//

2014 Best 50 methodology

To establish the Best 50 shortlist, the research team determined all Canadian companies with revenues of at least $2 billion and 2,000 employees in 2012. In addition, all constituents of the TSX 60 were included, along with the 10 largest Canadian Cooperatives by revenue (2012). Companies in the 2013 Best 50 list were automatically added to the 2014 Best 50 shortlist.

These companies are then subjected to the sanctions screen, which looks at the dollar amount that companies have paid out on a trailing one year basis in sustainability-related fines, penalties or settlements.

If the total amount of a company’s fines, penalties and settlements as a percentage of total revenue since Jan. 2013 is found to be in the bottom quartile compared to GICS Industry Group peers, the company is removed from Best 50 contention.

The sanctions screen only considers monetary fines, penalties and settlements that are definitive i.e. the company has reached a point where all possible options have been exhausted and it has no other choice but to pay the set amount. Therefore, amounts associated with legal claims are not considered.

The methodology for the 2014 Best 50 Corporate Citizens of Canada is based on 12 key performance indicators (KPIs) covering resource, employee and financial management. All information is derived from publicly-disclosed data. All eligible entities are contacted for data verification prior to project completion.

1. Energy productivity: Revenue per gigajoule of energy consumption.

2. Carbon productivity: Revenue per metric tonne of direct/indirect GHG emissions.

3. Water productivity: Revenue per cubic metre of water withdrawal.

4. Waste productivity: Revenue per metric tonne of waste produced.

5. Percentage tax paid: Taxes paid in cash, as a percentage of EBITDA, trailing over the past 5 years.

6. Leadership diversity: Percentage of women on board of directors and in executive management.

7. Clean capitalism pay link: At least one senior executive's compensation tied to clean capitalism-themed performance targets.

8. CEO-to-average worker pay link: How much more CEO gets paid (expressed as a multiple) compared to average worker.

9. Safety performance: Lost time injury rate and number of fatalities/number of employees.

10. Innovation capacity: R&D expenditure as a percentage of revenue, trailing over the past three years.

11. Employee turnover: Number of departures/average employee compensation.

12. Pension fund status: Unfunded liabilities at year end 2012 by market capitalization are divided by market capitalization at year end 2012, or expenses towards defined contribution plans.

 

The top foreign corporate citizens methodology

The Top Foreign Corporate Citizens represent corporations with substantial operations in Canada who are leading the way on corporate citizenship and have their main headquarters in another country. Companies must earn more than $1 billion/year in Canada, and the parent corporations must have qualified for CK's 2014 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the world shortlist.


Corporate Knights Notice and Disclaimer

This document and all of the information contained in it, including without limitation all text, data, graphs, charts (collectively, the “Information”) is the property of Corporate Knights Inc. known herein as “Corporate Knights” and is provided for informational purposes only. The Information may not be modified, reverse-engineered, reproduced or redisseminated in whole or in part without prior written permission from Corporate Knights.

The Information may not be used to create indexes, databases, risk models, analytics, software, or in connection with the issuing, offering, sponsoring, managing or marketing of any securities, portfolios, financial products or other investment vehicles utilizing or based on, linked to, tracking or otherwise derived from the Information or any other Corporate Knights data, information, products or services.

The user of the Information assumes the entire risk of any use it may make or permit to be made of the Information. CORPORATE KNIGHTS DOES NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION (OR THE RESULTS TO BE OBTAINED BY THE USE THEREOF).

Information containing any historical information, data or analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance, analysis, forecast or prediction. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
None of the Information constitutes an offer to sell (or a solicitation of an offer to buy), any security, financial product or other investment vehicle or any trading strategy.

The Information may contain back tested data. Back-tested performance is not actual performance, but is hypothetical. There are frequently material differences between back tested performance results and actual results subsequently achieved by any investment strategy.

Constituents of Corporate Knights equity indexes or stock lists are listed companies, which are included in or excluded from the indexes or lists according to the application of the relevant methodologies. Accordingly, constituents in Corporate Knights equity indexes or lists may include Corporate Knights, clients of Corporate Knights or suppliers to Corporate Knights. Inclusion of a security within a Corporate Knights index or list is not a recommendation by Corporate Knights to buy, sell, or hold such security, nor is it considered to be investment advice.

Corporate Knights receives compensation in connection with licensing its indexes to third parties. Corporate Knights Inc.’s revenue includes fees based on assets in Index Linked Investments.
Any use of or access to products, services or information of Corporate Knights requires a license from Corporate Knights. Corporate Knights brands and product names are the trademarks, service marks, or registered trademarks of Corporate Knights and its subsidiaries in Canada, United States and other jurisdictions.

 

Click here to go back to the ranking landing page.

Latest from Fall 2013

Open-source GM crops?

For many activists, Mark Lynas is nothing short of an apostate. The British author, journalist and

Climate anxiety

For months after Hurricane Sandy sent nearly six feet of water surging into her home in

Emergency: Code Green

Dr. Jeff Thompson isn’t your typical clean energy advocate. A practicing pediatric intensivist and neonatologist, he

Waking the frog

In his new book, Waking the Frog, Tom Rand tackles the question of why we, like the metaphorical

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Get the latest sustainable economy news delivered to your inbox.