IMPACT
We are passionate advocates for changing the way business is done and how supply chains are managed. At Fairware, we focus our internal efforts on responsible sourcing, justice, diversity, equity and inclusion, community impact, advocacy, and environmental responsibility. Collectively, these areas serve as our Impact Agenda to support sustainable manufacturing and responsible business practices. We work with clients to drive change in supply chains while promoting their brands and supporting them along their journey to sustainable impact.
Sustainability is more than having a few ‘green products’ in a merchandise assortment. It’s about how your merchandise lives up to your brand values and helps tell your story. If your brand has a good story, so should your promotional products. Our goal is to support our clients in making their merchandise matter.
We think about the impacts of the products we sell, their potential to change behaviours and how product selection can support more environmentally responsible products and ethical manufacturing practices.
Sustainability isn’t a sidebar for us, it’s what we do, all day, every day.
IMPACT REPORT
View our latest Impact Report to learn about our approach, actions, and goals in the five areas addressed by our Impact Agenda. This report holds us accountable, and we hope it inspires our clients, suppliers and community to join us on the journey to a more sustainable, viable, and fair future. Read on:
Fairware Impact Report 2024IMPACT AGENDA
This is our guide to using our business as a force for good in the world, and it covers these 5 areas of our business operations:
1) RESPONSIBLE PRODUCT SOURCING
Ensuring that the workers who make our products are treated fairly, their health and safety are a priority, and their workplaces meet or exceed international labour standards. Also, to ensure that the products we source meet international product safety standards and prioritize environmentally preferred materials.
- Supplier Engagement: We actively engage our supply chain to drive improvements. As of 2024, 81% of our suppliers have signed Fairware’s Code of Conduct within the last 24 months, affirming their commitment to ethical practices.
- Material Integrity: Sustainable materials research is what sets Fairware apart. We assess the good from the bad (and the green from the greenwash) to provide accurate data on recycled content and organic certifications.
- Strategic Sourcing: Our Responsible Sourcing policies prioritize suppliers who demonstrate tangible commitments to improving their own operational and supply chain impacts.
- End of Life: We consider the full lifecycle of merchandise. Learn more about Fairware’s Merchandise End of Life Policy.
2) JUSTICE, DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
Ensuring fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all our team members and working to be an anti-racist organization in all that we do. The more diverse we are, the better we will be.
- Diverse Representation: We are proud of our diverse team. In 2024, our workforce was composed of 56% women, and we continue to foster an inclusive environment where 30.43% of employees identified as having a visible or invisible disability.
- Accessibility Champions: Our commitment to accessibility remains a core value. We continue to engage with the Presidents Group to champion inclusive workplaces and improve employment outcomes for people with disabilities.
- Certified Diversity: In addition to being a B Corp, Fairware is a certified Women-Owned and LGBTQ+ owned business.
3) COMMUNITY IMPACT
Ensuring we’re active participants in the communities where we operate by supporting volunteerism and being good corporate citizens. We’ve been a Certified Living Wage Employer since 2017.
- Active Volunteerism: Our team is deeply engaged in giving back. In 2024, 56% of our staff volunteered in the community, logging a total of 511 volunteer hours for causes they care about.
- Donations and Support: We support community partners not just with time, but with resources. In 2024, we donated over $4,700 worth of merchandise to community partners to support their missions.
- VSSL Partnership: We continue our long-term commitment to the Vancouver Street Soccer League (VSSL), believing in the power of inclusivity, fair play, and community building to support individuals who have experienced homelessness or marginalization.
4) CORPORATE ADVOCACY
Ensuring we use our position as business leaders to lobby and advocate for important social and environmental issues affecting our team, community, supply chain, and industry.
We’re not shy to use our voices to drive the change needed to build a better future. From supporting the Climate Strike to lending our name and voice to calls to action, if we believe in it, we’ll stand up for it. Our stance on not working with the fossil fuel industry is one example of how we walk our talk.
- Global Standards: We have committed to the UN Global Compact, aligning our operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption.
- Using Our Voice: We aren’t shy about driving change. Whether it is supporting climate strikes or advocating for ethical sourcing legislation, we use our platform to amplify important issues.
- Industry Leadership: Our stance remains firm on not working with the fossil fuel industry, demonstrating how we walk our talk and encouraging others in our industry to adopt more responsible business models.
5) ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY
Ensuring our business practices and those of our supply chain partners support a healthy planet. Our focus is on Climate Impact, resource conservation, and waste reduction.
- Carbon Footprint Reduction: We are making measurable progress. Our total emissions decreased from 80.77 mt in 2022 to 76.24 mt in 2024. Furthermore, our emissions per full-time employee dropped to 3.14 mt in 2024.
- Scope 3 Focus: We are actively addressing our biggest impact areas, including shipping and downstream transportation, which account for a significant portion of our emissions. We prioritize purchasing offsets and investing in nature-based solutions.
- Operational Efficiency: Inside our own walls, we are walking the walk with initiatives like our ‘Zero Waste’ station, energy-efficient sensor lighting, and facilities that encourage low-carbon commuting, such as indoor bike parking and showers.
CERTIFICATIONS
CERTIFIED B CORPORATION
Fairware is a founding Canadian Certified B Corp member and, as such, Make Business a Force For Good. We became a B Corp in 2010 to prove our commitment to ethical sourcing and being an impact business. The B Corp’s rigorous certification process and the incredible community of business peers have helped guide us to improve our business, inside and out. Certified B Corporations are leaders in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.
CERTIFIED WOMEN’S BUSINESS ENTERPRISE
As a women-led Canadian business, we received certification from WBE Canada. The group certifies businesses that are at least 51% owned, managed, and controlled by women, introduces them to opportunities with our government and corporate members, and provides best practice resources and training on how to do business with large organizations.
CERTIFIED LGBTQ+ BUSINESS
We have met all the criteria of a diverse-owned business, have been approved as a certified LGBTQ+ business enterprise, and can thus use the LGBTBE designation authorized by by Canadian Queer Chamber of Commerce (CQCC),
CERTIFIED ECOVADIS SILVER
EcoVadis helps Fairware manage ESG risk and compliance, meet corporate sustainability goals, and drive impact at scale by guiding the sustainability performance improvement of your company and your value chain. In 2022, we achieved a silver rating with a score of 64/100, putting us in the 88th percentile of companies ranked.
LIVING WAGE FOR FAMILIES
Fairware became a Certified Living Wage Employer in 2017 to show that we recognize that paying a living wage is a long-term investment in community economic prosperity. We all benefit when we reduce poverty in our communities.
MEMBERSHIPS & COMMUNITY SUPPORT
COMMUNITY OF ACCESSIBLE EMPLOYERS
Fairware continues to demonstrate its commitment to inclusion and accessibility through its active support of the Presidents Group, a network of change-driven BC business leaders championing more accessible and inclusive workplaces. Since joining the group in 2017, Fairware has pledged to measure and improve its practices, fostering success in hiring individuals facing barriers to employment. While Sarah White, Fairware’s retired COO and Co-founder, was instrumental in establishing this connection, the company remains dedicated to advancing these values within its workplace.
GREATER PURPOSE
We joined Greater Purpose in 2025 alongside other values-driven organizations that believe business can — and should — create real social and environmental impact. As early champions of the movement, we’re showing up with perspective and experience, turning bold ambition into real-world action and helping redefine what responsible business looks like in Canada.
RECIPROCITY ROAD
Fairware is a member alongside 11 other distributors, representing a unique cross-section of branded merchandise agencies across North America. Reciprocity Road believes in building Brand Good initiatives by supporting give-back experiences that strengthen brands, client relationships, and employee loyalty.
SME CLIMATE COMMITMENT
Since 2010, Fairware has been measuring and reducing climate impact through the Climate Smart Certification. In 2023, this led us to engage with the SME Climate Hub, an initiative providing tools to help SMEs reduce emissions and track progress. By signing the SME Climate Commitment, we’ve joined the global Race to Zero campaign, working to halve emissions by 2030 and build a sustainable future.
VERITREE
veritree provides transparency and verification to the tree and kelp planting process through its dedicated data-driven restorative platform. We partnered with veritree in January 2023 and have since been planting 10 kelp for every order made with Fairware.
FAIR LABOR ASSOCIATION LICENSEE
As a Category C Licensee, we commit to the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct and the 10 FLA Principles of Fair Labor and Responsible Sourcing. Fair labour is good for people and good for business. That’s why we participate in the Fair Labor Association’s collegiate licensee program.
RESTORATIVE COALITION
Shortly after partnering with veritree, we joined their Restorative Coalition as a founding member. Joining other action-oriented and purpose-driven companies to embed nature restoration into business and contribute to the healing of our planet.
CLEAN CREATIVES
Joining the Clean Creatives project in 2022 signifies our official commitment to abstain from working with fossil fuel clients. The Pledge of Clean Creatives commits agencies, creatives, and strategists to refuse any future contracts with fossil fuel companies, trade associations, or front groups. This initiative demonstrates our dedication to securing a sustainable climate for the future.
UN GLOBAL COMPACT
As a Participant in the United Nations Global Compact, Fairware is committed to aligning strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment, and anti-corruption and taking actions that advance societal goals. These are the specific SDGs we’re working to address: #1 No Poverty, #3 Good Health and Well-Being, #5 Gender Equality, #8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, #10 Reduced Inequities, #12 Responsible Consumption and Production, #13 Climate Action, #17 Partnership for the Goals.
