Managing the Bank

At the start of 2022, Canada was in the middle of the Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the spring, the number of reported cases was significantly lower, and other indicators suggested that pandemic conditions had noticeably improved. The Bank invited employees to begin returning to its offices in June after more than two years away. The return was a key priority for 2022.

At the same time, the Bank continued its long-standing efforts to enhance operational resilience. The continuous improvement of cyber security controls remained a key focus, as was the Bank’s ongoing digital transformation.

Continuing to be one of the best places to work in Canada

The Bank was once again recognized as one of the best places to work in Canada. Multiple awards highlighted the benefits, policies, programs and culture in place to support employees. The Bank’s awards included:

• Canada’s Top 100 Employers (13^th consecutive year)
• Canada’s Top Family-Friendly Employers (6^th consecutive year)
• Canada’s Best Diversity Employers (4^th consecutive year)
• National Capital Region’s Top Employers (13^th consecutive year)

Promoting equity and inclusion for a diverse workforce

The Bank made significant progress on its equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) goals. It reported that it had achieved or exceeded its 2021 representation targets for all but one of the four designated employment equity groups.1 The Bank:

• launched and began implementing a renewed EDI strategy for 2022–24
• completed an initial review of workplace policies to ensure their alignment with the Bank’s EDI goals
• created the Bank’s first accessibility plan through a collaborative internal process
• introduced new and enhanced EDI training for leaders and employees
• hosted an international conference on diversity and inclusion in economics, finance and central banking

Focusing on resilience in a rapidly changing world

The Bank continued to reinforce its operational resilience in a variety of ways. This included enhancing business systems, strengthening cyber security and greening operations. Given the events of the past few years, an important focus was the Bank’s ability to maintain critical operations through disruptions.

Implementing modern, resilient systems

In 2022, the Bank continued to modernize critical operational systems and processes—while at the same time enhancing its ability to monitor and manage them.

Business-critical applications were moved to a new, secure information technology infrastructure. This work significantly enhanced the Bank’s ability to recover from and continue operating after a disaster. The Bank also completed modernizing the system it uses to conduct auctions on behalf of the Government of Canada.

Reinforcing cyber security inside and outside the Bank

The Bank remained focused on promoting the strength of its operations and of the financial system more broadly. It outlined these and other cyber security priorities in a newly launched 2022–24 cyber security strategy.

Throughout the year, the Bank tested its internal ability to respond to and recover from a cyber attack. Exercises with external partners tested the cyber resilience of the Canadian financial system, with a focus on collaborating across sectors.

Maturing external partnerships also remained a priority. Notably, the Bank continued to work with domestic partners through the Resilience of Wholesale Payments Systems initiative.

As Chair of the Canadian Financial Sector Resiliency Group (CFRG), the Bank worked with partners to share information about systemically significant incidents and risks. This included Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Rogers service outage on July 8.

The CFRG is pursuing efforts to reduce barriers to information sharing and is launching an initiative to examine matters of cross-sectoral resilience.2

Greening the Bank’s operations

The Bank continued its efforts to measure and reduce its carbon footprint. This is part of the Bank’s commitment to reduce emissions from buildings by 40% by 2025 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

Becoming a digital-first central bank

In line with its digital transformation strategy, the Bank continued to incorporate innovative technologies into its new ways of working. This included automating processes, surfacing and visualizing data, and using advanced analytics to enhance the Bank’s core functions and operations.

Data are essential to the Bank’s digital transformation. In 2022, the Bank simplified and, in some cases, automated how it collects, manages and publishes data for staff use. It also established a framework to govern how data are managed and to guide investment decisions. This framework also enables the Bank to remain responsive to evolving considerations such as data privacy, data security and the ethics of artificial intelligence.

To support its digital ambitions, the Bank continued to promote the data literacy and skills of employees; it also worked to promote a digital culture where staff are encouraged to innovate through experimentation. To this end, the Bank continued to mature its expertise in quantum computing. This included exploring how to leverage this emerging technology to enhance cyber security.

Looking forward

In 2023, the Bank will:

• refine its hybrid work model as needed to support staff and a healthy work environment
• review its total compensation framework to ensure alignment with new pay equity legislation, and update benefits and wellness programs to respond to the evolving needs of a diverse workforce
• advance equity, diversity and inclusion goals, including through a career program for Indigenous employees—the one employment equity group for which the Bank did not achieve its representation target in 2021
• ensure technology solutions meet resilience and cyber security requirements and are delivered efficiently
• replace or eliminate equipment emitting greenhouse gases to support the Bank’s reduction targets
• use advanced digital tools, techniques and training to support and enhance Bank research and analysis
• expand the use of its data repository to meet the Bank’s evolving information needs, while continuing to promote data skills and expertise across the Bank

More information

Bringing Our Values to Life: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy 2022–24

2022–24 Cyber Security Strategy

Digital First: A Central Bank for a Digital Canada