The Canadian Network of the United Nations Global Compact awarded businesses at the Toronto Stock Exchange to recognize their efforts in advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Canada and globally.

TORONTO, June 10, 2016

Today, the Market at the Toronto Stock Exchange was opened by "ringing the bell" for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the Global Compact Network Canada and its network of sustainable Canadian businesses.

Building on the United Nations Global Compact's SDG Pioneer campaign, the Global Compact Network Canada (GCNC) hosted its first Canadian SDG Awards Ceremony this morning at the Toronto Stock Exchange and it was a great success! The GCNC was proud to recognize the outstanding efforts of Canadian businesses that are putting Canada and the world on a more sustainable path by advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The GCNC received over 1200 votes and was excited to announce the top five recipients of the Awards, as voted by the public, for their efforts to advance and promote the business case for the SDGs. Winners included Agrium, SkyPower Global, Engineers Without Borders (Mining Shared Value), Unilever Canada, and Teranga Gold Corporation. To know more about why these companies have been recognized as winners, read their applications here.

The SDG Awards highlighted the business case for advancing action on the 17 SDGs, which address the most important environmental, social, and economic challenges of our time. The Awards presented a fantastic opportunity for businesses to showcase their commitment to sustainability and the UN's Agenda 2030. Furthermore, the Awards provided an opportunity for the public to voice their opinion, the attendees to gain exposure and learn from leading case studies, and companies to benchmark their company's sustainability initiatives with industry peers.

The nomination details of businesses have been publically available on the Global Compact Network Canada’s website since mid-May 2016. Online public voting began on May 30th and continued through June 9th. Businesses received votes from the public for demonstrating innovative ways through which they have made a substantial impact on the SDGs. Nominees who received the most votes were determined as the winners.

Nominated companies included Agrium, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Barrick Gold Corporation, Bioland, Engineers without Boarders, General Motors Canada, Global Repair, Goldcorp Inc., Hudson’s Bay Company, JLL Canada, LexisNexis Canada Inc., Menkes, MSCI, OTrade, Refined Data and Refined Risk, SkyPower Services ULC, The Social License Consortium, TELUS, Teck Resources Ltd., Teranga Gold Corporation, Unilever Canada, and WelTel Incorporated. Congratulations to all winners and nominees for their efforts to advance the SDGs and making the world more sustainable!

“The GCNC would like to thank all those in attendance for their participation and dedication to advancing the SDGs, as well as those nominated for the awards. The unwavering commitment and efforts of all Canadian Businesses to achieve Agenda 2030 and transform our world for the better is commendable and inspirational,” explains Helle Bank Jorgensen, President of the Global Compact Network Canada. The Canadian Chapter of the United Nations Global Compact hopes that the Awards sparked more interest and awareness about the SDGs and brought together different stakeholders to help draw the roadmap and fostering innovative partnerships between industries and stakeholders for the Future We Want.

The event saw the presence of a large crowd of attendees from all the nominated companies, and representatives from different industries and sectors, including civil society, government, and academia. Respected leaders in the area of Corporate Sustainability and other fields such as finance and investment were also present at the event. The event was sponsored by the TMX, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and KPMG. GCNC didn’t fail to recognize their patron supporters, B. Accountability, Baker & McKenzie LLP, Barrick Gold Corporation, Bell, Scotiabank, Teck, and TELUS.

The GCNC announced that they will host the second annual SDG Awards next year and hopes to see more businesses in action. Over the coming months, the Global Compact Network Canada will continue to build awareness around the goals by launching an SDG Working Group with the winners of the Awards, conducting roundtable discussions and workshops that will lead towards the concrete implementation of the 17 SDGs for its Canadian signatories.

For more information: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org