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Corporate Responsibility

Support for Community-Minded Program and Efforts

Forum actively works with the community to conduct research on a wide variety of social and political issues pertinent to members of the community at large, the provinces across the nation, and Canada overall. That being stated, we have the best interests of the various communities we belong to at heart. On the one hand, we are dedicated to giving residents a voice and spreading awareness of the public’s opinions and thoughts.

However, our company also engages in various community-minded efforts. Our company has implemented a summer internship program for university students who have an aspiring interest in market research. This provides students in the area the opportunity to get hands on experience in an industry that will help them work toward their career goals.

Forum works with our interns to develop a program that parallels the intern’s abilities and future goals. Each intern is paired with a full-time employee who acts as their mentor and directs their progress throughout the internship program. Interns work at our office on a wide variety of assignments.

Generally, while considering their unique strengths and skills, our goal is to give interns the opportunity to work on tasks that interest them. Our internship program leaves interns with practical skills and experiences for their future careers.

In addition, Forum has provided pro bono market research services for the following organizations:

  • CivicAction
  • Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation
  • Casey House
  • Crescent School
  • AmCham
  • Junior Achievement

Diversity

Our company maintains a formal diversity policy. Forum Research is an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to fostering an environment of equality and acceptance for all of our employees. Regardless of gender, race, ethnic origin, disability, national origin, sexuality, religion or belief, marital status, or social class, our company is committed to treating all our employees fairly and equally.

Forum is dedicated to providing equal opportunities to all its employees and all management decisions regarding hiring, promoting, and the division of opportunities are made solely on the basis of an individual’s merit, aptitude, abilities, and experience. As Forum Research is based in downtown Toronto, we have an extremely multicultural employment base, which not only results in a diverse staff, but also provides our company with the benefit of having employees with various different language capabilities and cultural insights.

Forum is committed to its diversity policy and this policy is enforced and supported by all of our employees. Violation of our policy will be regarded as misconduct and we do not tolerate any form of bullying, harassment or intimidation. Our company is defined against its strong commitment to high standards of mutual respect, acceptance, diversity, and equality.

Forum prides itself on its inclusive work environment accepting diversity while acknowledging all employees as equal and promoting feelings of value and confidence for all employees in the workplace.

At Forum Research we take every step to ensure that all employees are treated with the utmost levels of respect and dignity and that each and every one of employees is given the opportunity and support they need to grow.

Our diversity policy extends to our community interactions and our dealings with suppliers.

Environmental Policy

Our company maintains a formal environmental policy. Environmental sustainability is often defined broadly in terms of practices that are both "green" and "make the world a better place." In this regard, Forum Research Inc. and its staff practice many environmentally sustainable initiatives:

  • To the greatest extent possible, we run a paperless office—we have reduced our paper consumption in the past year, which is quite an undertaking given the nature of our business (which frequently generates computer tabulations, reports and presentations)
  • We conserve energy by turning off office lights and computers at night
  • Most of our staff takes public transit, bicycles, or walks to work
  • Where reasonable, we take the extra time to drive to locations instead of flying
  • For local deliveries, we often make use of bike couriers
  • We stay informed and up-to-date on sustainability
  • We actively recycle paper and plastic and have recycling bins throughout our office
  • Where possible, we choose suppliers with "green" values and processes
  • We safely dispose of all used batteries, ink cartridges, and computers

Forum Research Inc., in an effort to be a responsible and environmentally conscious corporate citizen, is continually striving to improve our environmental performance, to reduce the impact that our organization has on the environment and to ensure our compliance with all environmental legislation.

Our practices respect all municipal, provincial/territorial and federal environment legislation, and the organization has never been convicted of an environmental offence.

Our goal is to act in a manner that creditably sustains our environment. We seek to reduce pollution and waste by efficiently using resources, saving energy, reducing waste, encouraging material recycling:

Procurement

  • We strive to ensure that we comply with all environmental laws and regulations.
  • We evaluate new products in light of how they will impact the environment.
  • We support manufacturers and distributors who have green policies and are ISO 14001 certified.
  • We make purchasing decisions that are sensitive to environmental protection policies.
  • We ensure that office equipment meets government environmental requirement policies

Administration

  • We support the use of recycling. Blue box recycling bins are located throughout the office.
  • We provide recycling bins under each work station. Paper, glass, metal, plastic, cardboard, and all other materials possible are recycled.
  • We support the reduction of paper via the Digital Office policy (i.e. CATI and web based surveys and reports instead of paper based)
  • We produce paper documents only when necessary, printed on both sides (unless otherwise requested). Every effort is made to edit onscreen rather than printing unnecessary drafts. The photocopiers are well-maintained to avoid "mistakes" that waste paper.
  • We minimize paper consumption through the use of Email, faxing, and voice mail instead of paper memos and other correspondence. We use electronic mailing lists whenever feasible.
  • We support telecommuting and working from home to reduce pollution caused by commuting, where the job permits (and supported by Remote Access IT policies)
  • We produce all Forum Research Inc. communication vehicles and sales tools in electronic format. Unless otherwise requested, Forum Research Inc. uses electronic means for sending brochures, marketing materials, etc.
  • We provide all Forum Research Inc promotional materials in electronic format on our website at www.forumresearch.com
  • We encourage the "turning-off" of unused electronic equipment (i.e. computers, monitors, etc.)
  • Older office equipment is recycled when appropriate. (I.e. Older computers are recycled.)
  • We maintain a central area (office supplies lock-up) where co-workers bring unwanted office supplies, cardboard boxes, and other items, for reuse by others.
  • We endeavor to use education programs to raise environmental awareness among our employees and to ensure that they recognize the essence of this Green Policy by actively addressing environmental concerns. We provide training for employees in their responsibilities regarding the implementation of the Corporate Green Policy.

Operations

  • We make every effort to sell or recycle used equipment, at the end of the product’s life cycle.
  • Non-functioning equipment is either sold or donated to scrap metal recyclers.
  • We promote careful disposal of batteries.

Building/Maintenance

  • We turn off lights when not in use.
  • We enable energy saving features of all electronic equipment.
  • We give priority to energy savings rated photocopiers and laser printers.
  • We adopt environmentally friendly technologies when ordering and purchasing necessary resources.