November 3, 2024

Advancing Corporate Yields

Pioneering Business Success

Our commitment to Indigenous peoples

Our commitment to Indigenous peoples

We are a proud Canadian company, and we understand and acknowledge this country’s past and ongoing challenges, and our relationship with the Indigenous Peoples who called Canada home long before us. For the past number of years, we’ve been on a journey towards advancing Truth and Reconciliation and we are excited to move our progress forward in our company by deploying an action plan that focuses on building allyship through education, championing the employment of Indigenous Peoples, and contributing to the wellbeing and economic development of Indigenous communities.

“Our commitment to Indigenous peoples is deeply personal,” says Zebrina Kassam, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Loblaw’s Inclusion Council Co-Chair. “We have thousands of team members who are Indigenous, and we serve Indigenous peoples every day in our stores. They are looking to us to create change. We value them, and we are listening.”

Some of the actions and commitments Loblaw and our brands are taking towards Truth and Reconciliation include:

Organizing internal campaigns to give our colleagues opportunities to participate in Indigenous History Month and National Truth and Reconciliation Day.

Implementing Legacy Spaces(Open in a new tab), in partnership with the Downie-Wenjack Fund, in several offices and distribution centers across the country starting with our head office at 1 President’s Choice Circle.

Supporting Indigenous youth by collaborating with Indspire(Open in a new tab) to increase scholarship opportunities for Indigenous students.

Continue building relationships through our partnership with the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business(Open in a new tab), which connects us with more than 1,000 businesses operated by Indigenous peoples.

Increase number of Indigenous-owned businesses in our company’s supply chain by hosting an annual supplier diversity open house for Indigenous businesses in partnership with the CCAB.

Supporting Indigenous leadership by sponsoring the Indigenous Women in Leadership Awards(Open in a new tab) to celebrate the accomplishments of Indigenous women for five consecutive years.

Increasing allyship in our company by providing mandatory and optional education and opening conversations with our teams about Indigenous Peoples, land acknowledgements, the history of residential schools, and systemic racism, which includes hosting an Indigenous Book Club and amplifying stories like Clara’s on embracing her Indigenous heritage.

Collecting voluntary self-identification information to monitor and improve Indigenous representation in our organization.

Supporting organizations that are committed to Indigenous-led conservation, such as our partnership with World Wildlife Fund Canada, (Open in a new tab)and actively exploring ways we can help further these efforts. 

Increasing our efforts to address food security in Indigenous communities by matching our stores with food banks and food recovery agencies.  Helping to increase access to food in northern communities.

Fundraising support for President’s Choice Children’s Charity’s Power Full Kids | Future Growers program, linking the production of food with the culture and traditions of the people who consume it. Through the program, high school students use a high-tech container farm to grow fresh produce in communities where Indigenous food sovereignty has been eroded by isolation, climate change or colonial industrialization.

Supporting an Indigenous inclusion task force within our employee resource group network to connect with Indigenous colleagues and allies and effect change throughout our organization.

“These commitments are rooted in our long-standing belief that businesses can help generate have a positive impact in the communities they serve. We’ve spent the past decade building a strong foundation around diversity, equity and inclusion, which has grown and evolved through the years,” says Greg Ramier, President Market Division and Loblaw’s Inclusion Council Co-Chair. “We also recognize that there’s a lot more work to be done.”

Join us in taking action by doing your own research, listening to and amplifying the voices of Indigenous Peoples, and supporting Indigenous-owned businesses and brands. Learn more by reviewing the 94 Calls to Action(Open in a new tab) shared by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

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