Corporate governance ties into the first part of our sustainability vision, to make an increasingly positive impact on stakeholders. In this case, the principal stakeholders are shareholders, but groups that are also impacted by corporate governance include employees, customers, suppliers, regulators and government.

In 2006, Agrium established a Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the Senior Leadership Team that sets priorities, monitors performance and identifies long-term targets.

According to the Institutional Shareholder Services’ (ISS) Corporate Governance Quotient rating system, we outperformed all the companies listed on the S&P/TSX Composite Index. We also received a Board Shareholder Confidence Index rating of AAA from the University of Toronto’s Joseph L. Rotman School of Business.

We are very proud of the recognition we have received in the area of governance but realize we must continue to move towards greater transparency for continuous inprovement.

Corporate Policies

Every company has a list of policies that are in place for guidance and protection. Why are policies so important? Agrium’s policies are the strategic link between our vision and our day-to-day operations. We have spent a lot of time communicating strategies and working with employees to implement them in an effective and efficient manner.

Agrium has distinct business units and operations in several countries. We empower these business units to set policies to address specific regional or cultural variations. Company-wide policies are intrinsic to us being accountable and providing a healthy and safe environment to all employees.

Policy in Action:

We employed external auditors in 2006 to assess our Environment, Health, Safety & Security (EHS&S) management approach and make recommendations on best management practices. As a result, our company-wide risk management system provides a single location where identified risks can be stored, classified, prioritized and responsibilities for mitigation assigned.