Responsibility Overview

Our Commitment

We are proud of the critical role we play in the lives of Canadians as Canada’s Challenger Bank™, through Equitable Bank. We take our responsibility to our customers, shareholders, employees, business partners and community partners seriously, and understand that meeting our obligations, objectives and commitments requires good governance, inspired leadership and an empowered culture.

How this looks in practice

In 2021, Equitable Bank became the first Canadian Schedule I Bank to disclose our entire Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, including financed emissions. We believe at our core that what gets measured gets managed, and we are committed to building out our disclosures and emissions reductions plans to achieve the most abundant future possible for all Canadians.

Responsibility at a glance
  • 902,168 tCO2e
    • Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions between November 1, 2022 - October 31, 2023
  • 400,000+
    • Canadians pay no monthly fees on everyday banking and earn a competitive savings rate
  • 43%
    • Percentage of employees who self-identify as an indigenous or racialized person
  • 40%
    • Percentage of independent members of our Board of Directors that are women
Our Commitment

We are proud of the critical role we play in the lives of Canadians as Canada’s Challenger Bank™, through Equitable Bank. We take our responsibility to our customers, shareholders, employees, business partners and community partners seriously, and understand that meeting our obligations, objectives and commitments requires good governance, inspired leadership and an empowered culture.

How this looks in practice

In 2021, Equitable Bank became the first Canadian Schedule I Bank to disclose our entire Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, including financed emissions. We believe at our core that what gets measured gets managed, and we are committed to building out our disclosures and emissions reductions plans to achieve the most abundant future possible for all Canadians.

A low carbon footprint is innately embedded in our digital, paperless business and branchless operating model. Equitable Bank is the only Schedule I Bank that operates that operates entirely without a physical retail presence and the first bank in Canada to host its digital core banking system in the cloud. These important characteristics give us the advantage of scalability, reduced costs in the long run, enhanced security and agility to bring new products and services to market quickly. We invest in the energy efficiency of our operations, product development and integration of fintech and emerging technologies.

We are considering how we embed climate impact in our financing decisions, how we can constructively incent lower carbon emissions for our customers, and how we can contribute to a net zero transition for Canada and the world.

2023 Responsibility Report

This report outlines EQB's progress on social, governance and environmental matters. It reinforces our commitment to investing to improve Canadian society, reduce environmental impact, support employees' evolving and diverse needs and provide Canadians with better, more accessible and enriching financial futures. 

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Reports

  2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
Responsibility Report*      
Public Accountability Statement   EN   FR          
SASB Disclosures    
Sustainable Bond Framework (SBF)  
Second-Party Opinion on SBF  
* Formerly called ESG Performance Report prior to Fiscal 2023
ESG Ratings

The ESG landscape in Canada and around the world is constantly changing and evolving. There exist several rating agencies that look to organize and consolidate material ESG metrics into comparable scores. While there is room for consolidation in this industry, we continue to stay in contact with several ESG rating agencies through surveys, feedback reports and informational events. We work closely with and are scored by the following rating agencies and more.

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S&P CSA
In 2023, EQB ranked in the 82nd percentile in the Banks industry in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment score, meaning 82% of companies reached an equal or lower score.
 

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