Key Stakeholder Priorities

We are committed to listening to our stakeholders. To this end, we have sought employee, customer and shareholder views on CSR through internal and third-party surveys, and through direct stakeholder discussions.

For example, we recently surveyed our employees on CSR issues through Canadian Business for Social Responsibility for the second year in a row. The key findings show that employees have an increasingly sophisticated understanding of CSR and rate the importance of Scotiabank being a socially responsible company very highly. In 2006, 56% of employees strongly agreed that Scotiabank is a socially responsible company, up 12% over the previous year. Our goal is to continue to increase this figure.

We commissioned a survey in 2006* to learn more about Canadians’ attitudes toward CSR, generally, and also with respect to the banking sector and Scotiabank in particular. This research showed that many of the practices that Canadians consider most important to a financial institution’s social responsibility relate to cultivating trust and successful relationships with customers and employees. Those practices considered most important include:

• protecting the privacy of personal and financial information;
• treating customers fairly and with respect;
• acting with integrity; and
• respecting employees.

We also learned that a growing number of Canadians are considering CSR when making investment decisions (see charts below) and in choosing where to work, which supports our own efforts to be a leader in CSR.

In addition, we maintain regular contact with a number of key stakeholders – such as governments and non-government organizations (NGOs), consumer advocacy groups, customer focus groups and academics – to get their views on key CSR issues for the financial sector, such as access to banking and environmental issues related to our lending activities.

Memberships / Associations

Scotiabank is a member of the Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR). CBSR is a non-profit, business-led, national membership organization of Canadian companies that have made a commitment to operate in a socially, environmentally and financially responsible manner, recognizing the interests of their stakeholders, including investors, customers, employees, business partners, local communities, the environment and society at large.

United Nations Environmental Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) is a global partnership between UNEP and the financial sector. We work with UNEP to understand the effects of environmental and social considerations on financial performance.

Scotiabank is a member of Imagine Canada, a national organization that champions corporate citizenship and encourages partnerships between charities, non-profit organizations and businesses to build stronger Canadian communities.

Scotiabank is a member of The Consumers Council of Canada, an independent, not-for-profit, federally incorporated organization working with government, business and consumers to manage today’s consumer issues.

Indices

Jantzi Social Index® is a market capitalization-weighted common stock index consisting of 60 Canadian companies that pass a set of broadly based social and environmental screens.

FTSE4Good Index is a financial index series that is designed by the Financial Times Stock Exchange to identify and facilitate investment in companies that meet globally recognized corporate responsibility standards.

The Ethical Funds Company offers a family of socially responsible mutual funds with approximately $2 billion in assets under management which are also distributed through qualified investment professionals, discount brokers, life insurers and other institutional partners.

The Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI North America) comprises the top companies from the North American region in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria and provides a benchmark for sustainability-driven North American equity portfolios.

Desjardin Environment Fund

* CSR syndicated study by Decima Research