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Social Responsibility

The Old Port of Montréal Corporation, parent company of the Montréal Science Centre, takes social responsibility to heart. As a recreational site welcoming thousands of visitors each day, we recognize that our choices and actions have a significant impact.

Our social responsibility initiatives are meant to be tangible and sustainable, inspiring and transparent, and we are pleased to showcase them here.  

View our 2022-2023 report.
 

“We believe in using a scientific approach to implement best practices as they relate to sustainable development.”

Our actions in protecting the site on which we operate have allowed us to drastically reduce our environmental impact and has supported the work towards its restoration.

Our forthcoming initiatives will centre around:

  • Our governance
  • Our management of residual materials
  • Greenhouse gases and energy optimization
  • Water and biodiversity

Meanwhile, our programming takes on today’s environmental issues and promotes knowledge-sharing and education among our audiences. The Montréal Science Centre positions itself as a key vehicle for science outreach on issues of environmental responsibility.

 

View our Commitment to Environmental Management Charter.

“We are committed to taking action, because every barrier removed helps make our products and services more universally accessible.”

The Old Port of Montréal site is accessible for persons with reduced mobility. As part of our commitment to Canada’s Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada (Bill C-81), the OPMC will be working towards improving accessibility features on our website as well as promoting universal accessibility to our services and installations. As such, we are pleased to share with you our 2022–2023 report on accessibility as well as our 2022-24 accessibility action plan.


The accessibility installations and of all our communications is one of our priorities. Our efforts have already allowed us to drastically reduce the barriers and obstacles that once confronted those with disabilities.

Our initiatives are a source of inspiration for Canadian institutions and are centred around:

Our built environments as well as public spaces 

  • Training for our teams 
  • All stages of the employment cycle
  • Our signage, communications, and communication platforms
  • Our asset, service, and installation acquisition practices
  • Our practices in the design and operation of our programs and services

 

View our Commitment to Accessibility Charter.

“We put equity, diversity, and inclusion in action to promote and celebrate the benefits of diversity and inclusion, to help eliminate discrimination, and to reduce barriers for key groups.”

Our management priorities centre on education, representation and participation, and a culture of diversity and belonging among our teams, all in an effort to ensure an inclusive and equitable work environment for all our employees.

Our actions are also centred on learning and raising awareness about inclusive practices and a culture of inclusion, including in the design and delivery of our programs, services, and communications.

 

View our Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Charter.
 

“We believe in the importance of offering Canadians an authentic site anchored in its community and educating the public about the Old Port’s industrial past and its role in the history of Montréal and in the history of modern Canada.”

The development of the Old Port lands is inspired by its history. The site showcases visible and genuine artefacts as a way to foster an understanding of the pivotal role of these lands within the dynamic history of Montréal from its very beginnings as a gathering place for many First Peoples.

Our initiatives are centred around:

  • Honouring and promoting the site’s history
  • Evoking the past through our site design and development choices
  • Commemorating the site’s long and rich history
  • Augmenting our shared understanding of the site through the use of a variety of interpretative objects

 

View our Commitment to Heritage Interpretation Charter.

 

We are proud of our efforts and our commitment to social responsibility grows strong year after year. Our commitment is forward looking, and we are highly driven in taking on our next set of initiatives.

Becoming leaders in socially responsible practices is important to us, both within the Montréal community and among our innumerable partners including Indigenous peoples and communities for whom we strive to be allies in the reconciliation process.  

As such, the OPMC invites you to read the report on the second-year outcomes of our social responsibility program, which demonstrates the relevance and scope of our commitment.


The work of our three social responsibility committees have allowed us, among other things, to release our charters on accessibility, the environment, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and heritage interpretation. Our committees have also released their 2023-2024 action plans.

 

View the 2022-2023 Report.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF FIRST PEOPLES AND TRADITIONAL TERRITORY

The OPMC acknowledges that it is located on unceded, ancestral Indigenous lands historically known as a gathering place for many First Nations.

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

The OPMC also continues to pursue its engagement to its community, including youth, families and those with fewer privileges, through a variety of initiatives in partnership with Science Centre Foundation, La tablée des chefs, the Montréal Museums Day events, the Women and Girls of Science initiative, the Accueil Bonneau mission, the Association of Old Montréal residents, and Old Montréal consultation forums.