Environmental, social and governance

For more than 150 years, Utilities Kingston has proudly delivered safe, reliable utility services to the Kingston community. As we look to the future, we are strengthening that legacy through a focused commitment to environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities.

What ESG means at Utilities Kingston

ESG reflects our commitment to managing the environmental impacts of delivering utility services, our commitment to the prosperity and wellbeing of the people who are our employees, customers, suppliers, contractors and communities, and a commitment to effective identification and management of strategic risks and opportunities.

For Utilities Kingston, ESG means:

• Operating responsibly and transparently
• Investing in sustainable infrastructure
• Supporting a safe, inclusive workplace
• Building resilient systems that meet the needs of today and tomorrow

By embedding ESG into how we work, we are helping to deliver reliable services today while planning for a more sustainable and climate-resilient future.

Our ESG priorities

Through a formal materiality assessment, we identified the ESG factors most relevant to our operations, our community, and our ability to deliver meaningful, lasting value. These priorities guide how we plan, invest and serve our communities, today and into the future.

These issues are most important to the people we serve and central to our success:

• Climate change transition
• Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• Water and wastewater management
• Grid resiliency and service reliability
• Public safety and emergency preparedness
• Service affordability
• Cybersecurity and data privacy
• Workforce health and safety
• Human capital management

Our formal ESG Position Statement

To guide our efforts, we’ve developed a formal ESG Position Statement that outlines our commitments and overall approach. It explains how ESG is integrated into our operations, planning and decision-making, and reflects our role as a City-owned utility committed to serving the Kingston community.

The Position Statement:

• Defines what ESG means for Utilities Kingston
• Identifies the key ESG topics that matter most to our work
• Outlines our approach to responsible governance and sustainable growth
• Reinforces our alignment with the City of Kingston’s climate goals

Our position statement

For more than 150 years, Utilities Kingston has proudly provided the Kingston community with safe and reliable utility services. Over the decades, the company’s name and corporate structure have changed, but one thing has remained constant: it is the City-owned utility company accountable to multiple stakeholders, including our Shareholder, the Corporation of the City of Kingston, represented by Kingston City Council, Kingston Hydro Corporation, our employees and the residents of the communities in which it operates.

Through its multi-utility model Utilities Kingston manages water, wastewater, natural gas and appliance rental assets of the City of Kingston and operates and maintains the City’s traffic signal and street lighting infrastructure. In addition, Utilities Kingston manages the electricity assets of Kingston Hydro, while owning and operating a broadband network business.

As a City-owned multi-utility company accountable to its stakeholders, Utilities Kingston knows that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors are central to its ability to generate value for stakeholders and achieve its strategic outcomes. The way that Utilities Kingston manages its ESG risks and opportunities has a direct link to the success of the business given the importance of ESG to the utilities industry, as well as to the company’s shareholder, the residents of the communities in which it operates and its employees.

How ESG supports our community

• Delivering reliable service: By planning for risks like climate change and cybersecurity, we’re building more resilient systems that our customers can count on - now and into the future.
• Supporting sustainability: We’re reducing emissions, conserving energy and water, and finding smarter ways to deliver essential services, helping Kingston meet its climate goals.
• Keeping services affordable: Investing in efficient operations helps control costs and support service affordability for the people we serve.
• Prioritizing safety and inclusion: We’re committed to a safe, healthy, and inclusive workplace. This helps us attract and retain the skilled teams who deliver services every day.
• Building public trust: ESG is about doing the right thing - for our environment, our community, and future generations. Our focus on transparency and responsible governance helps build confidence and trust.

If you have questions or need more information, please contact us at Community@UtilitiesKingston.com or call 613-546-1181 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.