Diversity & Inclusion

At CAE, everyone is welcome to contribute to our success.
With no exception.

Watch the video

Diversity is important to me, first and foremost because it’s the right thing to do. And I say that as a father. The last thing I would want is for my son to have more opportunities than my two daughters would have. They should be able to rise to their potential. And as a business, it is critical because we want to be able to tap into the full talent pool in order to grow our business.

- Marc Parent, President and CEO

Watch what our employees and CEO have to say about diversity and inclusion

Parity Certification

In 2019, CAE receives the Bonze-level of the Parity Certification by Women in Governance for its efforts in promoting gender parity in the workplace.

The certification is based on an assessment of the strategy, actions and results obtained by an organization seeking to increase the representation of women in senior management as well as throughout corporate ranks. A committee of members from Women in Governance, assisted by McKinsey & Company, Mercer and Willis Towers Watson, is tasked with making this assessment.

CAE is proud to have been recognized by this innovative standard for its efforts in diversity and inclusion.

CAE proud to be selected for 2019 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index

The 2019 Gender-Equality Index highlights 230 firms that are trailblazers in their commitment to transparency in workplace gender reporting. All companies included in this index have set a new standard of transparency as a core part of a company's commitment to gender equality.

Voluntarily, CAE and 229 companies worldwide are publicly releasing the numbers behind what they are doing to advance gender equality in their companies and communities. We are proud to be one of them!

Also, in accordance with the UK Government’s Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2017, CAE UK plc has released its 2018 Gender Pay Gap Report. You can read the full report here.

Diversity & Inclusion:
A business imperative

At CAE, we’re proud of our noble purpose. We are also actively building a company that’s more open, progressive and people centric, and creating a workplace where all employees can feel accepted, included and valued for who they are.

Sharpening our focus on Diversity & Inclusion is both the smart and right thing to do. The more diverse our people are and the more inclusive our culture is, the more innovative and successful we’ll be in achieving our purpose. Greater diversity and inclusivity will also help us attract and retain top talent as well as better connect with customers worldwide.

CAE WOMEN IN FLIGHT SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

Embedded in our values

Our commitment to fostering an increasingly diverse workforce and inclusive culture is rooted in our values.

As captured in our overarching value One CAE, we’re proud to work as one passionate, boundaryless and inclusive team with one common goal: to create success for all stakeholders, whether they’re employees, customers or shareholders. We know that we accomplish more together than each on our own. That’s why we embrace diversity and strive to create a work environment where all employees are valued, respected and safe. We promote employee wellbeing by focusing on employee recognition, development and having fun!

Our Diversity & Inclusion commitment

In keeping with our One CAE value, we’re committed to creating a culture and ecosystem where all employees feel valued, included and they belong, without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age or veteran status.

The immediate focus of our multi-year Diversity & Inclusion initiative is to foster an inclusive, gender-diverse, bias-free environment and strengthen the representation and development of women in leadership positions.

Read our Diversity & Inclusion philosophy

Read our Diversity & Inclusion policy

What are we doing to support our commitment?

Several initiatives and strategies, touching different aspects of our business are currently being implemented to support our commitment:

Diversity enabling infrastructure
Flexible work schedules
Extended leave policies
Back to work programs

Women’s leadership development
Training & Coaching: implement specific development programs to encourage women in leadership positions including the Women in Leadership (WIL) component of our Annual Leadership Development Process
Sponsoring & mentorship
Women’s networks: support the growth of our Professional Women’s Network (PWN)
Executive presence and sponsor of WIDS (Women in Defence and Security), an organization that promotes and supports the advancement of women in Canadian defence and security industries.

Create a Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Council to oversee our efforts
Inclusive mindset:
- On-the-job training
- Evaluation and recruitment debiasing

Transparency and indicators tracking

Short-term goals

While targets alone won’t create an inclusive culture, they do promote transparency and enable us to track our progress against our Diversity & Inclusion commitments. Here are a few of our shorter-term goals:

Benchmark current best practices and establish targets to increase the recruitment and placement of female leaders (end of fiscal 2019)
Ensure 30% of Board members are women (fiscal 2022)
Increase the number of female employees by at least 10% (fiscal year 2023)
Grow the number of high-potential employees in key roles by 20%, with 30% of newly identified high-potential employees being women (fiscal 2023)

Our employees today

10,000+ employees
35 countries
About 100 languages spoken

Employment Equity in Canada

As a Canadian-based company, we’re committed to engaging in proactive employment practices to increase the representation in our workforce of four designated groups: women, people with disabilities, visible minorities and Aboriginal peoples.

Read some of the actions underway at CAE to remove barriers to employment