Materiality assessment
We have opted to consult with our stakeholders every other year in order to be able to act on the adjustments they propose. For this report, CSR Management conducted a materiality assessment in 2018-2019.
| 102-15 | 102-21 | 102-29 |
| 102-40 | 102-42 | 102-43 |
| 102-44 | 102-46 | 102-47 |
| 102-49 |
The objective of this assessment was to identify the factors perceived as the most important by our stakeholders, including those who work for the organization and our external partners. The CSR content of this report was driven by the findings of the materiality assessment, as required by the underlying GRI reporting principles. As of last year, the focus is larger than previous assessments and includes our full portfolio.
Main steps involved in selecting topics
_ Fall 2018
Update sustainability and stakeholder issues
A list of 23 relevant CSR-related aspects, covering the environmental, social and government realms, was drawn up based on our investments and their impact. We also updated our list of stakeholders according to five criteria: responsibility, proximity, influence, dependency and impact.
Main stakeholder categories
Shareholders, affiliations, customers, employees, suppliers, property managers, senior management, tenants, business partners (including property managers) and community partners
_ Winter 2019
Prioritize issues (online survey)
An initial electronic survey was conducted with all identified stakeholders to gauge the relative importance of each aspect. The internal stakeholders’ point of view was derived from a survey of employees and senior management. All other stakeholders were grouped together.
Validate issues (roundtables)
Following the survey, mixed roundtables were held in Montreal, Toronto and online to gather feedback on the results of the exercise. These discussions allowed us to improve our understanding of stakeholder expectations, to better target our strategic CSR priorities and to make ongoing improvements to our reports.
Map out issues (graph)
The materiality matrix below represents the survey results where the aspects evaluated as the most important are located in the upper right corner. All participants rated the aspects from 2.75 to 4, on a scale of 1 to 4. Thanks to this analysis, we were able to identify some of the content to be highlighted in this activity report and on our website.
Materiality matrix
Social
1 Employment and working conditions
2 Equity, diversity and equality of employment opportunities
3 Health and safety
4 Training and skills development
5 Employee engagement and retention
Economic
6 Social and community impact
7 Economic vitality
8 Economic performance and financial results
9 Business innovation
10 Responsible procurement
15 Social acceptance of real estate projects
16 Development of innovative services
Environmental
11 Operational carbon footprint
17 Management of greenhouse gas emissions
18 Energy management
19 Raw materials management
20 Residual materials management
21 Water management
22 Conservation of urban biodiversity
23 Adaptation to climate change
Other
12 Preservation and upgrading of built heritage
13 Commitment of business partners
14 Integration of sustainable development into business decisions
Our stakeholders’ commitment
The materiality assessment allows us to gain a deeper understanding of our stakeholders’ expectations with regard to corporate social responsibility.
The materiality matrix shows that our internal and external stakeholders attach the same importance to most of the environmental aspects. We can also observe that more internal stakeholders consider social factors related to employees’ work conditions as important. In addition, we can conclude that all of our stakeholders have a greater interest in aspects over which they can exert a certain amount of influence.
The roundtables showed that our stakeholders expect us to continue our efforts to minimize our environmental footprint. In addition, they want us to share more of our CSR initiatives with them in order to continue to have a positive impact, which will enable them, in turn, to improve their own environmental and social performance.
