A Message from Our CEO

PwC’s Bill McFarland discusses the firm’s commitment to corporate responsibility

At PwC, we understand that we have a role to play in being part of the solution to global challenges. We have a responsibility to help strengthen trust and integrity within the debate on how to create a more sustainable future for generations to come. We take that responsibility seriously.

In this, our fourth annual Corporate Responsibility Highlights publication, we outline some of our achievements on this journey as well as some challenges we’ve faced and will face in the future.

Over the past year, we’ve established a new Corporate Responsibility (CR) strategy globally. We aim to:

  • Do the right thing, which means playing our part in promoting responsible business practices that are central to our own business – from the quality of our services and building an inclusive workplace to our engagement with communities and our environmental footprint. 
  • Be a catalyst for change, which is about using our skills, voices and relationships to work with others and influence activities that make a difference, create change and have a lasting impact on the world around us.

In order to achieve these goals, we will continue to focus our efforts on four areas where we can make relevant and significant contributions: responsible business; people, diversity and inclusion; community engagement; and environmental stewardship.

In support of these priorities and during FY2012, we established a new Diversity and Inclusion strategy and appointed a Chief Inclusion Officer at the Canadian firm. We also increased the number of skills-based volunteer experiences through the PwC Canada Foundation to help achieve great community outcomes and impacts, and implemented our new Energy and Carbon reduction strategy which helps guide us in our environmental efforts. To help better understand the impact of our work on the Canadian economy, we also undertook an economic impact analysis that we have included here in this report.

While we achieved many successes, we have more work to do in supporting our employees through greater work/life flexibility initiatives to meet changing workforce expectations. Economic conditions continued to put pressure on our business model and the importance of trust in business continued to dominate the leadership agenda. Together, these challenges reinforced our need for our firm to have a key voice in the global conversation about the value of strong corporate responsibility practices and to lead by example and make a difference in the world around us.

I’m confident that PwC has a strong vision and a clear path as we move along the journey of creating a more sustainable model for future generations. We are excited to share our next steps forward with you.

Bill McFarland 
CEO and Canadian Senior Partner