GRI Underutilized by Canadian SMEs

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada has indicated that although the the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a valuable tool, it is being underutilized by Canadian SMEs compared to large companies. The
Government of Canada includes the Global Reporting Initiative in its
CSR Strategy for the Extractive Sector and recommends that organization large and small do the same.
Georgina Wainwright-Kemdirim, an executive with Industry
Canada’s Policy Coordination and Regulatory Affairs Branch, says that while the
GRI’s Reporting Framework was designed to be applicable to companies and
organizations of any size, in any sector, the uptake of sustainability reporting
by small and medium enterprises remains fairly low compared to large companies.

“GRI is aiming to address SME involvement in
sustainability reporting in the new G4 set of guidelines currently under
development and which is slated to be launched in 2013, but there is still much
for SMEs to use in the current GRI guidelines.” She also notes that Industry Canada’s SME Sustainability/CSR Roadmap provides
practical guidance, tools and case studies to help SMEs transition to
sustainability practices in their operations.

Wainwright-Kemdirim says that roughly 35% of Canadian
companies currently use the GRI Guidelines in the preparation of their reports
and that 80% of TSX-listed companies report on sustainability.