Socially Responsible Shareholdership in Canada

Socially Responsible Shareholdership in Canada has been written primarily for key decision-makers at institutional investment funds; namely, private and public sector investment funds, church funds and religious investors, charitable foundations, endowments and non-governmental organizations, socially and environmentally screened mutual funds and family trusts.

The aim is to speak to the concerns and needs of trustees, directors and managers of these funds as they come to grips with varying demands for greater social accountability.

This document is divided into two parts:

Part A discusses why decision-makers at institutional investment funds are under growing ethical and financial pressure to adopt social screens and active shareholdership policies. It also briefly examines the recent trends in the Canadian context.
Part B helps institutional investors and other groups and organizations with the processes involved in developing proxy voting guidelines, corporate dialogue, shareholder proposals and divestment.

As this is a handbook for Canadian investors, special care has been taken to reference examples of Canadian resources, including services and sources of information. There are nonetheless many other resources available outside of Canada, particularly in the United States and Europe.