To be the best full-service bank for business owners in Canada, our approach to sustainability ensures we will continue to deliver on this commitment in an increasingly complex world. The economic backdrop was challenged last year through monetary policy actions to curb persistent inflation while Canadians also faced significant wildfires during the warmest summer on record. We deeply understand the businesses of our clients and the evolving risks they face, and that’s why our clients continue to choose us as a trusted advisor and their banking provider. We are committed to managing our approach to sustainability to focus on the areas that are most important to our clients, people, investors and communities, guided by our values, culture and strategy. Our 2023 Sustainability Report highlights our progress against this commitment. We maintain a foundation of trust under the stewardship of our diverse and experienced Board of Directors whose mandate includes our strategy, risk appetite and culture. In 2023 the Board continued to oversee our climate strategy, approach to social matters and governance structure, and reviewed our sustainability report and key ESG initiatives. Our ESG Steering Committee provided leadership and oversight of the design and execution of our approach to sustainability, ensuring intentional focus on our strategy. We are obsessed with the success of our clients and strive to deliver an unrivaled client experience with a focus on personalized and differentiated advice, and efficient and convenient transactional processing through our enhanced digital platforms. In 2023 we migrated our retail and small business clients to cwb.digital TM , along with continued enhancements to functionality. We maintain an accessible and inclusive environment where our clients with diverse needs and backgrounds see CWB as a great place to bank, and continued to expand our wealth management relationships with Indigenous communities. We are committed to building on our inclusive culture and creating opportunities and growth for our team members in an organization where skill and performance is recognized, rewarded, and celebrated. Our 11 Employee Represented Groups (ERGs) continued to provide a sense of belonging to equity-seeking groups who are often impacted by systemic Message from the President and Chief Executive Officer
Chris Fowler, President and CEO CWB Financial Group
barriers, with over one-third of our people belonging to at least one ERG. Our values and culture inspire our teams to continue to go above and beyond for our clients in challenging environments by rapidly adapting to changing conditions. I am proud of our team’s achievements as we were recognized as one of the Best Workplaces TM in Canada for the fourth consecutive year and placed in the top 25 for the second year in a row. We were also recognized by Waterstone Human Capital as having one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures TM for the fourth time, earning a place in their hall of fame. We recognize that we have a part to play in Canada’s transition to net-zero emissions by managing our direct and indirect climate impact, and in 2023 we took decisive steps towards this goal. We developed an absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions reduction target of 42% by 2030, leveraging the guidance provided by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). We also disclosed initial estimates of Scope 3 financed emissions related to our residential mortgages and oil and gas extraction lending portfolios, and intend to expand the scope of our disclosures in future years. We also developed a climate risk heat map as an initial step to increase our understanding of the impact of physical and transition risks to key industries within our loan portfolio. I am proud of our progress this year, and confident in our ability to drive responsible, sustainable growth as we navigate the evolving landscape in front of us. I would like to express my gratitude to our clients for the opportunity to be a trusted partner in their success, and our team members for the care, dedication and integrity they have demonstrated in a challenging environment. Through their efforts we have built a strong, resilient full-service bank and are well positioned to create value for all our stakeholders going forward.
4 2023 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY STATEMENT
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