Insurance Business Canada (IBC) has unveiled the 5-Star Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) award winners for 2024, recognizing organizations for their stellar achievements in fostering progressive working environments and for their ongoing commitment to reflecting the needs of their members.

At Pacific Blue Cross, we are deeply committed to incorporating DEI within our services. We believe that health equity is a fundamental right, and we strive to create an inclusive environment where every individual can be their authentic selves.

Our commitment to promoting and protecting DEI starts with our employees. Some of our notable highlights in this space include.

• Successfully completing an Indigenous Workplace Audit, which helped us achieve the Indigenous Works Employer of Choice Certification. The certification affirms our commitment to ongoing and continuous improvement of our Indigenous employment and workplace inclusion goals.
• Successfully passing a Pride at Work Audit that reviewed all aspects of our business through the lens of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. As a result of this audit, we launched a new comprehensive DEI policy, shared “Gender Transition Guidelines,” re-communicated our anti racist/antidiscrimination position, migrated our internal systems and forms to include four gender options, and launched an “Inclusive Language Guide” to honour the language changes surrounding DEI, accessibility and decolonization.
• Introducing new employee leave benefits specifically tailored to those seeking gender-affirming care or support for domestic and sexual violence situations. These initiatives have been launched to provide support and care for our diverse workforce.
• Through our partnership with CANWin, signing the President’s Group initiative “Pledge to Measure” initiative to improve the representation of people with disabilities in the workplace and measure disability inclusion in our workplace.

 As a proud sponsor of the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, a member of the Canadian Centre of Diversity Inclusion, and through our partnership with Pride at Work, we are continuously learning and evaluating to ensure our growth in the principles of DEI across our culture, products and processes.

DE&I eLearning modules

As BC’s Health Benefits Society, we understand that DEI is an ongoing commitment. Internally, we have created multiple DEI eLearning modules including Intro to Diversity, Beyond Bias, Indigenous Awareness, Gender Awareness, and Diversity in Action. These free resources are available to workplaces or any individual who is interested in expanding their DEI knowledge.

We recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to health care or to workplace wellness. To fulfill our mission and improve health and wellbeing for all British Columbians, we remain dedicated to actively listening to our staff, members and partners, and adapting to meet their evolving needs.

Read more about the 5-Star Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion award.