Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Revised October 2024

For more than 65 years, Scholastic Canada has worked toward a more just and equitable world for students and families. We renew that commitment each day, guided by the words of the Scholastic Credo:

We believe in:

  • The worth and dignity of each individual
  • Respect for the diverse groups in our multicultural society
  • Cooperation and understanding among all people for the peace of the world
  • The basic freedoms of all individuals — we oppose discrimination of any kind on the basis of race, creed, colour, sex, sexual orientation or identity, age, or national origin
  • Inspiring students to enlarge their concern for and understanding of today’s world and to help build a society free of prejudice and hate

In 2020, we committed to taking meaningful and lasting action to address systemic racism and social and economic inequities within our company, in the publishing industry, and across society at large. Now more than ever, the need for this work is resoundingly clear, and we understand its importance for the entire Scholastic community and the readers we serve in schools and homes across the country.

We know that creating lasting change is challenging — it requires boldness, commitment and decisive action, and we must be responsible and accountable in our efforts to seek it. We are proud to employ smart, engaged, passionate, and empathetic people who want to be involved in how this company moves forward in our efforts to change, and we are also grateful for all of the conversations we’ve had with parents, teachers, booksellers, librarians, creators, industry partners, and the community at large about these issues. We know that we have much more work to do in the years ahead, and are committed to sharing our progress along this journey.

Our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy

In 2020, we hired our Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion who, over the past four years, has supported the company in developing and implementing a long-term corporate DEI strategy with the following three pillars:

  1. Our Products: ensuring that our publishing and acquisition lists are meaningfully reflective of the diverse communities we serve and champion voices and stories that remain underrepresented in publishing
  2. Our Partnerships: forging meaningful relationships with community partners and supporting literacy programs and initiatives in underserved schools and neighbourhoods
  3. Our Workplace: creating and sustaining an inclusive and equitable workplace which enables all employees to thrive and attracts talent from a broad range of backgrounds

Some of the concrete actions that have taken place under each pillar so far include:

1. Our Products

  • Implemented an open call for submissions for unagented writers and illustrators from all communities underrepresented in publishing, including creators who are Black, Indigenous, people of colour and/or belong to other marginalized groups
  • Tripled our publication of titles by diverse creators and those centering the experiences of marginalized groups between 2019 and 2022
  • Created an Equity and Inclusion Advisory Panel of DEI experts in Education to guide us in developing new learning resources that support educators’ professional learning, classroom instruction and curriculum delivery in increasingly diverse classrooms
  • Developed internal resources and trainings on conscious language and style guidance to inform editorial decision-making and corporate communications
  • Elevated books with underrepresented characters and by diverse creators through our website and marketing, specific campaigns such as Power of Story, Read with Pride, Asian History Month and Sharing Black Stories, and programs like “Staff Picks” which help to elevate titles and creators with our retail partners
  • Formed an Indigenous-led Advisory Team to inform and create learning resources in support of Truth and Reconciliation 
  • Established cross-divisional processes and initiatives to support the execution of our DEI Strategy and to foster increased internal dialogue and learning
  • Conducted representation audits for our publishing lists in both English and French

2. Our Partnerships

  • Following our long history of donating books to many organizations, we launched the Scholastic Canada Possible Fund. As outlined in our FY23 Philanthropic Impact report, through this program we donated 145,393 books to 136 organizations across the country in our last fiscal year
  • Launched our Sponsorship Fairs initiative, allowing us to partner with mission-aligned organizations and bring the joy and excitement of a Book Fair to school communities that are unable to host an event
  • Through collaborative leadership on the Canadian Publishers’ Council Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force, we provided scholarships to Indigenous post-secondary students interested in entering the publishing field, and worked to demystify the business of publishing through the CPC Doors Open Publishing initiative
  • Promoted our employee volunteering policy and raised awareness about potential opportunities
  • Currently exploring opportunities for a supplier diversity initiative to expand opportunities for partnership with minority-owned businesses

3. Our Workplace

  • Compiled and launched an Inclusive Recruitment guide and accompanying training to foster and promote an equitable and inclusive recruitment process
  • Established an internal DEI governance structure including committee representation from employees and senior leadership
  • Our Employee Resource Groups, which bring together employees with shared experiences or identities, are thriving! They create spaces of community within the company, put together exciting programming, and ensure that employees underrepresented in publishing have a voice
  • Engaged in DEI-related corporate and divisional goal setting, including measuring short- and long-term progress on DEI initiatives against comprehensive baseline data
  • Established an internal mentorship program, including 1-on-1 mentorship opportunities and a peer-to-peer Inclusive Leadership group for people managers
  • Implemented mandatory DEI training for all new and existing employees, and ongoing opportunities to deepen learning and development
  • Launched an internal DEI website for all employees featuring key corporate DEI initiatives; a curated library of resources and toolkits; training, professional development and volunteer opportunities; and a multicultural calendar
  • Revamped our internship program through an equity lens, broadening criteria for participation and outreach efforts
  • Examined internal policies, practices, and systems through an equity lens to reduce barriers to inclusion