Mr. Ian Edwards reports

ATKINSREALIS LAUNCHES RECONCILIACTION PLAN, DEEPENING LONG TERM COMMITMENT TO INDIGENOUS RELATIONS

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. has launched its inaugural ReconciliACTION plan (RAP) in Canada, which details the actions the company will undertake between now and 2030, across procurement, recruitment, employee education and experience, bidding, project delivery, partnerships and philanthropy, and more.

"Operating responsibly as an organization is at the heart of living up to our purpose: to engineer a better future for our planet and its people," said Ian L. Edwards, president and chief executive officer, SNC-Lavalin. "One of the ways we demonstrate this commitment is by continuing to evolve and strengthen our indigenous relations strategy in Canada, from my signing of AtkinsRealis's commitment to indigenous peoples in 2020, to the launch of our RAP in 2023. This plan will continue to inform the important work being undertaken to support indigenous communities nationwide for years to come."

The RAP will guide SNC-Lavalin's indigenous relations strategy in Canada going forward. A key part of the plan involves increasing the collaboration between SNC-Lavalin's engineering services in Canada and indigenous groups through limited partnerships and joint venture arrangements on projects, as well as maintaining involvement of indigenous companies in SNC-Lavalin's supply chain on projects across the country.

Federally funded projects in Canada now require a minimum target on indigenous inclusion, spend, employment or a combination thereof. Implementation of the plan will help align SNC-Lavalin to the indigenous inclusion requirements of Canadian clients and make SNC-Lavalin's services available to indigenous communities looking to close the gap their communities experience in multibillion-dollar markets such as infrastructure and clean energy where comprehensive indigenous engagement requirements exist for successful bidders.

"This plan will help us embed meaningful Indigenous engagement into the work we do and the way we do it," said Stephanie Vaillancourt, president, Canada, SNC-Lavalin. "Our ReconciliACTION plan will now formalize the structure of direction, governance and funding that we have brought to such projects as our indigenous E3 partnership and the co-operation agreement with Shwe Miikaan. It will enable us to systemically embed the principles of reconciliation into our relationships with communities in Canada."

In line with the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report in 2015, many Canadian businesses have been creating and publishing specific strategies in response to the report's Call to Action 92, which calls upon corporate Canada to engage in reconciliation and contribute to understanding and respecting indigenous rights and promoting economic advancement for indigenous people and communities.

Key aspects of SNC-Lavalin's ReconciliACTION plan

SNC-Lavalin' ReconciliACTION plan contains three core pillars: include, support and empower. Having begun work under the plan in July, roughly 80 per cent of the actions identified in the company's RAP are already under way or completed. A selection of key actions under each pillar include the following:

Pillar 1 -- include:

• Plans to hire an additional indigenous work force of 210 people in the next seven years;
• Ensure all human resource partners in Canada have training in indigenous cultural awareness;
• Engage and partner with indigenous communities, organizations and businesses to support and collaborate on mutually beneficial initiatives;
• Increase the scope of job posting through indigenous talent partners and recruiters;
• Support leaves of absence for traditional land use, spiritual or cultural practices.

Pillar 2 -- support:

• Increase indigenous relations practice professionals to enhance the company's ability to collaborate with indigenous groups;
• Establish, align and track internal key performance indicators to measure the year-over-year success or areas of improvement for the plan;
• Publish an annual report summarizing the successes, lessons learned and continual improvements made;
• Partner with indigenous communities, organizations and businesses that provide education, training and opportunities for indigenous youth in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).

Pillar 3 -- empower:

• Provide training, capacity building and development guidance to potential indigenous business partners;
• Increase the number of indigenous suppliers qualified with SNC-Lavalin;
• Establish indigenous spend targets for projects and year-to-year services;
• Identify opportunities to collaborate with clients and local indigenous communities through investment or joint venture opportunities.

About SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.

Created by the integration of long-standing organizations dating back to 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a world-leading professional services and project management company dedicated to engineering a better future for the planet and its people. SNC-Lavalin creates sustainable solutions that connect people, data and technology to transform the world's infrastructure and energy systems. It deploys global capabilities locally to its clients and delivers unique end-to-end services across the whole life cycle of an asset, including consulting, advisory and environmental services, intelligent networks and cybersecurity, design and engineering, procurement, project and construction management, operations and maintenance, decommissioning, and capital. The breadth and depth of the company's capabilities are delivered to clients in key strategic sectors such as engineering services, nuclear, operations and maintenance, and capital.