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Mutual respect and understanding are the necessary components of meaningful exchange. Recognizing that this extends to communities and society at large, Deloitte Canada went beyond the next step of simply paying lip service to reconciliation—and instead acknowledged the need for consequential action. Indeed, it was the drive to restore trust and strengthen relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, organizations, and people that led us to become the first corporation in Canada to actively include reconciliation as an organizational goal.
That first major step, taken in 2020, yielded our initial Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which established and defined our four key pillars—inclusion, education, employment, and economic empowerment—aimed to acknowledge past wrongdoings and help dismantle the systemic barriers faced by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples in Canada, including those in the communities in which we operate and the clients we serve. Since then, we’ve made great progress toward our original goals.
Despite the challenges we have faced along the way, we take pride in the progress we have achieved, including making a difference in the lives of 20,000 Indigenous youth via pro bono and volunteer work, and awarded post-secondary scholarships to more than 150 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students. We’ve expanded our relationship with Indigenous Youth Roots, helping to amplify the voices of Indigenous youth by providing a platform—a series of reports we’ve published—with which they can better share their perspectives, often overlooked, on reconciliation efforts to date, as well as recommendations for progress. We’ve also further developed our relationship with the charitable organization Indspire—to help fund educational opportunities for Indigenous students—and our collaboration with the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund—particularly, their Legacy Spaces Program, which encourages conversations about and inclusion of Indigenous perspectives in the workplace and beyond. We’ve increased the number of Indigenous businesses in which we invest and Indigenous suppliers with whom we work. We’ve launched our Nation Building practice, the first in the professional services industry that is fully led by—and serving—Indigenous Peoples and communities. And we co-created R8dius, an Indigenous-majority-owned professional services, technology-implementation, and managed-services business that works to advance Indigenous opportunities in realms including STEM training and Indigenous procurement.
While we’re honoured and proud to collaborate on undertakings that have measurable impact on Indigenous Peoples, businesses, and communities—as well as a broader influence on other Canadian organizations, as evidenced by the increasing number of RAPs being created since we announced our original pledge—we humbly acknowledge that this journey of reconciliation has not been without significant challenges and lessons. We continue to learn from our experiences and recognize that each new step on this shared path has offered us additional opportunities for reflection—and with these, ongoing possibilities for readjustment and improvement in the steps ahead.
Coupled with these realizations, and having met or exceeded many of the commitments of our initial RAP, we knew it was time to embark on the next stage of our journey. And in order to do so, we knew we would need to seek more voices to help guide us. The result is our renewed RAP, Expanding Horizons, which arose from more than a year of extensive focus and effort—even more intensive and far-reaching than the process we undertook to develop our original RAP. This included seeking firm-wide feedback; immersive discussion sessions among groups of firm members and leadership; the launch of internal working committees; extended consultations with Indigenous community members and business leaders; rigorous market and report reviews; and, in December 2023 and January of 2024, two in-depth summits involving Indigenous and non-Indigenous Deloitte colleagues from across the country, during which we shared our views on the firm’s commitment to, and progress toward, our reconciliation goals.
What we learned throughout this time of focused reflection and active listening allowed us to see that our reconciliation vision and path had expanded—from fostering meaningful change among our people, our clients, and our communities, to taking a more active step toward broader accountability to, investment in, and incorporation of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis worldviews in everything we do. We further realized that we must increase our efforts to promote Indigenous economic growth and self-sovereignty. These and other insights helped shape our four new North Star aspirations—which include working harder to ensure Deloitte’s Talent Value Proposition (our commitment to an exceptional, supportive career experience at the firm) is mindful of Indigenous talent; and dedicating ourselves to the Seven Generations principle, wherein actions today should be undertaken to promote sustainability for at least the next seven generations.
Everything we’ve done since we took that first official step on the journey of reconciliation has helped shape our renewed RAP, and we’re excited to share it now. Expanding Horizons: Deloitte’s Renewed Reconciliation Action Plan details our progress, learnings, and evolution in our ongoing journey, and includes 15 elevated commitments across our four pillars (inclusion, education, employment, and economic empowerment) to continue to guide us forward. It represents the Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices at Deloitte who are inspired by the growing sense of empowerment among First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples, and who look to us to play an elevated role in that growth—an opportunity and privilege we don’t take lightly.
But as proud as we are of our progress and the impacts we’ve made, we’re inspired to have seen more than 60 other organizations committing to a RAP since we first launched ours. We know that, for reconciliation to be truly meaningful, we must all work together to learn, improve, and ensure everyone in Canada can thrive—inclusively and equitably. We’re hopeful this collaboration, cooperation, and countrywide journey will continue.
Learn more about Deloitte’s Renewed Reconciliation Action Plan and how it aims to elevate the goals for the organization to make an impact that matters for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis colleagues, clients, and communities across Canada.