Good corporate citizenship isn’t a matter of choice

It’s time for Canada to catch up to countries that have legal frameworks encouraging corporations to state their purpose. That’s not to say companies shouldn’t be able to make a profit. But as the British Academy stated in 2019, 'The purpose of business is to solve the problems of people and planet profitably, and not profit from causing problems.'

In a new report, authors Richard Janda and Iseoluwa Akintunde call on the Canadian government to make five key reforms to the Canada Business Corporations Act, including requiring a statement of purpose from a corporation’s board, subjecting corporations to a ‘comply or explain’ approach to stating that social purpose.Image courtesy of Pexels

Opinion

BY RICHARD JANDA AND ISEOLUWA AKINTUNDE

February 2, 2023

MONTREAL—If you don’t know why something exists, how would you know what to do with it? Identifying a purpose is something we start teaching our kids from the day they can understand us. “Put on your boots so your feet stay warm.” What happens when business...

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