Strengthening our ties, deepening our engagement
We aim to act in a socially responsible manner and contribute positively to the communities in which we operate. We are committed to working with our employees, other stakeholders and rightsholders to create growth and prosperity, allowing everyone to benefit from our mining experience, hence making mining work for all.
2019 Key Highlights
- $7.4M in community investments
- $865M in local procurement spend
- 0 number of significant community disputes
- $45M total contributed in community investments since 2009
- 59% proportion of spending with locally based suppliers
- $637M paid to employees in wages and benefits
Community Engagement
We want our local stakeholders to understand our activities and priorities, and we also want to know their concerns. Community relations and stakeholder engagement is integrated into our RMMS (Risk Management and Monitoring System), ensuring our sustainability programs remain focused on stakeholder priorities and social risks are regularly assessed.
We engage and partner with local stakeholders at all stages of the mining life cycle of our mining projects to assess the levels of social acceptability and address potential impacts or issues within the host community. This allows us to mitigate potential negative impacts, discover opportunities for collaboration, avoid potential conflict, and build community relationships on a foundation of trust and transparency.
Indigenous Relations
Agnico Eagle supports the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and applies its principles, norms and standards through our Indigenous Peoples Engagement Policy. Our approach focuses on establishing mutually beneficial, cooperative and productive relationships.
In 2019, we continued to implement our Corporate Strategy to contribute to Canada’s reconciliation process. A key component was our commitment to early meaningful engagement, building respectful relationships, and obtaining the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of Indigenous Peoples before proceeding with economic development projects.
Tracking Community Feedback and Issues
Significant Disputes
Significant disputes refer to a sustained conflict between Agnico Eagle and the local community and/or Indigenous Peoples that cannot be resolved by the parties involved and requires legal or other third-party intervention. In 2019, Agnico Eagle did not experience any such significant disputes at any of our sites.
Complaints
Complaints are any notification given by a community member, group or institution, to the Company or division, that they have suffered some form of offence, detriment, impairment or loss as a result of business activity and/or employee or contractor behavior. We work on replying and resolving issues in a timely manner and implementing action plans to address root causes of complaints. In 2019, we received a total of 48 complaints for all our mining sites. Of those, 77% were resolved by the end of the year and the remaining, which mostly occurred in the last quarter, are still open for resolution in 2020. Most of the complaints made were related to nuisance of mining activities (vibrations, dust, noise) or health and safety (road traffic).
Employment Wages and Benefits
In 2019, Agnico Eagle provided $637 million in wages and benefits. Although we do not measure the direct and indirect economic impact of employee wage spending on local goods and services, it is an important factor in Agnico Eagle’s economic contributions to our host communities.
Community Investments
In 2019, our community investment program continued to target initiatives that enable each of the communities where we operate to benefit from economic development in their region, even after mining ceases. In 2019, Agnico Eagle contributed over $7.4 million to various local organizations and events. Since 2009, Agnico Eagle’s community investments have totalled over $45 million.
Buying from Local and Indigenous Suppliers
Agnico Eagle strives, where feasible, to buy goods and services from locally based suppliers as a way of supporting the economic vitality of our communities, while at the same time reducing the environmental impact of transporting materials and people from distant locations to our sites. Local suppliers must meet the same criteria that all potential suppliers must meet in order to do business with our Company. In 2019, our mines spent $865 million on the procurement of local goods and services. This represents 59% of all procurement spending in 2019.
To learn more about our socio-economic development performance, initiatives and priorities, click here.
To read about some of our community and socio-economic development related stories, click here.