Business Development Bank of Canada was Canada's first financial institution to obtain B Corp certification
MONTREAL, March 2, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is proud to announce that it has successfully renewed its Certified B Corporation status.
To get certified, a company must meet rigorous standards of economic, social and environmental performance developed by B Lab, the non-profit organization that certifies B Corps. Companies must also recertify every two years to ensure they continue to meet the standards.
BDC was the first Canadian financial institution to receive B Corp certification in 2013 and the 100th Canadian company to join the international B Corp community. Over 1,600 companies in 130 industries have been certified as B Corps in 47 countries.
"We congratulate the Business Development Bank of Canada on renewing their B Corp status," said the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. "This certification confirms their commitment to meeting rigorous standards of social and environmental performance."
"We are excited about BDC's recertification as a B Corp, which recognizes our exclusive dedication to entrepreneurs and the benefits of our work to Canadian society," said Craig Ryan, BDC's Director of Corporate Social Responsibility. "We're also proud to support Canada's growing sector of social enterprise firms, many of which are also B Corps."
"We were thrilled when BDC joined the B Corp community, and we congratulate them on maintaining its high standards of working for the public good," said Bart Houlahan, Cofounder, B Lab. "BDC's role of supporting small and mid-sized enterprises is exactly what B Corps are all supposed to be about—use the power of business as a force for good."
For more information about corporate social responsibility at BDC, visit our webpage: www.bdc.ca/csr.
About BDC
BDC is the only bank dedicated exclusively to entrepreneurs. With more than 100 business centres and over 32,000 clients across Canada, it offers loans, investments and advisory services. BDC's purpose is to support Canadian entrepreneurship with a focus on small and medium-sized businesses. To learn more, visit www.bdc.ca.
About B Corp
Certified B Corporations meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, legally expand their corporate responsibilities to include consideration of stakeholder interests, and build collective voice through the power of the unifying B Corporation brand. As of February 2016, there were more than 1,600 Certified B Corporations from more than 130 industries and 47 countries, representing a diverse multi-billion-dollar marketplace.
About B Lab
B Lab is a non-profit organization that serves a global movement to redefine success in business so that all companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world. B Lab drives this systemic change through a number of interrelated initiatives: building a community of Certified B Corporations to make it easier for all of us to tell the difference between "good companies" and good marketing; passing legislation to accelerate growth of social entrepreneurship and impact investing (over 20 states have already passed benefit corporation legislation); developing B Analytics, a customizable platform for measuring, benchmarking and reporting on impact; and providing free, powerful tools for businesses to measure, compare, and improve their social and environmental performance (thousands of businesses use B Lab's free B Impact Assessment).
SOURCE Business Development Bank of Canada
Maria Constantinescu, Senior Advisor, Public Relations, BDC, [email protected], 1-844-625-8321, cell : 514 518 1577
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