Corporate Responsibility

Our commitment to communities

 

Communities

 

At METRO, we are dedicated to contributing to the economic and social well-being of communities. Our priorities are to invest in the communities in which we are present and to promote local purchasing, both to support local suppliers and to meet our customers' expectations.

 

Socioeconomic contribution

Vision-2026

Our ambition is to help reduce social inequalities, especially as they pertain to food and health. Building on our tradition of commitment since our founding in 1947, we count on the strength of our network of employees, merchants and pharmacist owners to contribute to the well-being of communities and generate sustainable benefits.

By creating value for all our stakeholders, we generate a positive and sustainable impact on our communities, whether through the jobs we create, our community investment, what we give back to our shareholders or the taxes that contribute to the financing of government programs and services.

Board - Socioeconomic Contribution
 

Community investment

METRO is actively engaged in the communities in which it is present through financial assistance and food donations. In addition to METRO’s own contributions are those made by its employees, customers and suppliers.

Support for communities

Our philanthropic objective is to dedicate an amount equal to 1% of METRO’s average net earnings in the last three fiscal years.

 

For more details, see our Community Investment Policy. To submit a request, please complete the Donation request form.

2023 profile

$63M


Value of food distributed from our distribution centres and stores.

Financial contribution

Building on its 75-year tradition of commitment, METRO has continued to support the communities in which it operates through donations to various organizations and projects whose objectives are to reduce social inequalities, particularly as it pertains to nutrition and health, and to ensure the population’s well-being.

In 2023, METRO’s financial contribution to various causes totalled $7.4 million. In addition, we raised $6.1 million thanks to the contribution of our store and pharmacy networks, and through the commitment of our colleagues and the generosity of our customers.

Centraide
$2.5
million
Learn more

Thanks to the generosity of our teams and customers, and the sustained efforts of METRO’s food and pharmacy banners in Québec, our 25th Centraide campaign raised a record $2.5 million.

Food Banks*
$2.9
million
*Ontario, Québec and New Brunswick
Learn more

The first edition of the Healthy Together multi-banner campaign raised $2.3 million to help fight food insecurity. METRO donated an additional $550.000 to its partners, Les Banques alimentaires du Québec, Feed Ontario and Food Depot Alimentaire in New Brunswick.

The Grocery
Foundation
$1.2
million
Learn more

Ontario stores took part in the annual Toonies for Tummies campaign to benefit the Grocery Foundation, whose mission is to feed hungry children in our communities. Our teams’ efforts and our customers’ generosity helped raise $1,161,408.

Fondation CHU
Sainte-Justine
$687,758
Learn more

Our annual campaigns in support of the children and families of CHU Sainte-Justine were extremely successful. This amount was raised thanks to the 17th Mois des Câlins campaign at Jean Coutu ($400.000), the Grand sapin campaign in our Metro stores in Québec ($283.085) and an annual corporate donation ($100.000).

METRO’s Employee Volunteering

At METRO, we encourage our employees to volunteer to actively participate in our purpose to nourish the health and well-being of our communities. We take pride in providing our colleagues with the chance to allocate work hours to make a meaningful impact with a local organization. Again this year, hundreds of colleagues from Québec and Ontario enthusiastically answered the call to volunteer their efforts to 15 different community-based charities, providing over 1,400 hours of their time.

Caring Company certification

In 2023, METRO obtained Imagine Canada's Caring Company certification. This certification is awarded to companies that demonstrate leadership in social impact and community engagement by using at least 1% of their pre-tax profits to support their communities.

 

Food security

The year 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of One More Bite, METRO's flagship initiative in the fight against food waste.

Our food recovery program enables us to provide our partners— Second Harvest and Feed Ontario in Ontario and Food Banks of Québec —with unsold quality products from our participating stores in both provinces.

Since 2016, the program helped recover and redistribute more than 27 million kilograms of food: the equivalent of around 53 million meals that have been redistributed and consumed by people in our communities. Our teams are proud to do their part to end food insecurity.

One more bite logo

For more details, see our 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report (PDF)

employés diversifiés

© Moisson Québec

 

Local purchasing

Our local purchasing program was launched several years ago.

We prioritize local products and put in great effort to make them available to our customers.

We recognize that local products and suppliers play a crucial role in establishing a resilient supply chain, supporting local employment, contributing to the socioeconomic development of Québec and Ontario, and potentially reducing GHG emissions associated with transportation.

In 2023, we continued to encourage our non-food suppliers to obtain the Québec government’s Les Produits du Québec certification, launched in 2022. More than 400 products under our Personnelle brand have obtained the “Designed in Québec” certification.

Logo produit d'iciLogo produit d'iciLogo local productsLogo aliments du QuébecLogo foodland ontarioLogo Les produits du Québec
Local products all year round image

Local products all year round

We collaborate with local producers to help them increase their production capacity for new and innovative products. In 2023, we increased the year-round availability of certain greenhouse-grown products, both conventional and organic. In particular, we worked with Notaro Farms and Toundra Farms, two Québec greenhouse growers, to offer Quebec cucumbers to our customers year-round.