Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada: 2012 List Provides Insights into CSR Performance

It's that time of the year again - sustainability ranking season in Canada - when companies are ranked according to their CSR performance. Earlier this month Corporate Knights published itsBest 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada, and Sustainalytics (in partnership with Maclean's) the Top 50 Socially Responsible Corporations in Canada. Both rankings provide the public an opportunity to learn about environmental and social performance of Canadian companies. Not all companies are created equal and in a world with sophisticated marketing, rankings can be helpful in deciphering fact from fiction.

Corporate Knights is a media and financial information products company. In its 11th year, the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada list is a gauge for CSR performance over the past decade. The following is a closer look at this year's list of Canada's best according to Corporate Knights.

Performance Trends
According to this year's ranking, the percentage of females on boards of directors improved from 17% in 2010 to 20% in 2011. There has also been year over year improvements in Energy and Carbon Productivity for the Telecommunications sector, while Water and Waste Productivity have been declining for Industrials. [1] Disclosure of voluntary ESG indicators such as Energy, GHGs, Water, Waste and Injuries) has decreased from 2010. However, according to Corporate Knights information, the Materials sector remains the best discloser of resource metrics. [2]

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Meirav Even-Har is a Justmeans staff blogger. She reports on Canadian CSR issues. Meirav is an independent sustainability consultant and writer working in Toronto, Canada.