Inclusion & Equity
Our north star is to empower the business community to advance a prosperous Calgary. We know our Calgary community – and our business community – can only thrive if we make space for everyone, and actively invest in the success of all communities.
We are committed to fostering an inclusive community that advances equity and accessibility, celebrates diversity and prioritizes relationships.
Our strategy
Calgary Chamber commits to being a welcoming, inclusive and safe community for our staff, volunteers, partners and businesses.
As the hub for business, we seek to bring members along on our journey, using our convening power to build bridges and share resources to advance equity and inclusion across our business community.
We will also use our platform, as the leading voice of business, to amplify and celebrate diversity within Calgary business and advocate for systemic change that improves our society for generations. This strategy will work in tandem with Calgary Chamber’s economic reconciliation work.
We recognize that as the central node for business and commerce since 1891, with a long and storied history that parallels much of Calgary’s history, we have access to power including through our networks, voice and influence. As such, we commit to intentionally advancing equity within our community. Further, as we continue to progress this work, community involvement, input and communication will be critical.
IDEA resources
Starting your IDEA journey? Here are some resources to support you.
GEDI Hub
Alberta’s Premier EDI Workplace Resource
GEDI Hub
HR Inclusive Policy Toolkit
Diversity Institute
Canadian Diversity & Inclusion Online Training
Canadian Center for Diversity and Inclusion
Educational and Inclusion Guides
Center for Race and Culture
“Where Are You REALLY From?” – What is a Microaggression?
Knowledge Hub
Women’s Entrepreneurship
Aiko Bethea and Brene Brown
Podcast: Inclusivity at Work: The Heart of Hard Conversations
The Bridgespan Group
The Role of Senior Leaders in Building a Race Equity Culture
Canadian Race Relations Foundation
Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism and Discrimination (CCMARD) Toolkit
City of Calgary
Accessible Design Standards
Government of Alberta
Barrier-Free Design Guide
Canada Media Fund
Resources to improve workplace inclusion and diversity
Beyond Diversity: An LGBT Best Practice Guide for Employers
Beyond Diversity: An LGBT Best Practice Guide for Employers
IDEA events.
Our accessibility offerings
Calgary Chamber is located at 112 4th Avenue SW in the Ampersand. A physically accessible building that includes barrier-free washrooms, ramps or elevators throughout the building, including to the Chamber office, Conference Centre, parkade, coffee shop and food vendors. Calgary Chamber office meeting rooms and office space are accessible.
We do not have accessible washrooms on our floor; however, barrier-free washrooms are located just behind our elevator bank (East Tower) on the main floor.
Calgary Chamber has several members that work in this space and can help your company learn and progress.
“We looked inward to understand our own gaps as an organization and engaged with diverse members of the business community and other organizations focused on diversity within business to understand where we could have the greatest impact.”
Our journey
It started with a conversation. Now it’s a commitment
Read about our journey
Calgary Chamber embarked on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) journey in 2021, establishing a cross-departmental staff committee that worked to advance our DEI journey, integrating a diversity lens into much of our work, building relationships within more diverse communities and launching initiatives like a DEI forum.
While our staff team brought a diversity, equity and inclusion lens, in many cases, our work was not formalized or institutionalized. We decided to add a focus on accessibility and bring accountability of our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) work under an Executive Leadership Team member to bring structure, accountability and consistency to our work.
We have also worked with other organizations to understand best practices, particularly in a Calgary context, a Chamber context, and a business context. We spoke to our members to understand how the Chamber could serve them and what resources we could provide that would help advance their own journeys.
We reignited our Staff Working Group, with representation from each department to ensure we prioritize inclusion, equity, diversity and accessibility throughout everything we do, acknowledging every part of an organization is key to meaningfully advancing this work.
With all these inputs, we distilled our strategy into key priorities:
Internal Culture
Developing an internal culture and organizational processes that reflect our commitment to IDEA.
Member Resources
Connecting members with resources as they seek to advance they own IDEA-relate work.
Advocacy
Using our voice to amplify others and advocate for an inclusive economy.
We tested this and received feedback from the Chamber’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Sub-Committee of the Board of Directors, composed of subject matter experts. After updating our strategy, the Chamber’s Board of Directors approved the strategy. As we continue to learn, and as the needs of our community evolve, this strategy will evolve to reflect our current context and new understanding. As such, the strategy will be reviewed and updated to reflect the context, learnings and capacity.
Latest work
We dive deeper into the issues that are impacting our business community at the local, provincial, national, and even international level. Step beyond the headlines of the day and gain a deeper understanding.
Our IDEA impact
Update internal culture and organizational processes that reflect our commitment to IDEA.
Our events and panels consistently profile the diversity of our business community. We show up across the city, engage with all sectors and sizes and amplify a breadth of perspectives, backgrounds and lived experiences in our work. Our events almost always occur at physically accessible spaces, and we provide additional accessibility resources, such as closed captioning, upon request.
We have updated our hiring and employment practices to ensure Calgary Chamber is an inclusive and welcoming place to work – right from the application process. We are continually improving our hiring processes to eliminate bias and recruit people from communities we haven’t always shown up in.
Connect members with resources as they seek to advance their own IDEA-related work.
We share resources, information and educational opportunities and community events on our website, helping our business community advance their own IDEA journeys. We’ve built a calendar of significant dates to help organizations understand key events and religious holidays that may be relevant to their staff and stakeholders.
We host an annual Mental Health Forum and an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Forum that are increasingly well attended by our membership and business community.
We’ve shared our own journey publicly, with the hopes of helping others learn from and navigate their own journeys. While we haven’t always gotten it right, we’ve learned lots along the way.
Use our voice and platform to amplify others and advocate for an inclusive economy.
Our Calgary Chamber team shows up for our communities – on big events like the Pride Parade and Calgary Black Achievement Awards, and behind the scenes through quiet connection, advocacy and support.
We celebrate and amplify the exemplary work of diverse business community members, including through our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Award, as part of our Small Business Week Gala. We’ve highlighted three finalists and a winner each year since 2019.
We consistently bring an equity lens to our public policy and advocacy work, knowing the economy can only thrive if people thrive. From our work on housing to public transit and affordable utilities to labour market changes, we consult with and consider the impacts of our advocacy on diverse communities.
Inclusion Pillar Partner:
If it matters to you, it matters to us
We are your champion at the table with government – let us know what’s impacting you and your business.