BCE

BCE contributes to universal access to digital technologies through the Connecting Families programme. It also provides accessibility discounts and has an Accessibility Services Centre dedicated to serving customers with disabilities. BCE discloses the number of its employees with disabilities and works closely with various partners focused on accessibility, such as the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association.

BCE supports media and digital literacy for young people and their families to promote a positive online experience. The company also donates used computer equipment to Ordinateurs pour les écoles du Quebec (OPEQ), an organization that works to provide computers for schools in Québec.

BCE follows industry best practice by assigning accountability for cybersecurity at a senior level and disclosing how cybersecurity is managed at the company. BCE stands out in its cooperation with national authorities on child online safety. It supports the operation of the Canadian Centre for Child Protection as well as NeepHelpNow.ca, to help stop the spread of sexual content online. It is also a founder of the Canadian Coalition Against Internet Child Exploitation (CCAISE).

BCE collaborates with various universities to support research related to 5G services.

BCE has an opportunity to support initiatives enhancing digital opportunities for women and girls. The company can also disclose participation and impact metrics on its existing programmes for digital access, as well as how the economic value it generates is distributed among its stakeholders.

BCE can report participation metrics for its media and digital literacy programme and also develop initiatives focused on teaching advanced digital skills.

BCE can enhance disclosure on its initiatives in this area and report the number of data breaches it experiences.

BCE has room for improvement in supporting open, inclusive and ethical innovation. It can contribute to open source projects, and also broaden its support for tech innovation ecosystems by supporting start-ups. The company should also report on the number of women in technical roles at the company, as well as disclose the ethical considerations it follows for its research and development (R&D) and artificial intelligence (AI) activities.

BCE commits to respecting human rights and has a grievance mechanism accessible to both workers and external stakeholders to raise human rights concerns and complaints. However, the company does not require that its business relationships uphold all the labour fundamentals outlined by the ILO, in particular the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. BCE has an audit programme in place for its manufacturing subsidiary, but it does not disclose a process to identify, assess and act on salient human rights risks in its own operations and in its business relationships. Moreover, the company does not engage with stakeholders whose human rights could be impacted by its operations.

BCE publicly commits to respecting the health and safety of workers. It also places health and safety expectations on its business relationships and monitors their performance. Furthermore, for its own operations, the company does not require workers to work more than regular and overtime hours. The company provides a breakdown of employees in different employee categories by gender, and demonstrates that it has at least 30% women on its board. However, it does not disclose against other indicators of diversity per employee category. BCE does not provide any relevant disclosure in relation to paying its workers a living wage.

BCE has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption, and it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in contracts with its business relationships. It also has a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns and complaints on the topic. BCE does not disclose its approach to lobbying and political engagement in a policy statement and does not disclose its lobbying expenditures. Furthermore, the company allows political contributions albeit with the consent of the Chief Regulatory Officer.

The below datasheet disaggregates scores within the three core social measurement areas and by specific indicators.