Borden Ladner Gervais embeds diversity across the firm

When Cherie Mah joined the national law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) in Vancouver in 2010, she couldn’t help feeling “a bit of otherness” due to her Chinese heritage – “needing to make myself feel less visible or less Asian to fit in with what was considered mainstream at the time.” But that was then.

“If you think about it, 15 years is not that long ago, but in terms of how far our organization has come in terms of diversity, it’s amazing,” says Mah, now a partner in the financial services group. “BLG recognized very early on the need for a diverse workplace, because diversity of thought leads to advancements in law and policies which leads to a more robust workplace for everybody.”

Today, the firm has a very structured system in place, with a nationwide Diversity & Inclusion Council represented in all five Canadian cities where it has offices – Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal. Senior leaders are members, as are partners, associates from each centre, as well as business professionals from across the firm.

“I joined the council because I didn’t necessarily see decision-makers at the firm who looked like me,” says Mah. “We identify key priorities and provide oversight and direction. Everyone works hand-in-hand to create policies and programs that become part of the BLG social fabric.”

Also on the council, and liaising with it, is Loreli Buenaventura, national director of EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion), people and culture, who joined BLG in 2023 after a career in EDI and talent development with several major banks. “The reason I came to BLG is because, if you look at my title, it’s EDI, people and culture – it’s not looked at as a siloed initiative or a program. We try to embed it in everything we say and do. It’s an understanding that we have to look at EDI holistically.”

And the depth of the structure doesn’t stop there. There are also four action committees run by firm members under the names Pride, Race, Abilities and Indigenous as subcommittees of the D&I Council. Open to any firm member, they are charged, says Buenaventura, with “identifying gaps or barriers they’re seeing internally. We are trying to embed EDI not just in terms of our talent processes but across our firm processes as well.”

In addition, there are less formal Affinity groups, including one for women at BLG, who are also covered by many of the firm’s longstanding support programs.

Mah is closely involved with the Race Action Committee (RAC), which is so named in order to cover a wide variety of cultures, ethnicities and visibilities. “We have a really active group with lots of participation and really passionate ideas,” she says. “They help with representation efforts, providing feedback for management on, for instance, unconscious bias training.”

Recently, too, the RAC sponsored a law firm partners’ reception organized by the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers and held a BLG in-firm networking event for racialized inhouse counsel. “It’s important to see that there’s so much diversity that exists in the business and legal community, though we don’t necessarily see it on a day-to-day basis,” says Mah. “That was quite heartening.”

The RAC also mentors younger racialized lawyers in the firm and has organized events to support potential lawyers among high school and undergraduate students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“One of the primary reasons, honestly, why BLG is the only law firm I’ve ever wanted to work at,” says Mah, “is our culture of inclusion and that everyone is very open minded. If you have something that you’re passionate about, there will be support for it.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada’s Best Diversity Employers winners, published February 25, 2025 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.