health physical and cognitive development, and survival.* We were able to provide funding to support the purchase of some of the critical supplies (such as nutrition packs and therapeutic milk) that UNICEF needed to reach seven million children.
*Source: Global Report on Food Crises, 2020
Occupational Health and Safety
Occupational Health and Safety Management
A Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) management system has been implemented across Maple Leaf Foods sites based on the Company’s HSSE program, our OHS Policy and various standards put forth by corporate HSSE. The management system has been implemented to ensure compliance with local OHS acts and regulations. HSSE designates at each site are responsible for HSSE program management. All workers (part-time and full-time) at Maple Leaf Foods are covered by the HSSE management system. Continual improvement of the management system is achieved by each site’s Safety and Health Accident Reduction Plan (SHARP) and includes a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats (SWOT) analysis to help develop safety action plans for the next fiscal year.
Maple Leaf Foods has an HSSE maturity assessment that was originally developed in 2013 with an independent, third-party consultant to capture Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 requirements and to measure HSSE maturity and performance. This assessment has been updated and incorporates the Company’s OHS strategy requirements. Annual assessments are conducted at our sites, including validation with the Regional HSSE Manager. The assessment determines the HSSE maturity level of each of our sites based on the Company’s criteria and helps to establish an action plan to progressively achieve each HSSE maturity level and cultural safety over a five-level model.
Maple Leaf Foods laboratories are ISO/IEC 17025 accredited with Standards Council of Canada's Accreditation Program for Testing and Calibration Laboratories and are audited annually. In addition, Maple Leaf Foods laboratories have a license from the Public Health Agency of Canada and follow the Canadian Biosafety Standards, which requires specific procedures, audits, security and training.
We have an established governance structure to embed Occupational Health and Safety and Operational Risk Management across the Company, which includes regular direct reporting to the Safety and Sustainability Committee of the Board of Directors. Our Vice-President, Health, Safety, Security and Environment is supported by a Senior OHS Leadership Team who provide leadership across Maple Leaf Foods. This team is supported by an OHS designate at each work-site and representatives from the Joint OHS Committees who represent all the Company’s employees. These formal joint management–employee committees monitor and advise on OHS programs, identify potential hazards and recommend controls. The Joint OHS Committees ensure that our plants comply with all federal and provincial health and safety regulations.
Maple Leaf Foods promotes worker health and well-being. Employees have access to the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP), insurance coverage of health care benefits, access to discounted gym memberships, and other external health services or activities. Maple Leaf Foods also launched a mental health initiative to stop the stigma associated with mental health challenges. To learn more about our mental health initiative, click here.
In response to COVID-19, a medical team and COVID-19 crisis team were formed to develop and implement a COVID-19 pandemic plan. The Senior HSSE Leadership Team, two registered nurses and the Company’s medical consultant formed the medical team, and our Senior Leadership Team, HSSE team, Labour Relations & Human Resources, Communications team and others formed our COVID-19 crisis team. All Maple Leaf Foods sites had taken immediate steps to develop continuity plans that:
- protect our people;
- protect our business and minimize disruptions;
- protect our community and help prevent negative impacts on customers, consumers and the economy.
Total Recordable Incident Rates (2012–2020)
| Rate | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| TRIR | 6.25 | 4.42 | 3.13 | 1.92 | 0.78 | 0.84 | 0.66 | 0.60 | 0.48 |
Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Incident Investigation
Work-related hazards are identified by inspections conducted by workers and supervisors/managers and monthly Joint OHS Committee inspections. Preventative maintenance programs, hazard reporting programs, incident investigations (including weekly reviews with supervisors, managers and/or Joint OHS Committees), task observations, job safety analyses, new equipment assessments, and physical demands descriptions are other processes that assess risks. These processes help to ensure that hazards are identified before an incident occurs. Maple Leaf Foods ensures the quality of these processes and competency of persons who carry them out by providing appropriate training on incident investigation, hazard identification, risk assessment, and other Maple Leaf Foods standards and standard operating procedures. Workers are encouraged to report hazards without any reprisals. Workers are protected by Maple Leaf Foods' Values, human resources policies, Collective Bargaining Agreement and union processes, and existing legislation.
Maple Leaf Foods has an incident investigation standard that all sites must adhere to in the investigating of all incidents within 24 hours. The workers fill out hazard report forms and report incidents to their direct or immediate supervisor. The worker involved, supervisor and site safety representative participate in the investigation. Recommendations are recorded and work orders are prepared and completed. If the risk/hazards cannot be mitigated right away or there is no temporary solutions, this will trigger a report to the provincial Ministry of Labour for an inspector to visit and investigate for a solution until the issue is resolved.
Training and Communication
Worker training on occupational health and safety is crucial to ensure employees understand the risks and hazards that could occur on the job and how to handle them. New employees received safety orientation on Maple Leaf Foods' standards, site's standard operating procedures, safety rules, safe work procedures, emergency response procedures, task observations and several topic-specific training. Ongoing skills development and training are essential to reinforce the importance of workplace safety and procedures to keep people safe. Our supervisors receive training related to recognizing, assessing and controlling hazards, roles and responsibilities of supervisors, forklift safety, chemical safety and other related topics.
Beyond formal training, there are several procedures in place to encourage worker participation, consultation and communication on occupation health and safety. Joint OHS Committees, monthly safety talks/training, daily meetings, safety communication boards, OHS activities (e.g., safeguarding projects, ergonomics, informal site tours) and OHS feedback are all part of the process for worker engagement and used to evaluate the HSSE program.
In 2020, town hall meetings (e.g., virtual or multiple sessions with less attendees to allow for physical distancing) were held to provide information and education on COVID-19.
Our Safety Promise
Our goal is to always provide consumers safe, great tasting food produced in a safe work environment.
- We commit to becoming a global leader in food safety and job safety, and providing the focus and resources needed to achieve this goal.
- We commit to establishing a culture of food safety and workplace safety with high-performance teams, where people are encouraged and expected to act on any concern they may have.
- We commit to measuring our safety performance with testing and benchmarking against globally recognized standards.
- We commit to continuously seeking better ways to make safe food, and to make it safely.
- We commit to openly sharing our knowledge with government, industry and consumers, so we can learn from them and they can learn from us.
- We commit to transparency and candour in pursuit of better performance and public confidence.
- We commit to behaving in the most responsible and transparent way possible, placing the safety of our people and our consumers first if there is ever a breach.
This is our Safety Promise.
Michael H. McCain
President and Chief Executive Officer
View our Safety Promise here.
Our Occupational Health and Safety Strategy
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Measuring culture |
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Leading OHS indicators |
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Lagging OHS indicators |
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Behavioural-Based Safety
Our Behavioural-Based Safety (BBS) program assists in the identification of opportunities for improvement through behavioural trend analysis (with transparent data) of safe and unsafe behaviours.
Corrective actions are taken to correct any unsafe behaviours and recognition is provided to the employee who identified the unsafe behaviour to be corrected.
Over the years, we have developed behaviour observation tools for our sites to utilize as well as a behaviour tracking tool.
Zero Hero Safety Club and Safety Recognition Promise Program
The Maple Leaf Foods “Zero Hero Safety Club” is an internal campaign to drive and support the OHS program in order to realize the aspirational achievement of zero occupational injuries.
Our facilities become members of the “Zero Hero Safety Club” when they achieve zero occupational injuries and meet other criteria.
The Safety Promise Awards program is an internal recognition program that recognizes a Maple Leaf Foods site with the best overall performance and/or the most improved performance from a Food Safety and OHS perspective.
In 2020, we had 32 sites that had zero workplace injuries, and 23 of those sites are proud members of the Zero Hero Safety Club!
Occupational Health and Safety Golden Rules
Our “OHS Golden Rules” provide a consistent and standardized deployment of critical examples of behaviour that may pose the risk of injury, damage and even death.
The six core rules highlighted are intended to be a framework that supports our current OHS policy, standards, procedures and processes across Maple Leaf Foods facilities. Given the severity of risk inherent in the behaviours illustrated, such actions may result in termination of employment, even if it is the employee’s first offence.
OHS Golden Rules
- Violation of lock-out/tag-out
- Bypassing or disabling machine guarding or safety interlock devices
- Violation of confined space procedure
- Violation of fall protection procedure
- Violation of hot work procedure
- Unauthorized/unsafe use of powered material handling equipment
Our Workplace Safety and Food Safety Awards
Each year, we recognize individuals and locations for their outstanding workplace safety record in our annual “Safety Awards.”
The Safety Promise Awards program is an internal recognition program that recognizes a Maple Leaf Foods site with the best overall performance and/or the most improved performance from a Food Safety and OHS perspective.
The Safety Excellence Award recognizes Maple Leaf Foods sites that do not have the Food Safety component and have modelled leadership in OHS and have gone beyond what is asked of them to make significant positive contributions to our Company.
The Safety Distinction Award recognizes Maple Leaf Foods sites that have modelled consistent top safety commitment in the OHS arena over the past five years with a TRIR of 0.00, or have demonstrated OHS commitment and achieved significant improvement over the past five years.
Diversity and Inclusion
Women represented 38% of managers and above, up from 36% when we set our goal in 2017.
“I care deeply about Maple Leaf Foods and our people. I envision a workplace where everyone can thrive, where our individuality is valued and celebrated. I invite everyone to explore what diversity and inclusion mean to you, and how you can foster a workplace of inclusivity.”
– Curtis Frank, COO, Maple Leaf Foods
Our Blueprint to Advance Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging
At Maple Leaf Foods, we are guided by our Leadership Values. We believe in building, investing in, recognizing and rewarding teams of remarkable people who value an inclusive workplace, embrace all forms of diversity and commit to include every voice in a highly collaborative environment, while always making timely decisions.
Our Values also compel us to confront hard truths. While we have a history of championing gender equality, we are not where we want or need to be in living this cultural commitment. And, in the wake of difficult but important conversations we have been having about racism, injustice, diversity and inclusion, we recognize we must do more to advance and accelerate equity and inclusion for all people, across our organization.
Change begins with awareness – but deliberate focus and action drives change.
Our comprehensive Diversity & Inclusion Blueprint defines how we will address systemic and cultural barriers to create an environment where all people feel valued for the uniqueness they bring and feel heard, represented and that they belong, where everyone has equal opportunity to thrive.
Four strategic pillars form the foundation of our comprehensive approach:
- 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.
Making Maple Leaf Foods a More Gender-Balanced Business
Aligned with our Diversity & Inclusion Blueprint, we’ve introduced a series of programs, policies and partnerships to support women at Maple Leaf and break down barriers to their inclusion and advancement. And we’ve seen improvements: women account for 32% of directors (6% increase from 2017) and 28% of senior leaders (8% increase from 2017). However, the representation of women at the manager level remains largely unchanged since 2017, primarily driven by unique structural challenges in certain areas within our business.
To address the challenges identified, we are taking a multi-pronged approach that’s informed by data. A task force comprised of business leaders across the company is leading the development and execution of a targeted action plan by delving deeper into data to refine our strategies to attract, develop and retain women in these historically men-dominated functions. Concurrently, all business leaders will continue to communicate and implement their D&I Action Plans, aligned with and supported by the Diversity & Inclusion Blueprint and multi-year strategy.
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The Multi-Cultural Advocacy Network (Multi-CAN) aims to share knowledge, promote cultural fluency and celebrate the strength of our collective differences to support an inclusive environment. |
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Maple Leaf Pride & Allies creates a safe environment for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies. This ERG encourages everyone to be fully authentic in the workplace through visibility, education and advocacy. |
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The Women's Impact Network is committed to advancing gender equality by creating meaningful connections so that all talent thrives at Maple Leaf Foods. |
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Women in Manufacturing is dedicated to attracting, engaging and advancing women in manufacturing, closing the gender gap at Maple Leaf Foods’ plants, and unleashing the full potential of our talent. |
Mental Health and Well-being
Mental health is a growing concern across all segments of society, and its pervasiveness is so great that in any given year, one in five Canadians will personally experience a mental health problem or illness. The impact reaches across families, amongst friends and communities. Maple Leaf Foods has started the You Are Not Alone! Initiative to develop a culture that stops the stigma associated with mental health challenges.
To learn more about our mental health initiative, click here.
In 2020, we achieved a 13-point increase on the 2020 People Survey question pertaining to mental well-being support: 65% in 2019 (baseline) increased to 78% in 2020. We expanded the portfolio of mental health supports to include live and self-paced virtual therapy. As well, 88% of all people leaders completed formal mental health training.
We are extremely proud that our mental health initiative, “You Are Not Alone,” launched before the COVID-19 pandemic, because it helped us react quickly to further support the mental well-being of our people throughout the pandemic. We offered digital therapy tailored to address anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, panic and insomnia, among others. Our virtual Healthy Minds Speaker Series is a key component of the program, bringing in experts such as clinic psychologists and wellness coaches to discuss and provide tools on a variety of mental health and well-being topics. We also commenced virtual Move and Smile classes on a weekly basis with professional instructors to encourage healthy minds and physical movement.
Our guiding principles
- Actively build a workforce as diverse as the countries we are proud to serve
- Enable top performance by removing barriers, so talented people can exert their energy on doing great work, leveraging our differences
- Learn from each other’s unique experiences and perspectives, in a culture of openness and inclusion
- Create food that meets the diverse needs of the world we live in
In 2020, 88% of all people leaders completed formal mental health training.
Investing in Our Development
Given the impact of COVID-19 and the growing discourse and societal unrest around racism and injustice, our focus turned to providing support to our people in initiating and navigating conversations about race and racism, and in highlighting our role in bringing about positive, lasting change.
We invested in our collective development, signalling a deep commitment to our people and our culture. All salaried team members participated in Maple Leaf Values communications and training, which included our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive team, antiracism training focused on how to be an upstander and an antiracist, and unconscious bias training focused on managing bias when evaluating talent.
Our Diversity Stories
Maple Leaf Foods’ people celebrating our cultural diversity in our communities and across our facilities. Click on the photos to read our stories.
Leadership
How We Develop Our People
At Maple Leaf Foods, we have a Leadership Edge commitment, culture and expectation. We strive to be leading edge in how we engage, develop and provide a safe working environment for our people. It is a culture that enables people to thrive, succeed and reach their full potential – to take a stand, pursue excellence and create the future.
To that end, we have various programs in place to provide our people with career development opportunities, such as self-directed learning, training, coaching, and recognition and rewards.
The Leadership Track Program for New Graduates
Established in 1998, The Leadership Track Graduate Program (LT Program) exists to seed the organization with high-potential and purpose-driven individuals to develop them into future Maple Leaf Foods leaders by creating a clear path of advancement through diverse, cross-function/business rotations, on-the-job training, focused leadership development and strong mentoring support. Our 2020 program had 30 active participants who were completing 12-month rotations in three key areas: client- or market-facing, operations and a business support role. After three years, successful participants graduate into dynamic leadership roles at Maple Leaf Foods.
Our aim is to achieve a 95% retention rate of top talent. In 2020, we achieved a retention rate of 96%.