Caisses populaires acadiennes is focused on sustainability, good governance, and community development. How is it unique? Expenditures in these areas are seen as investments, not costs

Company: Caisses populaires acadiennes
Revenue: $215,086,000
Location: Caraquet, N.B.
2009 Rank: 20

Being a good corporate citizen is at the root of the Caisses populaires acadiennes philosophy. Fostering environmental leadership. Improving literacy rates. Encouraging women to serve on boards. “Our social responsibility is who we are,” says president and CEO Camille Thériault. “We were created not only to be financially responsible but also to be socially responsible.”

A network of 25 local Caisses populaires operates in 84 business locations in New Brunswick and is owned by 200,000 members. Their focus is on making money—and improving quality of life. In 2008 Caisses populaires acadiennes launched a pilot project so its Caraquet headquarters would become more eco-responsible. A committee of employees, with Thériault at its helm, was formed to establish new environmental priorities. Some actions were easy to implement, such as replacing Styrofoam cups with reusable plastic ones and establishing strict guidelines for renting more environmentally friendly cars.

Other projects were more demanding, including virtual pay stubs and reducing the volume of printed documents by 15%. “We also decided that all board meetings would be paperless,” says Thériault. “We had to buy laptops for all administrators and invest more than $50,000 to make sure we had a very secure computer system.”

The key word here is “invest.” Thériault doesn’t view environmental changes as expenditures. Their long-term effects will increase the well-being, recruitment, and retention of employees, which will improve the organization’s future. Caisses populaires acadiennes has hired a consulting firm to prepare a study on how to reduce the environmental footprint of its corporate headquarters; some of the recommendations will be put into place later this year. In terms of social responsibility, the Caisses returned close to $2 million in dividends to members during the 2008 fiscal year, while an additional $2 million was returned to communities in donations, sponsorships, and scholarships.

The flagship of the Caisses populaires’ good social corporate citizen initiatives is the Read, Discover, Grow literacy program launched in 2005. Since then 25,000 books have been given to French elementary schools and directly to New Brunswick preschool children. Specialized literacy kits have been distributed to classrooms to encourage a love of reading. At a cost of more than $500,000, the program has reached more than 12,000 children, contributing to a 10% increase in literacy proficiency among Grade 2 francophone students in the province.

René Lagacy, the organization’s vice-president of communications and strategy, explained that this long-term literacy program is the Caisses populaires acadiennes’ way to ensure the future of its communities. The program helps children develop better reading and writing skills, the first steps toward careers in a knowledge-based economy. “As a society, we seem to have accepted that the education of our children belongs to the government,” says Lagacy. Not at Caisses populaires acadiennes. “We believe more and more in the old saying that it takes a village to raise a child.”

Caisses populaires acadiennes is also one of the few TOP 101 firms to have female administrators on its boards of directors. Two women sit on the board, two more are on the Office de stabilization’s board, and many of the 25 local Caisses populaires’ boards include women. Caisses populaires acadiennes seeks board members with skills that will challenge the management team. As the complexity of financial services increases, the company offers training to its volunteer board members.

Environmentally and socially responsible and leaders in governance—the 200,000 members of the organization wouldn’t have it any other way.

TOP 10 Governance and Social Responsibility

1  Caisses Populaires Acadiennes (overall rank: 20)
2  Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (9)
3  Belledune Port Authority (96)
4  Jazz Air LP (5)
5  Clearwater Seafoods Limited Partnership (14)
6  The Johnson Corporation (7)
7  Ocean Nutrition Canada Limited (26)
8  CBCL Limited (55)
9  Stantec Consulting Ltd. - Atlantic Region (28)
10  Armour Transportation Systems (18)