Canada's Best Diversity Employers (2025) - Flipbook - Page 32
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CANADA’S BEST DIVERSITY EMPLOYERS (2025)
The LCBO embraces diverse backgrounds and voices
which were assessed and updated
last year. “Diversity, equity and
inclusion is a journey — you’re
never done,” says Priscilla Fraser,
vice president of talent, safety and
inclusion. “That’s because the
world changes, language changes
and people change.”
We want everyone
to feel safe,
valued, respected
and heard.”
— Priscilla Fraser
Vice President, Talent,
Safety and Inclusion
Members of the Good Culture Ambassadors program at LCBO are passionate about diversity, inclusion,
belonging and equity.
W
hen Shraddha
Gotad and her
husband immigrated to Toronto
from Mumbai in 2019, he had to
return home to deal with a family
emergency just four days after
they arrived — and because of
the pandemic, he couldn’t return
for a year. “Being alone in a new
country taught me the values of
patience and perseverance,” says
Gotad. She applied those values
during her job search, and they
paid off when she joined the
Toronto-based Liquor Control
Board of Ontario (LCBO) in 2021.
The LCBO is a provincial
government agency and a
responsible wholesaler and
retailer of wine, beer and spirits
in Ontario. Embracing diversity,
equity and inclusion (DEI) is part
of the LCBO’s people strategy,
since employees hail from around
the world and reflect the diversity
of Ontario. Gotad’s first role as a
learning and talent development
consultant was an 18-month
maternity-leave cover.
“I knew from the first interview
that this was where I wanted to
work,” says Gotad. “The panel
members were so polite, and I felt
like I was being valued and heard.
When I joined the LCBO, I felt at
ease right away.”
Now an acting senior manager
of learning and talent development, Gotad volunteers as lead for
human resources in the LCBO’s
Good Culture Ambassadors
program. She’s also a co-lead for
the employee resource group that
supports racialized employees and
promotes racial equity, understanding of diverse cultures and
appreciation of global experiences; as such, she serves as a bridge
between the diversity program
and employees.
The LCBO’s first diversity
roadmap was created in 2020 and
consisted of 10 key areas of focus,
As part of its commitment to
evolve, the LCBO also revisited
its corporate values. “All of our
employees were surveyed, and we
co-designed our refreshed values
with their feedback, which was
that our previous values didn’t
represent enough of the new DEI
work we’d been doing — they
wanted to see that reflected,” says
Fraser. Creating a safe place for all
and celebrating authenticity are
among the five new values that
steer the LCBO’s inclusive culture.
The roadmap and values are
promoted on the LCBO’s intranet
and accessible to all employees, in
the corporate offices, stores and
warehouses. “We want everyone
to feel safe, valued, respected and
heard,” says Fraser. “It’s good to
pause and take stock regularly.”
Team huddles, seminars
and fireside chats cover such
wide-ranging topics as Truth
and Reconciliation, responsible
consumption of substances,
sustainability, mental health,
community and charity. Gotad
