British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) has been recognised for its work in the inaugural social purpose report, achieving platinum status.
With an overall score of 82%, BCLC has been awarded the highest possible rating after an assessment based on nine criteria related to social purpose adoption, governance and business operations.
The Corporate Knights-published report, titled ‘The Social Purpose Transition Pathway: Helping companies move from “say” to “do”’, evaluated 34 public and private businesses in Canada that met the requirement for having a stated social purpose.
The United Way Social Purpose Institute defines a social purpose company as a “business whose enduring reason for being is to create a better world”.
Peter ter Weeme, Chief Social Purpose Officer and Vice President, Player Experience at BCLC, commented: “BCLC’s social purpose is to generate win-wins for the greater good – not only in how our products and operations focus on creating more positive social impacts, but also by how we share learnings with other businesses so that these can also be catalysts for change.
“We know that our journey to lead with purpose will better serve our players and our communities as we connect the growth of our business to the wellbeing of our society and environment.”
BCLC adopted its social purpose in March 2021 in alignment with its player health and responsible-growth goals, aiming to ensure that no player is harmed from gambling via its services.
The lottery has also pledged to align with leading international environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria as it embeds its social purpose throughout the organisation.
“This social purpose report captures an important sentiment at the heart of Corporate Knights’ mission,” added Toby Heaps, CEO and Co-Founder of Corporate Knights.
“We believe that to address society’s challenges, business needs a new operating system. Businesses that adopt a social purpose as the reason they exist get part way there but need to go the second step to implement their purpose. This operating system is in its infancy, and that is where this report comes in.
“We hope the best practices and recommendations we’ve outlined in this report provide the guidance companies and their boards need to fulfil the potential of their purpose and put society on a sustainable path.”
Last month, BCLC announced it had begun the recruitment process for its new President and CEO, following the departure of Jim Lightbody after 21 years of service to the company.
