April 11, 2022
Terri O'Brien

Planting Seeds

Version français

As I write this, the rain is falling and it is hard to believe that many of us will soon be planting gardens, and walking in the spring sunshine. Here, at Équité Association, we are starting our second quarter which includes:

  • Building a new Advanced Analytics & Countermeasures platform for the Canadian P&C insurance industry;
  • Continuing our great investigative work amidst record volumes of insurance crime in the first quarter of 2022;
  • Greatly expanding our cargo recovery and insurance crime support programs; and
  • Strengthening our conversation with members.

We are laying essential groundwork, combining data analytics and investigations to effectively fight fraud. April is the month of planting seeds, growth and new beginnings. The need to support our changing world in a post-pandemic environment is top of mind as we begin our work in developing our ESG principles.  

ESG stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance – a framework used to evaluate an organization’s long-term health and prosperity based on environmental, social, and governance practices. These non-financial factors are part of any good strategy – we are taking the concepts of social responsibility and adapting them to measurable goals and key performance indicators. Being proactive in ESG allows us to build strategies, which are more effective than one-off tactics, as we respond to current events and build our long-term strategy to support Canadians against insurance fraud.

At Équité Association, we strive to make the world a more equitable place. Relationships are more than whether people feel good about our organization because of our marketing and public relations efforts. The way we treat and retain our employees, how we work with our members and within our communities are the true priorities.

2021 allowed us to build our governance practice. We defined our board and advisory committees, as well as achieving 50/50 gender parity at both our Board and senior leadership levels. Pay equity was also established, allowing us to define pay by role, not influenced by gender. In that process, employees saw pay increases, creating parity between roles and genders.

We will continue to dedicate resources to employee engagement. As a new organization, we all wear many hats, which can be challenging at peak times. Our team understands that we’re all here because we want to make a difference in the fight against insurance crime and contributing to a more equitable Canada.  

An ESG social framework examines:

  • Member / customer satisfaction;
  • Data protection and privacy;
  • Gender and diversity;
  • Employee engagement;
  • Community relations; and
  • Human rights.

In 2022, we are defining our social responsibilities – our member experience, our internal employee-focused policies, and our ability to partner with like-minded organizations to share information in support of fraud prevention. We are counting on our Culture Committee to continue to develop the employee experience and our Marketing team to take events such as Fraud Month and our Top Ten Stolen Vehicles campaign to new heights.

It is most important in our social responsibilities that we cultivate new partnerships and strengthen the ones that we have established. Our members and partners are vital to the work that we do. We cannot fight insurance fraud and crime alone. It is together with our partners in law enforcement, and within the industry, that we will be successful in defending Canadians against insurance crime.

We also support community initiatives, such as Operation Cold Start in Alberta, and catalytic converter etching programs in Quebec. Our work does not stop at vehicle and cargo recoveries – part of our work is prevention and we can only do this by providing the public information that can help protect everyone from vehicle theft. We support the industry by providing specialized training, whether it is Équité-led or through partnerships in our ecosystem, we are providing a forum where knowledge and experience are shared.

This year is fertile ground to support change. We are so proud to be part of it as we continue to develop a social framework that is grounded in a strong social purpose of protecting honest, hardworking Canadians, which includes our employees, members and partners.