P&G Canada’s Indigenous Professional Network celebrates one year anniversary

At P&G, we aspire to create a company and a world where equality and inclusion are achievable for all; where respect and inclusion are the cornerstones of our culture; where equal access and opportunity to learn, grow, succeed and thrive are available to everyone.

In early 2021, P&G Canada rolled out our Equality & Inclusion Action Plan with a goal to reflect Canada at every level including increasing Indigenous, Black, and French Representation by 2025. Despite the fact that Indigenous Peoples (First Nations, Innuit and Métis) make up almost 5% of the Canadian population, 0% of P&G Canada employees self-identify as Indigenous and none of our 8 employee affinity groups specifically represent them.

In May 2021, we launched and chartered an Indigenous Professional Network (IPN) as a new addition to our Canadian Equality & Inclusion Action Plan. Our mission is to help P&G fulfill the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Call to Action #92 which makes specific asks of companies to support Indigenous Peoples through fostering mutually respectful relationships, supporting economic opportunities, building representation, and creating an inclusive workplace.

Our actions to date have focused on three pillars:

Community Engagement:

• We partnered with Indigenous Works, a non-profit organization committed to increasing Indigenous engagement in the Canadian economy. We are a member of their Leadership Circle for Indigenous Inclusion, and they have been helping us develop our workplace employment and inclusion strategies.
• We donated $100,000 to GlobalMedic, our longstanding partner to distribute P&G hygiene kits to Indigenous communities across Canada who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
• We supported the United For Change Indigenous People’s Solidarity Fund with a $200,000 corporate match, which has now raised over $1 million since inception. This Fund benefits more than 40 Indigenous-led charities from across Canada whose focus ranges from social services to arts and culture.

Employee Awareness:

• In June 2021, we held our first Canada wide speaker event on National Indigenous People's Day with Dr. Lana Potts, a member of the Piikani Nation and advocate for Indigenous health.
• In September 2021, to mark the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, we held a film screening of "We Were Children" followed by discussion breakouts. The goal was to educate employees on the intergenerational harm caused by the legacy of the Residential School system.
• In December 2021, we published a list of Indigenous owned charities and organizations where employees could buy gifts or donate their time and money.
• In March 2022, we held a Reflect session based on the book "21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act." This helped employees learn about specific issues in how Canadian law treats Indigenous Peoples, and give them concrete actions they can take to support Indigenous communities.
• Our employee events and discussions have been widely attended by more than 150 Canadian employees.

Recruiting:

• We launched the Indigenous Student Internship nationally, partnering with +7 campuses to drive awareness and applications. We have recruited 2 Indigenous Interns, a first ever for P&G Canada.
• We developed a partnership with the University of British Columbia for consultation on job postings and go-to-campus strategy.
• We were the Spotlight Session Sponsor for Indspire’s “Soaring: Indigenous Youth Empowerment Gathering” reaching 900+ high schools students and teachers across Canada.

We're in Year 1 of our journey, and while we have much to learn, we're proud of the intentionality of our approach to engage our brands and people, and to develop partnerships that will help drive equality and inclusion for Indigenous Peoples.