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How we're doing

Dancers in lobby of BC Hydro main office in Vancouver on the 2017 National Aboriginal Day

Progressive Aboriginal Relations designation

Developed as a benchmarking tool by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business (CCAB), the Progressive Aboriginal Relations (PAR) program was designed to help Canadian business organizations gauge and improve their commitment to progressive relationships with First Nations and Indigenous communities, businesses and people.

The PAR program is the first of its kind in the world. The program requires that companies set goals and assess themselves in four areas: Leadership Actions, Employment, Business Development, Community Relationships.

PAR recognizes companies at three levels of achievement: gold, silver and bronze. Each firm must complete a self-assessment, verified by a group of PAR Jurors, a third party Jury Team, independent of CCAB measures organizational excellence. Verifiers make recommendations to an independent PAR Jury at which the PAR Jury assigns the level of standing.

We earned PAR gold

In August 2021, we earned a gold-level certification for best practices from the Progressive Aboriginal Relations program.

It was our fourth gold certification from PAR and we’ll strive to maintain this level in our next submission in 2024 as continue to raise the bar on our approach to Indigenous relations. For us to be successful in advancing reconciliation it takes the whole organization and this latest Gold certification is a reflection of that commitment.

A gold designation in the PAR program provides a high level of assurance that a certified company is a good partner, a great place to work for Indigenous employees, and is committed to the prosperity of Indigenous communities, businesses, and individuals.