CWB’s obsession with our clients’ success is about finding ways to get ahead of the curve: we support our clients in their noble efforts to build and run the great small- and medium-sized businesses that make Canada’s economy tick. For our personal clients, it’s about helping them grow and prepare their wealth for the future.
In uncertain times like this, with the global spread of COVID-19, we feel it is our responsibility to be vocal about the steps we’re taking to ensure the safety and success of our clients and the CWB teams that support them. We also think it’s important to encourage our network to prepare alongside us, and are actively talking with our clients about their own plans for the upcoming days.
CWB has a robust business continuity plan in place that provides guidance on how we act in an emergency. Our response to COVID-19 began with the activation of a cross-functional team of leaders that started planning as soon as the situation began to unfold. To date, we have taken necessary steps to prepare and protect our people, many of which are aligned with the guidance of the Public Health Agency of Canada and our provincial health authorities. These measures include:
- Frequent workplace communications about best practices for curbing the spread of germs accompanied by the addition of sanitizing materials in all gathering spaces.
- Restricted non-essential business travel, both domestic and abroad, including cancellation of any client or employee events and large meetings.
- Social distancing measures, starting with the use of virtual communications in place of face-to-face meetings among our teams.
- A mandatory, paid work-from-home plan for employees who have flu-like symptoms (fever, cough or difficulty breathing), have recently travelled internationally, live with or are in close contact with an individual that has recently travelled, or may have been otherwise exposed to COVID-19.
Today, all CWB Financial Group locations remain open for business. To help you continue to partner with us in confidence, we have tested and mobilized our business continuity plan to ensure essential financial services remain available as the situation develops. Real-time updates will always be posted to our website via news or alerts.
Thank you for your continued trust in CWB – while we hope that many of the preparations we’ve made are not required, you can have confidence that we’re ready to continue to support you as the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve.