Tools

Aboriginal Engagement & Sustainability
Produced by: CBSR
A CBSR compendium of leadership practices based on the Building Sustainable Relationships conference hosted in Vancouver on February 8-9, 2005

Aspen Institute Web Resources
Provided by: Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute Center for Business Education (CBE) equips business leaders for the 21st century with a new management paradigm—the vision and knowledge to integrate corporate profitability and social value.

Aspen Institute: Mining and Metals Education
Provided by: Aspen Institute
The mining and metals industry has many important lessons to offer MBA students about the ways that product and process innovations can produce far-reaching positive effects.

Benchmark Survey of Corporate Sustainability Reporting in Canada
Prepared by: Stratos Inc.
National survey of corporate sustainability reporting practices in Canada conducted by Stratos Inc. Web resource with a collection of annual reports that focuses on corporate disclosure of non-financial management and performance information - environmental and social issues, as well as the broader economic contributions companies make to society. Also includes links to other resources including "Trends and Tools in Corporate Sustainability Reporting"

Business Tools to Manage Ethical Dilemmas
Provided by: Integrity Bridges Inc.
Shares business tools to manage ethical dilemmas. The following tools are extracted from Corporate Integrity: A Toolkit for Managing beyond Compliance, and are provided by lead author, Donna Kennedy-Glans.

Catalogue of Social Practices in the Canadian Minerals and Mining Industry
Produced by: Natural Resources Canada
In order to begin identifying present social practices and tracking sustainable development, the Minerals and Metals Sector (MMS) of NRCan compiled a Catalogue of Social Practices in the Canadian Minerals and Metals Industry. The catalogue presents the efforts of Canadian mining companies who practice social responsibility in their project planning and administration, and in their activities outside the mine sites. It can thus provide information to mining companies and organizations on the planning and implementation of socially responsible practices.

Codes of Conduct in the Private Sector: A Review of the Academic Literature since 1987
Sponsored by: EthicsCentreCA
Sponsored by EthicsCentre CA and authored by Dr. Mark Baetz, Dr. A. Scott Carson, and Ms. Shelley McGill, this report is the definitive bibliographic source for research on the subject of Codes of Conduct in private sector workplaces.

Compendium of Ethics Codes
Prepared by:Voluntary Codes Research Group
One result of globalization has been the emergence of international codes, norms, principles, guidelines and standards of ethical and responsible business conduct. This document identifies and assembles the most significant and influential codes and other instruments of corporate responsibility in a globalized economy.

Corporate Social Responsibility: An Implementation Guide for Canadian Business Developed by: Government of Canada
Developed by: Government of Canada
This guide is intended to act as starting point for companies interested in implementing and operationalizing a corporate social responsibility approach in their businesses. The guide reviews key issues to consider, offers options for addressing them, and refers to specific tools which may be of assistance. It contains information on how to assess the effects of business activities on society, develop and implement a corporate social responsibility strategy with commitments, and measure, evaluate and report on performance. The important process of engaging with stakeholders is also described.

Corporate Social Responsibility: An Implementation Guide for Business
Developed by: IISD
Adapted from "CSR: An implementation Guide for Canadian Businesses", the IISD has produced a guide for international businesses. This guide provides an overview of the basic steps to and instruments for implementing a CSR strategy adapted specifically to your business or organizational context.

Corporate Social Responsibility Monitor 2004
Provided by: Industry Canada
The CSR Monitor is a syndicated annual survey of global public opinion, covering a variety of corporate responsibility issues. It provides global decision-makers with critical insights and comparative country metrics needed to better understand the trends shaping their international business and policy environment. The report is designed to help shape corporate strategies, policy positions, initiative development, and communications activities. The findings add to a collective understanding of the nature and extent of public expectations for companies. Industry Canada and a number of other federal departments financially supported the survey. The Executive Summary of the Monitor is available for review.

The Decisions Project: What’s a CEO to do?
Produced by: The Rotman AIC Institute
The What’s a CEO to do? Toolkit is a real-world guide that helps business leaders understand and prioritize key social and environmental issues and identify opportunities as well as potential risks.

The Definitions Project: Developing a new definition of corporate citizenship
Produced by: The Rotman AIC Institute
Academics, businesses, corporate citizenship practitioners, government officials, non-governmental organizations, students, and indeed anyone interested in corporate citizenship are strongly encouraged to participate.

EthicsAssurance Self Assessment Tool
Provided by: EthicScan Canada Ltd.
EthicsAssurance is a principal self assessment tool in assessing ethics within organizations. The enterprise ethics assurance tool looks not only at ethics but also environment, human resources, community responsibilities, fiscal probity and other modules. It benchmarks, accepts complaints and serves as a stakeholder engagement and reporting tool.

Ethics Resource Center Toolkit
Produced by: Ethics Resource Center
Includes tips and guidelines for writing codes of ethics, an ethics glossary, values definitions and other short articles on the practice of organizational ethic.

ethipedia.net - Online Encyclopedia
Produced by: ethiquette Inc.
ethipedia.net is an online encyclopedia and knowledge network of replicable sustainable business practices.

ethiquette.ca - Online Directory
Produced by: ethiquette Inc.
ethiquette.ca is an online directory of socially and environmentally responsible products and services to help individuals consume more responsibly.

The Evolving Role of the Ethics and Compliance Officer
Prepared by: The Conference Board of Canada
Report on the knowledge, skills, personal attributes, education, professional qualifications and experience required by ethics and compliance officers. This report is available as a free download from their e-Library. You may need to take a moment to register, then scroll down to find the report.

A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
Developed by: Michael McDonald
Ethical decision-making is a process, best done in a caring and compassionate environment. This framework is to be used as a guide, rather than a “recipe”.

Globethics.net - Digital Library on Ethics
Provided by: Globethics.net
A global electronic platform on ethics created with the goal of ensuring that people in all regions of the world are empowered with knowledge resources to reflect and act on ethical issues.

Government of Canada - Sustainability Reporting Toolkit
Developed by: Government of Canada
This Sustainability Reporting Toolkit was developed in response to an industry identified need to have more information and guidance on practices related to corporate sustainability reporting. The content is based on an assessment of industry needs undertaken by the Federal government and Stratos Inc. The aim of the Toolkit is to help Canadian businesses meet their reporting needs by providing a guide to what to consider when developing a sustainability report. It is targeted primarily at companies that are not currently reporting this kind of information. It is also relevant to experienced sustainability reporters by highlighting a number of best practices.

Guide to Instruments of Corporate Responsibility
Prepared by: Voluntary Codes Research Group
This document profiles 16 leading standards, codes, guidelines and principles of corporate responsibility. In addition to providing an overview of the purpose and operation of each instrument, the Guide draws on concrete examples to illustrate how institutional investors and labour pension funds have employed these instruments in promoting corporate responsibility in their equity holdings.

International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) Mine Closure Toolkit
Prepared by: ICCM
ICMM's new toolkit, Planning for Integrated Mine Closure, provides practical guidance for a key challenge to mining: closing a mine in a sustainable manner.

Industry Canada - Principles and Guidelines for Pursuing CSR
Provided by Industry Canada
As a first step for pursuing CSR, many companies focus on defining the normative directions that would be appropriate and acceptable to them. These directions can be converted into a formal statement of business values and practices. Such statements can be presented in the form of principles, guidelines, or codes of conduct. In effect, these become a commitment vehicle for the business to declare its perspective and way of doing business with respect to the challenges relating to corporate social responsibility. INAC has assembled a set of resources to some principles, guidelines and codes of conduct that companies can use to develop their statements of commitment.

Industry Canada - 10 Ways to start or enhance your sustainability purchasing strategy
Provided by: Industry Canada
Industry Canada has compiled a 10-step reference for businesses to start or enhance sustainability purchasing strategy. These steps and approaches are proven and scalable. Don’t reinvent the wheel. You’ll find it’s easier than you may think and the potential impacts on your organization, the community and the environment can be incredibly transformative.

Industry Canada - Resources on Management Systems
Provided by: Industry Canada
Management frameworks and systems are another avenue for improving corporate performance with regard to economic, social, and environmental objectives. Businesses recognize the benefits of a management systems approach to managing their operations. Management systems can be employed to demonstrate compliance with legislative obligations, reduce risks and potential liabilities, show due diligence to interested stakeholders, and achieve other objectives such as eliminating accidents and reducing insurance premiums. Industry Canada has compiled resources that represent some of the more popular management system tools.

Industry Canada - Other CSR Tools
Provided by: Industry Canada
Industry Canada has compiled links to various tools and vehicles that can be employed by a corporation to advance and encourage effective progress on CSR performance. This includes tools that help a business to: integrate CSR into corporate structures and processes, create innovative and proactive CSR solutions, collaborate with internal and external stakeholders on CSR challenges, and report and account for CSR performance.

Integrity Tools: Integrity Bridges Resource Centre
Produced by: Integrity Bridges
The Integrity Resource Centre shares practical bridge-building tools, ideas and inspiration.

Investing for the Soul - Resource Website
investingforthesoul.com
A comprehensive website with resources for spiritually or ethically oriented investors and investment professionals.

The Models Project: A review of existing corporate citizenship models from the 1960s to the present
Produced by: The Rotman AIC Institute
As a first step in developing a comprehensive model, the AIC Institute has engaged in gathering, cataloguing, exploring and reviewing existing corporate citizenship models from the 1960s to the present. We have, to date, examined almost 100 models. Although many models exist from many perspectives (e.g. moral development, social contract theory, stakeholder theory), a comprehensive model is lacking.

Natural Resources Canada - CSR: Lessons Learned
Provided by: Natural Resources Canada
Corporate Social Responsibility: Lessons Learned documents the experience of companies that have developed programs or activities that address elements of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The study was part of a larger federal Policy Research Initiative (PRI) on sustainable development, being undertaken to look at key policy issues facing Canada in the short and long term.

Natural Resources Canada - Best Practices
Provided by: Natural Resources Canada
Examples of sound practices in social management, environmental management, and reporting are described in the pages linked below. These initiatives have helped Canada’s natural resource-based companies minimize risks and create opportunities in response to key CSR-related issues facing the sectors.

Podcast interview on CSR
Featuring: Andrew Crane, Schulich School of Business
A 30 minute interview that provides an introduction to CSR issues and questions. This interview features CBERN collaborator Andrew Crane, George R. Gardiner Professor of Business Ethics at the Schulich School of Business, York University.

Reporting on Corporate Social Responsibility Performance: Results of a Survey of Canadian Companies 2001
Sponsored by Industry Canada and prepared by Conference Board of Canada
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting has emerged onto the Canadian business landscape in recent years. A survey of 25 Canadian companies was undertaken with the assistance of Industry Canada to identify trends and patterns in how industry is reporting on CSR initiatives and performance. The results are intended to assist Industry Canada to meet its 2000-2003 sustainable development strategy commitments and assist it to gain more knowledge about this rapidly evolving field.

The Sustainable Finance Toolkit
Produced by: Sustainable Finance Limited and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Aims to help banks implement robust environmental and social risk management approaches which are also consistent with the Equator Principles and international good practice.

Sustainable Development Strategies
Developed by: INAC
Sustainable Development Strategies (SDS), prepared by federal departments and agencies under 1995 amendments to the Auditor General Act, are a key element of the Government of Canada’s approach to sustainable development (SD). These strategies provide a tool for departments to systematically consider the implementation of sustainable development into their policies, programs, legislation and operation. These documents build upon the lessons learned and best practices of past strategies, striving to further promote the integration of sustainable development thinking into the Department’s structure, policy and direction.

Tools for Sustainability Purchasing
Provided by: Sustainability Purchasing Network
The Sustainability Purchasing Network (SPN) is a learning resource for corporate, not-for-profit, academic, government, public sector, labour, and co-operative organizations in their sustainability purchasing efforts. There is a comprehensive list of tools and resources available on their website that provides state-of-the art research, best practices, and resources on sustainability purchasing, including Guides, Tip Sheets, Policies, Supplier Codes of Conduct, Specifications, and Calculators and Assessment Tools.

Web-Based Self-Assement Tool
Provided by: John Dalla Costa
This is a tool for managing ethics, integrity and trust systematically.

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