Inclusion Now Pillars

Inclusion Now is an action-oriented strategy centered around four pillars: Leadership, Talent, Culture, and Community

Leadership

Inclusion through active and authentic leadership

The single most important factor for the long-term success of diversity and inclusion efforts is having leaders take personal responsibility for outcomes. To ensure Inclusion Now’s success, McCarthy Tétrault has created a governance model that is led by our CEO and supported by our firm leaders.

Our Action Groups are led by a National Chair, supported by Regional Chairs and made up of our people across the firm.

Talent

Inclusive policies and practices to attract and retain top talent

Our people are our greatest asset. Nurturing them to be their best is key to ensuring their and our firm’s success.

By developing inclusive programs and policies that counteract systemic discrimination and unconscious bias, Inclusion Now ensures all our people feel valued and welcome.

In collaboration with our Human Resources and Professional Resources groups, we have implemented:

• Inclusive recruitment practices and processes that help eliminate bias, annual unconscious bias training for recruiters, and targeted open houses for equity-seeking groups.
• Trans and non-binary inclusive practices, including gender inclusive policies, education, enhanced insurance coverage, and transition support.
• A parental leave policy that allows lawyers to maintain their place on our salary grid, even after a 12-month leave.
• Mental health education and certification for leaders and a virtual mental health platform, all designed to reduce stigma and promote wellbeing.
• Mentorship and capacity building opportunities for lawyers who identify with an equity-seeking group.
• Mandatory harassment training focused on the legal and cultural dynamics of workplace discrimination.

Culture

An inclusive workplace culture that values and celebrates diversity

Education is foundational to building an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and welcome.  We offer a robust education program to build our internal cultural competency. This includes programs that raise awareness about gender equality anti-Black and anti-Asian racism, Truth and Reconciliation, antisemitism, islamophobia, and white supremacy.

Action Groups

Inclusion Now is unique in its vision to engage and involve all members of our firm, not just those who face barriers to advancement. Our Action Groups – Abilities, Race, Pride and Gender – include working committees that bring our Inclusion Now strategy to life in each of our offices.

Over 500 of our partners, associates, students, and staff – almost a third of our Firm – are members of one or more of our Action Groups.

Racial Equity

Concrete action is essential to advancing racial equity. Inclusion Now directly supports and advances Black, Indigenous and people of colour within our firm, creating a culture of belonging and allyship.

We have partnered with the Canadian Bar Association to provide every firm member access to “The Path: Your Journey Through Indigenous Canada”.

We offer cultural competency and unconscious bias training to all firm members to take unconscious bias training, and we offer specialized training for staff and lawyers.

Gender Equity

McCarthy Tétrault has advanced gender inclusion and the representation of women at our Firm for decades. We are committed to achieving gender equality and participate in industry-leading initiatives that support our women leaders.

Women continue to be leaders at our firm:

Reconciliation Commitment

McCarthy Tétrault is committed to our obligations under the Calls to Action set out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

In 2020, McCarthy Tétrault appointed former litigation partner John Brown to serve as our Legal and Strategic Advisor, Indigenous Initiatives. John’s family on his father’s side is Sto:lo whose traditional territory is the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia. To our knowledge, there is no other role of this kind in a North American law firm.

Learn more about our Commitment to Trust and Reconciliation. 

Community

Advancing Inclusion Now with clients and community partners to deepen our impact

At McCarthy Tétrault we understand that exercising our corporate responsibility involves looking beyond our offices. We partner with numerous community organizations, directly supporting their work with time, money, and our legal expertise.

Community Partnerships

McCarthy Tétrault has partnerships with several organizations that support, promote and advance Black, Indigenous, and racialized people within the legal profession and beyond:

• Each year our McCarthy Tétrault invests $1 million in United Way Centraide. Our trailblazing five-year, $5-million commitment was the first of its kind in Canada.
• Our Premier Partnership with Level Justice supports engaging Black and Indigenous youth in access-to-justice education. We are the only law firm in Canada actively supporting both their Indigenous and Black youth programs.
• Our investment in Indspire provides 25 scholarships for First Nations, Metis and Inuit Law students every year.

McCarthy Tétrault is proud to be a signatory to the Black North Initiative Law Firm Pledge. We know that Black people continue to be underrepresented in the legal profession, and we are proud to support and partner with several Black-led organizations who are on the front lines of this issue, including:

• Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL)
• Black Female Lawyers’ Network (BFLN) (includes a commitment to the Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law, Judge Corinne Sparks Award)
• Black Law Students’ Association (BLSA)
• Black Future Lawyers (BFL) (in collaboration with 13 other leading law firms)

This investment goes beyond a financial commitment to include pro bono advocacy, governance, fundraising, and continuing legal education for Black law students and lawyers across Canada.

Pro Bono Program

We have some of the brightest legal minds in Canada at McCarthy Tétrault. Through our pro bono program, we put that expertise to work to support community organizations and the vulnerable people they serve.

Alongside the hundreds of individual pro bono matters we work on each year, McCarthy Tétrault partners with Lawyers Without Borders to support international legal efforts. In Canada, we are the National Law Firm Partner for Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC), supporting the next generation of pro bono lawyers. We are a founding partner of PBSC’s Indigenous Human Rights Clinic, where our lawyers assist clients with their human rights complaints.

McCarthy Tétrault lawyers and students support The 519’s TransID Clinic, helping clients update their government-issued ID and gender markers.

We are also tremendously proud of our work on the Unaccompanied Minors Project, a McCarthy Tétrault initiative that pairs our lawyers with children who arrive alone at Toronto’s international airport to be their designated representative in refugee claims.