Recognition

Gildan has been recognized as the Sector Mover within the Clothing, Accessories & Footwear sector in The Sustainability Yearbook 2013. RobecoSAM is an investment specialist in Sustainability Investing. RobecoSAM uses its Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) to determine companies that are better equipped to identify and respond to emerging opportunities and risks resulting from global sustainability trends. The company that achieves the largest proportional improvement in its sustainability performance compared to last year within the top 15% of each sector is named the RobecoSAM sector mover. In collaboration with KPMG, the RobecoSAM Sustainability Yearbook is an annual publication on corporate sustainability performance.

Download the Sustainability Yearbook 2013

Every year in June, Maclean’s magazine presents its inaugural list of Canada’s 50 Best Corporate Citizens. Each of the 50 companies featured on this list is either Canadian-listed or a wholly-owned subsidiary of a foreign-listed company with significant operations or brand presence in Canada. In each of the last four years, Gildan was included in the Top 50 list of Socially Responsible Corporations.

The 50 most Socially Responsible Corporations are selected on the basis of their performance across a broad range of environmental, social and governance indicators tracked by Jantzi-Sustainalytics. Most of the companies rank at the top of their respective peer groups in Jantzi’s Canadian Social Investment Database (CSID) or the databases of its global research partners, having demonstrated strong performance in areas such as environmental management, impact on local or First Nations communities, treatment of employees, and their record on human rights issues.
Between 2009 and 2012, the following Gildan initiatives were highlighted in the ranking assessments:

• Conducting biodiversity inventories in Honduras and the Dominican Republic;
• Creation of biomass steam generation projects at our textile facilities in the Dominican Republic and Honduras;
• Development of our own biological system, the Biotop®, to treat wastewater from our manufacturing processes in Honduras and the Dominican Republic;
• Some 8,000 Central Americans were surveyed to identify their most pressing community needs, allowing to better support economic development in the regions where Gildan operates;
• Introduction of a labour compliance program accredited by the Fair Labor Association.
• The only Canadian apparel manufacturer accredited by the Fair Labor Association;
• Implementation of a health and safety scorecard and an ergonomics program at our sewing facilities;
• Demonstrated leadership in dealing with the El Progreso closure;
• Implementation of employee policies, including freedom of association, working conditions and elimination of discrimination;
• One of the few Canadian apparel companies that publishes a corporate citizenship report;
• Donation of more than half a million dollars through the Gildan Haiti Relief and Reconstruction Fund;
• Opening of fully equipped medical clinics at our manufacturing facilities in Central America and the Caribbean Basin.

Jantzi-Sustainalytics’ process includes a thorough examination of company documents, media sources, online databases, government sources and NGO research, as well as direct correspondence with key stakeholders. Jantzi-Sustainalytics’ analysts use a Best-of-SectorTM methodology to compare companies within a given peer group to industry best practices. Jantzi-Sustainalytics’ research is used by some of the world’s largest institutional and individual investors who consider environmental, social and governance performance, in addition to financial performance, in the management of their investments. For more information on the rating criteria, visit www.sustainalytics.com.

Gildan has ranked in the Top 20 in the “Report on Business” section of the Globe and Mail, one of Canada’s leading national newspapers, for six consecutive years, ranking first in 2008. Gildan is now among the rare manufacturing companies to have reached this position from among more than 180 publicly-listed companies (excluding income trusts) listed on the TSX/S&P Composite Index, which is dominated mostly by banks, insurers and other industries long recognized for leading governance practices.

The “Report on Business” rates Canada’s corporate governance practices using a rigorous set of criteria designed to go beyond the minimum mandatory rules imposed by Canadian securities regulators and to include evolving best practices. The ranking considers governance practices in four key areas: board composition, compensation, shareholder rights, and disclosure.

Corporate governance is an important factor in Gildan’s overall success and the Company is proud to have been recognized for its accomplishments over the past years.

Gildan has been selected as the International Oeko-Tex® Association’s company of the month for September 2012 and is therefore eligible to win the 2012 Oeko-Tex® Sustainability Award. The Oeko-Tex® award program is targeted to companies who are certified to the OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 or 1000, and have demonstrated outstanding performance in sustainable products and processes. All “companies of the month” are eligible for the Oeko-Tex® Sustainability Award in one of five categories: environmental management, safety management, quality management, social responsibility and product innovations. The Oeko-Tex® Sustainability Award will be presented in June 2013. Gildan was the first manufacturer catering to the wholesale imprinted activewear market to obtain the Oeko-Tex® Standard 100 certification more than eight years ago.

In 2012, for the fifth consecutive year, the Foundation for Corporate Social Responsibility in Honduras (Fundación Hondureña de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial - FUNDAHRSE) has awarded Gildan with the FUNDAHRSE Seal (Sello FUNDAHRSE). This recognition is given to companies demonstrating high standards and a strong commitment toward Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Gildan was selected out of many companies in Honduras that were pre-screened and invited to apply for the award. In order to earn this recognition, companies had to respond to an extensive questionnaire of over 200 questions related to environmental practices, employee and community relations, governance, marketing, and purchasing practices. Companies which obtained a rating higher than the standard set by FUNDAHRSE were selected as recipients of the award.