Sustainability plan

Bringing our Purpose to life

We help our Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Our sustainability approach aligns to our business priorities and brings our Purpose to life.

Bringing our Purpose to life

We help our Clients achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives. Our sustainability approach aligns to our business priorities and brings our Purpose to life.

Our sustainability plan

Sustainability is a priority for Sun Life and is essential to our business success. We want to contribute to a healthier, more financially resilient, environmentally secure and economically prosperous world. Our sustainability plan focuses on our greatest opportunities to have a positive impact on society while creating competitive advantage for our business: 1) increasing financial security, 2) fostering healthier lives, and 3) advancing sustainable investing. These efforts build from our foundation as a trusted and responsible business.

2019 Sustainability Report

Read about our sustainability commitments in action.

Full report

Highlights

Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

ESG performance tables

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) index

Message from our President & CEO

Dean A. Connor
President & Chief Executive Officer

Sustainability remains a key priority at Sun Life, and we’re pleased to see that we’re being recognized by a number of groups globally. In 2019, we took a significant step forward on our sustainability journey by launching a new sustainability plan that will have greater impact, with clearer targets that are better aligned to our business strategy and Purpose.

Pillars of our sustainability plan

Our sustainability plan is focused on three core pillars:

Financial security: We provide our Clients and employees with innovative products and services to help increase their lifetime financial security. We’re committed to improving financial resiliency in society by advocating for and expanding access to products and services to close insurance coverage gaps and build long-term wealth.

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Healthier lives: We’re focused on improving health and wellness in society. We offer our Clients and employees products and tools to help them live healthier lives. And we invest in community health and improving access to health and disability insurance.

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Sustainable investing: We manage capital with sustainability embedded in our investment processes. We offer our Clients and employees sustainable investing opportunities. And we invest our assets to encourage a low-carbon and more inclusive economy.

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Our sustainability plan builds off our foundational pillar:

Trusted and responsible business: We commit to being a responsibly managed business that is Client-focused, competitive, forward-thinking, financially and environmentally resilient, and sustainable for the long term. Key priorities include Client focus, talent management, diversity and inclusion, climate change and the environment, risk management, data security and privacy, and governance and ethics.

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Featured: Making sustainable investing easier for group retirement Clients

Sun Life’s Group Retirement Services recently launched its proprietary Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) evaluation framework for its core investment platform. Learn more about this new framework and how it will be instrumental in helping plan sponsors and members make informed decisions when it comes to sustainable investing.

Learn more about this new framework

Recent awards and recognition

2020 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World

2020 Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada

2020 FTSE4Good Index Series Constituent

2020 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index

2019 Dow Jones Sustainability Index (North America)

Hong Kong Sustainability Awards 2018/19 Certificate of Excellence

Harvard Business Review 2019 List of the World’s Top Chief Executives

2019 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB)

Policies and commitments

Code of Conduct