Hello everyone, Bonjour tout le monde. Welcome to the 2025 Annual General Meeting for TELUS Corporation. [Foreign language] .
To our 2025 AGM of TELUS.
I'm Manley, and I'm pleased to be your chair for this meeting of the shareholders of TELUS. As you saw from the video, we're excited to celebrate the 25th anniversary of our TELUS brand. I should also point out that your company's history dates back to 1891. I'd like to begin by acknowledging that I'm speaking to you today from the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. We acknowledge that TELUS' work spans many territories and treaty areas across the country. For everyone joining us today, I also want to acknowledge the territories and lands on which you are living and working. As a corporate leader in advancing reconciliation, TELUS was the first technology company in Canada to have launched an Indigenous Reconciliation Action Plan, which reflects insights received from Indigenous peoples, including the TELUS Indigenous Advisory Council, the communities we serve, and the partners we collaborate with.
Once again this year, we're using the power of technology to enable you to attend our annual meeting in a virtual format via live webcast. This format allows all shareholders and appointed proxy holders from any location to attend, participate in, and vote at the meeting. For today's meeting, please ensure that you are not connected to VPN for the best webcast experience possible. As well, I would like to note that this meeting is available in French, and portions of my speech will be in French. If you are listening in English, you will hear those portions in translation. To listen to the meeting in French, please use the stream language button at the bottom right corner of the broadcast screen. This will also change the language of the presentation slides to French. In 2024, amidst persistent macroeconomic pressures, TELUS' dedicated team delivered resilient operational and financial results.
We maintained a clear focus on disciplined execution, driving strong customer growth, accelerating cost efficiency initiatives, and achieving meaningful margin expansion alongside robust free cash flow growth. Grounded in purpose and driven by innovation, we continued to advance strategic investments in digitization, platform development, and network leadership. These efforts supported strong operating momentum across our business segments and enhanced our ability to deliver long-term sustainable value. As Darren will detail shortly, our consistent execution and commitment to operational excellence have positioned us well for continued success. Thank you to all TELUS team members whose focus and performance made these outcomes possible. [Foreign language] .
As a global technology leader, we continue to deliver tangible environmental, social, and economic results. Thanks to our unwavering commitment to our social purpose, we are leveraging technology, including the transformative power of artificial intelligence, to improve quality of life, particularly for marginalized and underserved communities. Whether it be expanding access to quality healthcare and mental health support services, bridging the digital divide, or addressing food insecurity. We are leveraging innovation to drive positive change at scale. This approach is not only essential to our operational and financial successes, but also to our lasting impact in the communities that we serve. I'm proud to be part of a team that, through its purpose, dedication, and forward-thinking innovation, is helping to create a better world, which is more connected by ensuring that people stay close to their loved ones and have access to vital resources that they need to thrive.
I would like to formally introduce the people helping me to conduct this meeting today. The first is Darren Entwistle, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and heartfelt champion of our global leadership and social capitalism. Next, we have Andrea Wood, our Executive Vice President and Chief Legal and Governance Officer. Andrea will be acting as the Secretary of this meeting. Also helping me today is Chris Mayne, our Associate General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary, who will be acting as our moderator with respect to any questions you may have during the formal portion of the meeting. As well, we have Jill Schnorr with us, our Chief Communications and Brand Officer, who will be acting as our moderator for the question-and-answer session that will follow the meeting. Now, before we begin, please read the cautionary statement on your screen. Today's meeting will contain forward-looking statements.
These are based on assumptions and are subject to risks, including those described in our public filings, and actual results may differ materially. We may also use non-GAAP measures to discuss our performance and results. Details about these statements and measures can be found in our annual report and are updated in our Q1 financial disclosure. Now, I'd like to invite Darren to share some remarks before we call the meeting to order and consider the business of the meeting. Over to you, Darren.
Thank you, John, and welcome, everyone. [Foreign language] .
Thank you and welcome to our AGM.
TELUS has key results from the first quarter of 2025, which were announced earlier today. These robust results build on our team's industry-leading achievements in 2024, as highlighted in our annual report. Notably, in the first quarter, your company realized industry-leading total mobile and fixed customer additions of 218,000. Your company realized industry-best mobile phone postpaid churn of 0.84% as we enter our 12th consecutive year with churn below 1%, and your company realized an industry-leading combination of TTech revenue and EBITDA growth of 3% and 4%, respectively. Thanks to our consistently strong operational, financial, and customer service results, TELUS continues to return significant capital to our shareholders. Since 2000, your company has delivered a total shareholder return of 620%. This materially outperforms the TSX and MSCI Telecom Services Index by 135 and 577 percentage points, respectively.
Today, John and I are pleased to announce the extension of our multi-year dividend growth program. In doing so, we aim to deliver semiannual increases of 3%-8% annually from 2026 through 2028. This is just one of the ways we enable better outcomes for the families, pensioners, and businesses that invest in TELUS, including our TELUS team members who collectively represent our fourth-largest shareholder overall. Every day, our TELUS team works to bring our Customers First promise to life whilst providing critical connectivity for millions of people and businesses. Our world-leading broadband networks are the backbone of our digital economy and societies. [Foreign language] .
We support the economy and society by enabling teleworking, online healthcare, and education flexibility. They support transformational change in remediating our environment, advancing agricultural efficiency, and bridging socioeconomic and geographic divides. And importantly, they drive heightened productivity, innovation, and competitiveness, all whilst powering Canada's AI future. In 2024, we strengthened and expanded our broadband networks and introduced our world-leading TELUS PureFibre Internet in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Over the next five years, your company will invest an additional CAD 68 billion in new technology, infrastructure, operations, and spectrum deployment across our country. This builds on the CAD 276 billion TELUS has invested nationally since 2000. These investments will ensure our customers stay connected to the people, to the resources, and the information that matters most. [Foreign language] . We connect people to what counts the most.
We're also investing in the creation of sovereign AI factories across Canada through a groundbreaking new partnership with NVIDIA. This pioneering venture will revolutionize our nation's AI landscape. It will drive productivity, and it will strengthen our economic future, all whilst keeping data and computing power inside Canada. At TELUS, we believe good business and doing good are mutually inclusive. Throughout 2024, our TELUS family continued to give with our hearts and our hands around the world. [Foreign language] .
We support communities around the world.
Our 19th TELUS Days of Giving inspired 83,000 volunteers across 33 countries, making 2024 our most giving year yet. Collectively, we volunteered 1.5 million hours, our eighth consecutive year surpassing 1 million hours of volunteerism. TELUS Friendly Future Foundation also provided critical financial assistance to more than 500 socially minded students in need of a helping hand through the TELUS Student Bursary Program, the largest of its kind in the country. Since launching the program in 2023, the foundation has awarded over CAD 4 million in bursaries to more than 1,000 students. TELUS' commitment to education enriches Canada's future talent pool. In a world where the development of human resources has truly never been more important nor more challenging, we are stepping forward and making a major difference. These efforts bring our TELUS family's total charitable contributions to CAD 1.8 billion globally since 2000, including 2.4 million days of volunteerism.
It is thanks to our team members, retirees, and our community partners that TELUS has been named the most giving company on the planet, and we live up to that credential day in and day out. [Foreign langauge] .
TELUS is the most generous company in the world.
In closing, on behalf of our 100,000 and 30,000 on top of that, including our retirees worldwide, I would like to thank our shareholders. I'd like to thank from the heart our customers who make it all possible, and I'd like to thank our community partners who help us bring our social purpose to life in our communities. Your support helps us bring our passion for purpose and innovation to life in a truly animated way that helps those people that need it the most. I'd also like to thank our dedicated team members for making TELUS the global leader in social capitalism. Merci de votre soutien. Together, let's continue to make the future friendly, and on that note, I'd like to welcome Andrea to review today's agenda and outline some procedural matters for you. Andrea, over to you.
Thank you, Darren, and welcome, everyone. As outlined on the agenda, we have a few business items to cover today. In addition to tabling our financial statements, there are four motions that we'll be voting on. Once all the motions have been voted on, we'll announce our preliminary voting results, and the legal business of the meeting will officially come to a close. If you have any comments not related to the business of the meeting, please save them until our question-and-answer session after the meeting. Now, let us turn to the meeting procedures. I'm pleased to advise that we have the necessary quorum. The preliminary scrutineer's report indicates that approximately 46% of the shares are represented here today at this meeting. I will add the final scrutineer's report to the minutes of the meeting when available.
We have also received a declaration of mailing from Computershare confirming that it sent notice of today's meeting to all registered holders of TELUS shares, as well as a notice advising them that the information circular was available online for viewing or downloading. I'm tabling the declaration and will add it to the minutes of the meeting. John, back to you.
Thank you, Andrea. I declare this meeting to be properly constituted. I would like to appoint Stephanie Tsui and Stephen Bandola, representatives of Computershare, as the scrutineers for this meeting. Let me now introduce to you the 14 board members standing for reelection today. Biographical information for each nominee can be found in our information circular. I'm pleased to serve as the chair of the TELUS board. I've already introduced Darren Entwistle, our CEO. Our other nominees include Ray Chan, Hazel Claxton, Lisa de Wilde, Victor Dodig, Tom Flynn, Mary Jo Haddad, Martha Hall Findlay, Christine Magee, David Mowat, Marc Parent, Denise Pickett, and Sean Willy. Now, let's proceed with those matters that require a vote at this meeting. Andrea, would you explain the voting procedure that shareholders will be following?
Yes. Thank you, John. Voting on the four resolutions will be conducted by an online poll, which I will explain shortly. But first, I'd like to table TELUS' audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, which are included in our 2024 annual report. These were made available to shareholders on April 4th. Additional copies are available by sending an email request to our investor relations department at ir@telus.com. Now, let me explain some of the basic features of our virtual meeting platform and how you can vote at the meeting. When you are logged in today, either as a shareholder or a guest, you should see the information screen displayed on the left and the broadcast window on the right. Here, you can view information about TELUS and ask questions.
To see our slide presentation while you're listening to the webcast, simply click the broadcast window on the right. Again, this year, we're using the Lumi virtual meeting platform. This platform has online voting for the items of business to be voted on today. Only registered shareholders or validly appointed proxy holders may vote on the four items of business. We've asked John Poirier, a shareholder, to make motions today. This is intended to make the meeting flow more smoothly. When the chair declares the poll is open, you will see a voting icon on the left of your screen. Within the window, you'll see the first list of nominated directors, followed by the other three items of business at today's meeting. To vote, select one of the voting options. Your response will be highlighted, and it will be cast once the voting period is over.
To change your vote, simply select the other voting option. If you would like to cancel your vote, press the cancel button below. In order for your vote to be properly recorded, it is important that you remain connected to the internet at all times. If you are not connected, your vote will not be recorded. John will open the poll on all four items of business at the same time. This will give you ample time to vote while he introduces each resolution. He will remind you of your choices for each item. After the last item of business, he will provide a reminder for you to input your vote if you've not already done so before the polls close. Now, let me explain the procedure for asking questions. Note that only registered shareholders or validly appointed proxy holders are able to ask questions.
When you wish to ask a question, please select the messaging icon on the left of your screen and type your question in the chat box to the right of it. Click the send button, and you should receive a confirmation that your message has been received. We ask that you please be concise and address only one topic per question. If you have a question related to the resolution that is being discussed, please submit it at that time. Once shareholders and proxy holders have had a reasonable opportunity to express their views, both for and against the matter, in the interest of keeping to our schedule, John may end the discussion. If you have a general question that's not related to the resolutions, please wait until after the formal business of the meeting to submit it.
We will be monitoring all questions submitted and will relay them to John. If there are many similar ones on the same topic, we may pick one, or we may summarize the nature of the questions. All shareholder questions are welcome. However, we will not address those that are irrelevant to the business of the meeting or to TELUS' operations, that are related to nonpublic information about TELUS, or that are derogatory to individuals, or otherwise offensive to third parties. Any questions that are personal in nature or related to customer service will be directed to a representative, who will be in touch with you by email after the meeting. We also invite shareholders to submit questions prior to today's meeting while they voted their shares electronically through the investorvote.com website. Any questions that cannot be answered today due to time constraints will be answered and posted at telus.com/agm.
The questions and answers will be available within one business day of today's meeting and will remain online for one week. We'll now turn to the first item of business to be voted upon. John, over to you.
Thank you, Andrea. I'll now open the polls for all four items of business. Please feel free to vote while I'm speaking on each of the items. The first voting item is the election of directors for the coming year. The board has set the number of directors at 14. In addition to the senior executive and strategic leadership experience the board requires of each director, the 14 nominees I listed earlier in this meeting represent a diverse cross-section of experience and background. They've all agreed, if elected at today's meeting, to help direct the future of TELUS for the next year. Further to our advance notice requirements for director nominations, Andrea has advised me that no additional nominations were received. May we please have a motion for the nomination of these 14 individuals?
I move that the 14 individuals nominated in the information circular be elected as directors of the company to hold office for the ensuing year.
Thank you, John. Chris, are there any questions on the election of directors?
There are no questions, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chris. For the election of the directors, you will see the names of all 14 nominees. Please scroll down to ensure that you have voted on all 14 nominees. To cast your vote for a nominee, please select for. To withhold your vote from a nominee, please select withhold. The next item of business is the appointment of our auditors for the ensuing year. The recommendation to reappoint Deloitte LLP was made by the audit committee of your board and supported by the board. May I please have a motion for the appointment of the auditors?
I move that Deloitte LLP be appointed as the auditors of the company for the ensuing year at a remuneration to be fixed by the directors.
Thank you, John. Chris, are there any questions on the appointment of the auditors?
There are no questions, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chris. To cast your vote for the auditors' appointment, please select four. To withhold your vote, please select withhold. The next item of business is a motion to accept, on an advisory basis, our approach to executive compensation. Our compensation program strongly links executive pay to actual performance and aligns compensation with corporate success and shareholder value. Additional details of our executive compensation program can be found in our information circular. We value your direct feedback on our company's executive compensation approach, and the board will consider the results of this vote when evaluating future compensation policies, procedures, and decisions. May I please have a motion to approve our approach to executive compensation?
I move that the shareholders approve on an advisory basis the approach to executive compensation disclosed in the company's information circular delivered in advance of the 2025 Annual General Meeting of shareholders.
Thank you, John. And Chris, are there any questions on the vote on executive compensation?
There are no questions, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chris. To cast your vote for the say-on-pay resolution, please select four. To vote against this resolution, please select against. The next item of business is a motion to reconfirm the company's shareholder rights plan. The purpose of the rights plan is to limit acquisitions that are exempt from the formal takeover bid requirements and to provide shareholders with an equal opportunity to participate in a takeover bid and receive full and fair value for their shares. The current rights plan was first adopted in March 2019 and then ratified and confirmed by shareholders at the 2019 and 2022 annual meetings of the company. The rights plan is available on SEDAR+ under the company's profile. Additional details, including a summary of the principal items of the rights principal terms, rather, of the rights plan, can be found in our information circular.
This resolution must be passed by a simple majority of the votes cast by holders of shares. May I please have a motion to reconfirm the rights plan?
I move that the resolution set out in the information circular regarding the reconfirmation of the shareholder rights plan be approved.
Thank you, John. And Chris, are there any questions on the shareholder rights plan resolution?
There are no questions, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chris. To cast your vote for the shareholder rights plan, please select four. To vote against this resolution, please select against. We will now continue with the voting. If you have not already done so, please vote on all four items of business. I'll give you just a few additional seconds to finalize your vote selections. I declare the poll closed on all four items of business. Thank you very much. The scrutineers will now tabulate the results, and we will disclose the official voting results shortly after this meeting. However, based on the proxies we have received to date, we can confirm the results of the votes today. On the first motion, the election of directors, the 14 nominees listed in the information circular are elected.
On the second motion, the appointment of auditors, Deloitte LLP has been appointed as the company's auditors at a remuneration to be fixed by the directors. On the third motion regarding the company's approach to executive compensation, the resolution has been approved. On the fourth motion, the reconfirmation of the shareholders' rights plan, the motion has been approved. A copy of the scrutineer's report with the tabulated results will be available upon request after the meeting. The official results of the meeting will be available on sedarplus.ca and on telus.com following today's meeting. Now that we've completed the formal items of business for this meeting, I declare the meeting to be terminated. We'll move on to the question and answer session. If not done already, I invite shareholders and proxy holders to submit their questions online.
As Andrea noted earlier, you can select the messaging icon on the left of your screen and type your question or comment in the chat box to the right of it. Please remember to press send, and you should receive a confirmation that your question has been received. We'll now begin our question and answer session. If we're unable to answer all of your questions, we will answer them in writing on TELUS.com/agm. We will post all questions and answers at the same spot within one business day of today's meeting, and they will be available for one week following posting. We'd also like to remind you that shareholders are always welcome to ask questions throughout the year, not just at this time of the year, by emailing us at board@TELUS.com or by emailing our investor relations team at ir@TELUS.com.
We try to respond to every inquiry, whether directly by email or by making sure the appropriate TELUS team member gets back to you. Let's have the first question. Jill?
John, there are no questions at this time.
I'm pausing just to make sure that everyone gets an opportunity to input their questions. Darren and I are sitting here eager to answer all kinds of them. But in the face of no questions, I will proceed with the closing of the meeting. I'd like to extend my personal thanks and that of the board of directors to all TELUS team members for leading with purpose and innovating with passion to put our customers first and drive our ongoing success. Through your efforts, you continue to demonstrate our heartfelt social purpose by creating remarkable outcomes for our customers and our communities. Also, thank you to all who participated in our virtual meeting. Please take a moment to provide your feedback by clicking the link to the online survey that will appear on your screen. And lastly, thank you to our shareholders for your continued support and confidence.
Inspired by our leadership and social capitalism, TELUS remains well-positioned for the future and committed to making a meaningful difference around the world. Thanks to our people, purpose, and passion.