A group of CEOs from Canada’s largest organizations issued the open letter below on March 15th
The organizations and employers we represent compete fiercely every day. Today we stand united in a shared battle against COVID-19.
We urge every leader in the country to immediately shift focus to the singular objective of slowing the pace of transmission of this coronavirus.
International experience demonstrates that social distancing is the only effective method, and is in the best interests of our employees, their families and our communities.
While this will have significant economic impact on our businesses in the short term, it is critical to weathering this storm and will hasten the recovery.
Governments across the country have acted yet these measures will only be effective if all employers step up and do their part to protect the nation’s health and welfare.
The undersigned have taken important steps and urge your organizations to join us:
- Urge your employees to stop all non-essential travel, whether for personal or business reasons. Travel exposes people to infection, increasing risk for their personal and professional contacts.
- Enable your employees to practice social distancing. Facilitate work-from-home for all non-critical business functions. Work with government, if necessary, to ensure sick pay for workers. Cancel any in-person gatherings or events. Ensure that mental-health services are in place to support those in need during a period of social isolation.
- Maintain essential services to Canadians. In coordination with government, develop clear guidelines to protect the health of employees who provide critical services to the public.
- Understand that your employees are looking to you for leadership and trusted information in turbulent times. Share trusted advice from public health agencies and communicate consistently and clearly with your employees. Recap the latest guidance and show them what you’re doing to support it.
On behalf of all of us, including millions of colleagues and employees, thank you to all healthcare workers on the front lines on whom we are relying to help us through this emergency. We have enormous respect and gratitude for your efforts.
| • Wendy Andrushko – President, DuPont Canada |
| • Ayman Antoun – President, IBM Canada |
| • John Baker – President and CEO, D2L |
| • Scott Balfour – President and CEO, Emera |
| • Mark Barrenechea – Vice Chair and Chief Executive Officer, OpenText Corporation |
| • Kevin Beingessner – Chief Executive Officer, Coril Holdings |
| • Scott Bell – President and Managing Director, General Motors of Canada |
| • Kilian Berz – Managing Director and Senior Partner, The Boston Consulting Group |
| • Mirko Bibic – President and CEO, BCE Inc. and Bell Canada |
| • Charles Brindamour – Chief Executive Officer, Intact Financial |
| • John Chen – Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry |
| • Neil Chrystal – President and CEO, Polygon Homes |
| • Donald Clow – President and Chief Executive Officer, Crombie REIT |
| • Dean Connor – President and CEO, Sun Life |
| • Guy Cormier – President and CEO, Desjardins Group |
| • Ben Cowan-Dewar – Co-Founder and Managing Director, Cabot Links |
| • Keith Creel – President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Pacific Railway |
| • Stephan Crétier – President & CEO, Gardaworld |
| • Neil Cunningham – CEO and President, Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP) |
| • Rola Dagher – President, Cisco Systems Canada |
| • Thomas d’Aquino – Founding CEO, Business Council of Canada |
| • Dennis Darby – President and CEO, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters |
| • Dax Dasilva – Chief Executive Officer, Lightspeed POS |
| • Daniel Daviau – President and CEO, Canaccord Genuity Group |
| • Marc de La Bruyère – Managing Director, Maclab Development Group |
| • Charles Deguire – President, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Kinova |
| • Paul Desmarais III – Chairman and CEO, Sagard Holdings |
| • Paul Desmarais jr. – Chair, Power Corporation of Canada |
| • Victor Dodig – President and CEO, CIBC |
| • Ian C. Dundas – CEO, Enerplus |
| • Ian Edwards – President and CEO, SNC-Lavalin |
| • Charles Emond – President and CEO, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) |
| • Dawn Farrell – President and Chief Executive Officer, TransAlta Corporation |
| • David Filipchuk – President and Chief Executive Officer, PCL Constructors |
| • Chris Fowler – President & CEO, CWB Financial Group |
| • Gordon J. Fyfe – CEO, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation |
| • Louis Gagnon – President, Mercer U.S. and Canada |
| • Sabrina Geremia – Country Director, Google Canada |
| • Russ Girling – President and CEO, TC Energy |
| • Tim Gitzel – President and CEO, Cameco |
| • Blake Goldring – Executive Chairman, AGF Management Limited |
| • Roy Gori – President and CEO, Manulife Financial |
| • Christine Healy – President and Chief Executive Officer, Total E&P Canada |
| • Andrew Hider – Chief Executive Officer, ATS Automation Tooling Systems |
| • Blake Hutcheson – President, OMERS |
| • Goldy Hyder – President and CEO, Business Council of Canada |
| • Gord Johnston – President & CEO, Stantec |
| • Michael Katchen – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Wealthsimple |
| • Faisal Kazi – President and Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Canada |
| • Hassan Khosrowshahi – Chairman, Persis Holdings Ltd. |
| • Jeff Kinnaird – President, Home Depot of Canada |
| • Patrick Lamarre – President, Kiewit Canada Group |
| • Michael Latimer – CEO, OMERS |
| • Don Lindsay – President and CEO, Teck Resources |
| • Stephen Liptrap – President and Chief Executive Officer, Morneau Shepell |
| • Mark Little – President and Chief Executive Officer, Suncor Energy |
| • Jon Love – Chief Executive Officer, KingSett Capital |
| • Marcelo Lu – President, BASF Canada |
| • Elio Luongo – Chief Executive Officer and Senior Partner, Canada, KPMG LLP |
| • Dr. Mark Machin – President and CEO, CPP Investments |
| • Chuck Magro – President and CEO, Nutrien |
| • Nicolas Marcoux – Chief Executive Officer and Senior Partner, PwC Canada |
| • Bharat Masrani – Group President and CEO, TD Bank |
| • Michael McCain – President and CEO, Maple Leaf Foods |
| • Mike McDerment – Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Freshbooks |
| • David McKay – President and CEO, Royal Bank of Canada |
| • Gordon McKenzie – President and Chief Executive Officer, Canpotex Limited |
| • John McKenzie – Interim CEO, TMX |
| • Al Monaco – President and Chief Executive Officer, Enbridge |
| • Andrew Moor – President and CEO, Equitable Bank |
| • Doug Murphy – President and Chief Executive Officer, Corus Entertainment |
| • Joe Natale – President and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Communications |
| • Jeffrey Orr – President and Chief Executive Officer, Power Corporation of Canada |
| • Rob Peabody – CEO, Husky Energy |
| • Kevin Peesker – President, Microsoft Canada |
| • John Peller – Chairman and CEO, Andrew Peller Limited |
| • Rob Penner – President and CEO, Bison Transport |
| • Cole Pinnow – President, Pfizer Canada |
| • Sam Pollock – Chief Executive Officer, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners |
| • Brian Porter – President and CEO, Scotiabank |
| • Alex Pourbaix – President and CEO, Cenovus Energy |
| • Ricardo Prosperi – President, Canada, Tenaris |
| • Dani Reiss – President & Chief Executive Officer, Canada Goose |
| • Michael Rencheck – President and Chief Executive Officer, Bruce Power |
| • Hartley Richardson – President & Chief Executive Officer, James Richardson & Sons Limited |
| • John Risley – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CFFI Ventures |
| • Jean-Jacques Ruest – President & Chief Executive Officer, CN |
| • Jeffrey Russell – President, Canada, and Senior Managing Director, Accenture |
| • Steve Sammut – President and CEO, Rocky Mountaineer |
| • Lino Saputo, Jr. – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Saputo |
| • George Schindler – President & Chief Executive Officer, CGI Group |
| • Sam Sebastian – Chief Executive Officer, Pelmorex Corp. |
| • Bradley Shaw – Chief Executive Officer, Shaw Communications |
| • Jad Shimaly – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, EY Canada |
| • David Smith – Chief Executive Officer, Keyera Corp. |
| • Geoff Smith – President and CEO, Ellis Don |
| • Ian D. Smith – CEO, Clearwater Seafoods |
| • Stephen Smith – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, First National Financial |
| • Nancy Southern – Chair and CEO, ATCO Ltd. |
| • Ronald Stern – President and Chief Executive Officer, Alberta Newsprint Company |
| • Sandra Stuart – Group General Manager, President and CEO, HSBC Bank Canada |
| • John Sullivan – President and Chief Executive Officer, The Cadillac Fairview Corporation |
| • Garrick Tiplady – Managing Director, Facebook and Instagram Canada |
| • Guy Turcotte – Founder, President and CEO, Stone Creek Resorts |
| • Louis Vachon – President and CEO, National Bank of Canada |
| • Nicole Verkindt – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, OMX |
| • Anthony Viel – Managing Partner and Chief Executive, Deloitte Canada |
| • Galen Weston – Executive Chairman, Loblaw Companies |
| • Darryl White – CEO, BMO Financial Group |
| • Penny Wise – President, 3M Canada |
| • Mark Wiseman – Founder, FCLTGlobal |
| • Mary Ann Yule – President and CEO, HP Canada |
| • Jeff Zweig – President and CEO, Mosaic Forest Management |