TELUS as a Corporate Leader
As the largest private sector employer in the province, employing more than 9,000 highly skilled British Columbians, TELUS is committed to improving the quality of life and meeting the unique needs of the communities in which we live, work and serve.
- In June 2004, the TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, a state-of-the-art e.learning and multimedia educational facility, was unveiled. This commitment is part of an historic $10 million donation to the Royal Conservatory of Music's "Building National Dreams Campaign". Our contribution furthers a unique Royal Conservatory of Music program to bring educational opportunities to remote regions. It offers extraordinary personal development initiatives and a public school enhancement program. Called Learning Through the Arts, this program reaches more than 300 schools across Canada and, to date, has touched the lives of 150,000 students. An illustration of virtual learning in action is contained in the attached video clip.
- TELUS is recognized by the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy as an Imagine Caring Company for our charitable contributions. In 2003, TELUS' B.C. team members pledged more than $1.5 million to charitable organizations across the province. This money was matched dollar for dollar by TELUS - for a total of more than $3 million.
- Last year, TELUS invested more than $6 million in community events - supporting a wide range of initiatives across B.C. focused, in large part, on youth at risk, at school, and at play. Non-profit organizations supported by TELUS include the:
- 2010 Olympic Winter and Paralympic Games - As the Premier Founding Supporter, TELUS committed more than $4 million to the successful 2010 bid. We are now focused on accelerating the 2010 momentum by developing programs to deliver advanced communications solutions to the province, building on our track record of supporting professional and amateur sports.
- TELUSphere - TELUS is a founding partner and regular contributor to online education programs, exhibits and technology applications at TELUSphere.
- TELUS Tour for the Cure - This is a province-wide touring exhibit to 29 communities that will increase awareness and education on breast cancer and health in partnership with the BC/Yukon Chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
- Fire Aid - TELUS contributed extensively to fire relief efforts in the Interior including the provision of $85,000 in children's school supplies, hundreds of complementary cell phones for emergency workers and more than 14,000 phone cards to fire victims.
- Progressive aboriginal relations (PAR) program - TELUS is a supporter and active participant in this Canadian Council of Business program.
Connecting British Columbians
Over the past three years, TELUS has spent close to $1.8 billion upgrading infrastructure in B.C. - including rolling out our advanced ADSL and 1X wireless networks. By year-end 2004, 245 communities in the province will have high-speed Internet connectivity. British Columbians are amongst the most connected citizens in Canada for Internet access.
Responsible Corporate Governance
In 2004 TELUS was recognized by the Corporate Knights Green Machine as Canada's most environmentally responsible company. A Canadian-based organization specializing in corporate social responsibility, Corporate Knights compiled its list of Canada's most environmentally responsible companies based on a wide range of indicators, including land reclamation, energy efficiency, recycling and stakeholder relations.
Some examples of environmentally friendly initiatives TELUS has undertaken include:
- The Make Pulp Fiction program, which reduced paper consumption by an astounding 44 million sheets of copy paper.
- The reduction of TELUS' halon inventory by 84 per cent from 1993 levels.
- The reclamation of 19 contaminated sites in 2002, with another 94 in progress.
- The use of solar and wind power at 35 installations.
- TELUS has participated in a number of Tree Canada events, including the "Greening of School grounds", where we partnered with Tree Canada and other sponsors to green school grounds in a number of cities, including Victoria.
Finally, for the fourth year in a row, TELUS was selected to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in 2004. TELUS is the only North American telecommunications company to be named to this listing of corporate economic, environmental and social leaders.
