Multi-Year Accessibility Plan.

General.

At Laurentian Bank, we believe that better begins when everyone feels like they belong and has the chance to thrive. We’re committed to providing equal access, participation and inclusion for persons with disabilities.

Accessibility is an integral part of inclusion and equity at Laurentian Bank. Our approach is based on embedding inclusion, equity, diversity and accessibility into everything that we do. By empowering each of our team members to apply accessibility considerations to their work, we’ll be able to drive meaningful and sustainable action to improve inclusion for persons with disabilities.

This Accessibility Plan has been guided by the principle, “Nothing without us” and has included consultations with persons with disabilities. We’ve worked across the organization to build a plan that will let us identify, remove and prevent barriers to accessibility in support of a barrier-free Canada by 2040. Continued consultation with persons with disabilities is integral to our approach to accessibility.

We’ll hold ourselves accountable through strong governance and by measuring our success. We have an Accessibility Policy that outlines our commitment and key accountabilities. As this work is ongoing, we’ll continue to advance and evolve our Plan and governance to achieve sustainable results.

Feedback.

We welcome all feedback on how we can continue to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities. To provide your feedback, contact us using one of the following methods.

You can also choose to share feedback anonymously by telephone or mail.

Contact:

Chief Legal Officer, Chief Inclusion and Equity Officer and Corporate Secretary

By email:

accessibility@laurentianbank.ca

By mail:

Chief Legal Officer, Chief Inclusion and Equity Officer and Corporate Secretary

Laurentian Bank of Canada

1360 René-Lévesque Blvd W. Suite 630

Montreal QC H3G 0E5

In person:

At any one of our branch locations

By telephone:

1-800-522-1846 TTY 1-800-855-0511

You can also share your feedback on accessibility with us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Accessible formats.

To receive an accessible format of this Accessibility Plan, contact us using the contact information we’ve provided.

Employment.

Laurentian Bank has roughly 3,000 team members in Canada. In 2021, we adopted a hybrid and flexible work model where working from home is the first approach for all tasks that can be performed remotely.

Our commitment to an inclusive workplace for persons with disabilities means that accessibility must be considered throughout the employee experience.

Some of the practices in place that support accessibility include:

• Our flexible work model plays a role in removing barriers in employment by offering flexibility as the norm for all, rather than as an accommodation for some.

• We provide support to team members for mental health through our benefits, and by offering a supportive work culture that destigmatizes mental health.

• We have a workplace accommodations policy that outlines our accommodations process, which applies to candidates and employees. Information on the availability of workplace accommodations is included in our job postings, offer letters, new hire orientation and performance management documents.

We’re aware of ongoing barriers, some of which include:

• Persons with disabilities are underrepresented in employment at Laurentian Bank.

• Persons with disabilities may choose not to self-identify for various reasons.

• We’ve identified some gaps in the format of our online training material that aren’t accessible.

Action plan.

• Build employee awareness on what constitutes a disability and on the importance of self-identification.

• Develop resources to support employees on how to talk about their disability in the workplace and for managers on supporting employees with disabilities.

• Deliver training to our learning and development professionals on developing accessible training materials.

• Create guidelines to be followed in the development of accessible training material.

The Built Environment.

Laurentian Bank has 9 corporate and commercial offices across Canada, and 57 branches and 131 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) in the province of Quebec. We also offer ATM services to our customers through THE EXCHANGE^® Network, which consists of 3,000 ATMs from other financial institutions.

Our ATMs meet accessibility standards for self-service interactive devices. Some of the accessibility features include:

• Screen orientation and PIN pad height are designed for individuals using wheelchairs

• Font size follows accessibility standards

• The centre key of PIN pads is identified with a raised button to make it clearly identifiable for individuals with visual impairments

All our properties are leased and we work closely with property owners and managers to remove barriers to accessibility. When renovating existing locations or searching for new locations, accessibility is an important requirement of our plans.

Some of the accessibility features of our locations include:

• Designated parking for persons with disabilities

• Level or ramped entrances

• Automated/accessible doors

• Customer service areas with lower countertops providing access for wheelchairs

• Accessible washrooms

In the case of an emergency, we’ve established a process for developing Individualized Emergency Response Plans for the safety of team members with disabilities.

While our aim is to be accessible from the start, when barriers to accessibility are identified within our premises, we review each situation as we become aware of it and assess how we can remove the barrier. Some of the existing barriers we’re aware of include some locations not having an automatic door opener for the washroom.

Action plan.

• With our shift to a remote first and flexible work model, we’ll update our office locations over the coming years. As part of this work, accessibility considerations will be included from the start of the design process. We’ll consult with persons with disabilities as part of this process.

• Review our health and safety inspection process to identify opportunities to leverage regular inspections to pinpoint barriers to accessibility.

• Provide team members involved in the emergency evacuation of our premises with guidance on supporting individuals with disabilities.

• Any new ATMs will have additional accessibility features. They’ll be equipped with headphone jacks with text to speech functionality for individuals with visual impairments.

The Procurement of Goods, Services and Facilities.

Laurentian Bank procures goods and services for our operations. We have a centralized corporate team supporting the procurement process.

Accessibility considerations are considered case-by-case. We don’t have a consistent approach to ensure that the goods and services we procure systematically take accessibility into consideration.

Action plan.

We’ll embed accessibility into our procurement processes by taking the following actions:

• Establish guidance for the procurement process on how to consider accessibility in procuring goods and services, and review and update our procurement procedures and documents accordingly.

• Update our Supplier Code of Ethics to outline our commitment to accessibility and the expectations we have of our vendors.

• Conduct training with our Procurement team so that they’re equipped to address accessibility considerations throughout the vendor engagement and management processes.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

ICT is central to how our team members complete their work and how we communicate with our customers.

• We have made significant investments to make our customer-facing websites and digital platforms accessible and conform with the most up-to-date web accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 Level AA).

  • Web pages that are migrated to our new platform and new web pages that are developed meet this standard.

  • When working with new vendors for our public digital platforms, we define accessibility requirements, include them in vendor agreements and have processes for auditing accessibility.

• Some of our commonly used technological tools have accessibility features built in, such as Microsoft Office.

• We’re aware that there continue to be barriers with internal IT systems that were not designed with accessibility in mind.

Action plan.

• Continue the work of identifying accessibility barriers by completing a phased review of our IT systems to better understand what barriers exist and the current state of accessibility.

• Develop a plan for migrating the remainder of our public web pages.

• Consider accessibility for all new technology acquired by Laurentian Bank by embedding this in our procurement processes.

• Continue to expand the tools and resources available to team members on how to make our IT systems accessible.

Communication, other than ICT.

The way we share information has an important impact on whether our work environment is inclusive for persons with disabilities. This includes whether the format of our communications is accessible and the visibility of persons with disabilities within our communications.

• When possible and upon request, we provide documents to team members and customers in accessible formats.

• We don’t have a consistent approach to make communications accessible by default.

• Consultations have identified that there’s limited knowledge throughout the organization on how to draft in plain language and create accessible documents.

Action plan.

• Develop resources for inclusive writing, including support for plain language practices.

• Develop resources for how to create accessible documents.

• Increase team members’ awareness on how to use the Accessibility features of Microsoft Office.

• Review our brand templates for accessibility.

The Design and Delivery of Programs and Services.

We want our products and services to be accessible to everyone and strive to include accessibility from the start of the design process.

• The expansion of our digital offering, including the introduction of our mobile app and online bank account opening, provides more channels for customers to bank with us. This can serve to decrease barriers.

• We offer telephone services via TTY for customers with hearing or speech disabilities.

• All team members receive training to provide accessible customer service. This includes letting persons with disabilities be helped by a support person or be accompanied by a service animal.

• In the event of a disruption to the accessibility of our services, we provide notification. The notification includes information about the reason for the disruption, its expected length and alternative services, if available.

• To capture accessibility requirements from the start of the design process, we have introduced an accessibility section in our Business Requirements document that’s completed for all major projects at Laurentian Bank.

Action plan.

• Deepen our understanding of the needs of customers with disabilities and barriers to accessibility through ongoing consultations.

• Provide training for team members specific to their role so they can apply accessibility requirements to their work.

Transportation.

While we don’t supply transportation services, team members and customers rely on transportation to travel to our locations. Transportation can present a barrier to persons with disabilities.

At our office and branch locations, we provide designated parking for persons with disabilities where possible. While the availability of accessible public transit is outside of our control, our shift to a work model that prioritizes working from home has decreased or removed the need to commute for some of our team members.

Also, our expanded digital offering for customers has reduced the need for customers to get services in person. This provides more options for how customers can receive services, which may lessen the need for transportation to one of our branches. For example, we now offer digital account opening on our website, eliminating the need for eligible customers to visit a branch location to open a bank account.

Action plan.

We’ll consider the barrier that transportation can pose to persons with disabilities within our Accessibility Plan. For example, when leasing new premises or when developing services for customers.

Training.

Our approach to embedding accessibility in everything that we do requires that all team members have the essential knowledge and skills available to them in a format that they can access. This will be made possible through ongoing training and awareness.

• All team members complete annual unconscious bias training to help team members understand how unconscious bias can impact behaviour and decision-making, recognize their own biases and how to interrupt bias.

• All team members complete annual accessibility training to build awareness on disability and accessibility. The training includes information on how to interact with persons with disabilities and on the accommodation process.

• We have an inclusion and equity program that provides ongoing awareness and training for team members.

• More advanced knowledge of accessibility was identified as a barrier throughout our consultations.

Action plan.

• Create an accessibility knowledge centre with centralized resources.

• Provide opportunities for ongoing learning on disability and accessibility.

• Provide training for team members specific to their role so they can apply accessibility requirements to their work.

• Create a working group to share knowledge and best practices on accessibility, and collaborate on identifying, removing and preventing barriers.

Consultations.

To deepen our understanding of barriers to accessibility and inform the development of our Accessibility Plan, we took a number of actions.

Laurentian Bank has different means for receiving feedback from team members, customers and the public. We analyzed the feedback received as a starting point for understanding the current state of accessibility and to inform our consultations.

As part of consultations with persons with disabilities, we completed the following:

• We invited all team members, including persons with disabilities, to complete a survey on accessibility. The survey was available online and we gave the option to receive the survey in accessible formats. We asked team members to share their experiences and observations on barriers to accessibility at Laurentian Bank.

• We held two virtual focus group sessions to discuss accessibility barriers for team members and customers. We invited all team members, including persons with disabilities, to participate in these sessions.

The main barrier to accessibility identified through consultations was that employees’ limited knowledge of disability and accessibility impacts how we effectively identify, remove and prevent barriers to inclusion for persons with disabilities. Suggestions for addressing this barrier included:

• Increasing awareness about accessibility and hearing from the lived experiences of persons with disabilities.

• Providing resources for team members to build competence in skills like writing in plain language and creating accessible documents.

• Developing resources for team members with disabilities on how to speak about their disability and resources for managers on how to support those team members.

We recognize that consultations need to continue. We’re dedicated to building relationships with persons with disabilities and organizations who work with them to increase our understanding of barriers to inclusion.