Recognitions and partnerships

Gildan has been included in the Dow Jones Best-In-Class Indices for 12 consecutive years, ranking in the 98th percentile of the Textiles, Apparel, and Luxury Goods industry out of 189 companies assessed in the industry. Gildan is the only apparel manufacturer on the North American index.

Gildan has once again been recognized on TIME’s World’s Most Sustainable Companies list, which is now in its second edition. It is one of 13 Canadian companies featured on this global list and is one of only two Canadian companies recognized in the “Apparel, Footwear & Sporting Goods” industry subcategory.

Gildan has been included in S&P Global's Sustainability Yearbook for the 14th consecutive year as a Member in the Textiles, Apparel & Luxury Goods industry. This award reflects our ongoing efforts to operate responsibly across our business.

Gildan has been a recipient of the CSR Seal by FUNDAHRSE for 18 consecutive years. These inclusions demonstrate Gildan’s leading practices related to human rights, labor practices, governance, environment, operational practices, and community relations in Honduras.

Gildan has been included on the Fashion Transparency Index by Fashion Revolution since 2017 for our commitment to transparency and public disclosure on social and environmental policies, practices, and impacts, in our operations.

Gildan is given an AA rating from MSCI, highlighting the Company as a leader in its industry in managing the most significant ESG risks and opportunities.

Gildan has obtained the Silver level in the Women in Governance Parity Certification in Canada, and has been recognized with this Parity Certification for the third consecutive year. Through this certification, Gildan demonstrates great commitment to parity and inclusion at all levels.

Gildan has been included on Canada’s Best 50 Corporate Citizens list by Corporate Knights for a fourth consecutive year. Gildan is one of only two companies in the Textiles and Clothing Manufacturing sector to be included.

Gildan has been recognized with the REPREVE® Champions of Sustainability award, presented by Unifi, Inc. for the 4th year in a row. This award recognized 33 brand and retail companies and 59 textile companies that have partnered with Unifi, Inc. to transform at least 10 million recycled plastic bottles each through the use of REPREVE® performance fibers.

Gildan has been included in CDP’s Leadership level for the sixth time, reflecting the Company’s environmental and climate data performance for the 2024 reporting year.

ISS ESG Corporate Rating Prime Status

Prime Status is awarded to companies with ESG performance that meets or exceeds strict sustainability performance thresholds within their industry sector. It signifies that Gildan is well-prepared to manage significant sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

Morningstar Sustainalytics

Gildan is rated by Morningstar Sustainalytics for its management of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. Sustainalytics provides ESG research and ratings that help investors understand how companies manage financially material ESG risks.

In 2013, Gildan became the first Canadian company and the first manufacturer in the imprintables industry to become a participating company of the FLA. In 2007, Gildan received its first FLA accreditation and its second accreditation in 2019.

All Gildan’s sewing facilities have been WRAP certified since 2002, and Gildan’s vertically-integrated facility in Bangladesh has been WRAP certified since 2005. WRAP is an independent, non-profit team of global social compliance experts dedicated to promoting safe, lawful, humane, and ethical manufacturing around the world through certification and education.

Our Gildan® and Comfort Colors® branded products are certified by the internationally recognized STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®, which allows producers and consumers to objectively assess the presence of harmful substances in textiles and apparel products based on approximately 100 human–ecological and performance-related test parameters. Achieving the STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® involves meeting strict standards including the absence of restricted chemicals and subjecting the supply to an annual independent validation through an accredited laboratory which involves the testing of raw materials and finished products.

Our Honduras and Nicaragua facilities were awarded the OEKO-TEX® STeP certification with the highest possible rating – Level III (i.e. Ideal implementation in the sense of Best Practice examples) for each of audited facility in 2023. Gildan is the first company to secure the STeP designation in Nicaragua and the first vertically-integrated producer to secure the STeP designation in Honduras.

Gildan has participated in the Better Work Program through our third-party contractors in Haiti and Company-owned facilities in Nicaragua since 2012. The program aims to improve compliance with labour standards in global supply chains.

Gildan has been a member of SEDEX since 2009, a membership organization that provides one of the world’s leading online platforms for companies to manage and improve working conditions in global supply chains.

Gildan has been a member of Cascale since 2013. Formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Cascale is an industry-wide group of leading apparel and footwear brands, retailers, manufacturers, non-governmental organizations, academic experts, and government organizations working to reduce the environmental and social impacts of apparel, footwear, and textile products around the world.

Gildan is committed to contribute to the improvement of cotton farming practices globally through our membership in the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI™).

We’re proud to be a member of the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol, a program that aims to contribute to a more sustainable and transparent world, by measuring outcomes and impact as well as driving innovation in U.S. Cotton production.