Hello, everyone. Welcome to the 2023 Annual General Meeting for TELUS. My name is Dick Auchinleck, and I'm pleased to be your Chair for this 132nd meeting of the shareholders of TELUS. I'd like to begin by acknowledging we're gathered on the traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations. We acknowledge that TELUS' work spans many indigenous territories and treaty areas, and we're incredibly grateful for the opportunity today to spend time in this beautiful city of Vancouver. For those joining this meeting virtually, I also want to acknowledge the indigenous territories and lands on which you are living and working. Once again, this year, we're using the power of technology to enable you to attend our annual meeting in a virtual format by way of a live webcast.
This format allows all shareholders and appointed proxy holders from any location to attend and participate in and vote at the meeting. Guests are also welcome to attend and listen to our meeting. Shoot. As well, I'd like to note that this meeting is available in French and that simultaneous French translation is offered. Please press the French button on the top-right corner of your screen to change the presentation slides and listen to the French translation. TELUS is committed to keeping our customers and communities connected to what matters most. We're excited to be leveraging our world-leading technology today to stay connected with you, our shareholders, joining us from all across the country and the world.
As a global leader in social capitalism, TELUS is leveraging our innovative technology and compassion to drive meaningful change and enable improved health, social, environmental, and economic outcomes in the global communities where we live, work, and serve. We're dedicated to making the world a better place and supporting citizens around the globe, including the most marginalized in our society, to ensure they remain connected to the people, information, resources, and health services that matter most. I'm very honored to be part of a company that embraces social capitalism to make a world of difference that benefits all our stakeholders, from shareholders, customers and team members, to those most in need of our support. On a personal note, after 20 years of service, I'll be retiring from my position as director and chair of the board after this meeting and will not be standing for re-election.
It's been an honor and a privilege to serve on the TELUS board. I'm immensely proud of all that TELUS accomplished during my time with the company and how we continue to create remarkable outcomes for millions of people in Canada and around the world. I'd like to give a very warm welcome to the Honorable John Manley, who, upon his re-election as a Director at this meeting, will be appointed as Chair of the Board. TELUS is well-positioned for continued success with John as Board Chair.
Since joining our board in 2012, John has added incredible value by leveraging his industry expertise and deep understanding of government and regulatory framework to help shape TELUS' strategy. I'm leaving my position at TELUS with a great sense of pride, knowing it remains in capable hands. I wanna thank all of you, our shareholders, for your continued support and confidence. Now, John, I think you'd like to say a few words.
Thank you, Dick. It's a great honor to have the opportunity to become the Chair of the Board here at TELUS. You've been an incredible asset to our company. You've provided invaluable counsel to the Board and to management. Thank you for your leadership and dedication to TELUS and to all of our valued stakeholders. In taking on this new role, I'll do my best to continue guiding TELUS and ensure our company remains well-positioned for the future. Thank you, and back to you, Dick.
Thanks, John. I'd like to formally introduce the people helping me to conduct this meeting today. The first is Darren Entwistle, our President, Chief Executive Officer and heartfelt champion of global leadership and social capitalism. Also helping me today is Andrea Wood, our Chief Legal and Governance Officer. Andrea will be acting as secretary of this meeting. As well, we have Christopher Main with us, our Associate General Counsel and Assistant Corporate Secretary. Chris will be acting as our moderator with respect to any questions you may have. Before we begin, please read the cautionary statement on the screen. Today's meeting will contain forward-looking statements. These are based on assumptions and subject to risks, including those described in our public filings. Actual results may differ materially.
We may also use non-GAAP measures to discuss our performance results, and 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 proceed with the business of the meeting.
Thanks, Dick. Hello, everyone. Today, we reflect on the truly remarkable successes of our TELUS team. This includes our industry-leading business results and how your company, once again, affirmed our distinction as the world leader in social capitalism. First, I'd like to recognize a long-standing and invaluable member of our TELUS family, Dick Auchinleck . As mentioned earlier, this AGM marks Dick's final meeting as chair following 20 years of exemplary service on our board, including eight years as our chair. Dick's wise and sage leadership has been a driving force for TELUS as we've grown our business over the past two decades, earning the trust and patronage of millions of customers.
On behalf of our entire team, Dick, and the many shareholders that we serve, including the various stakeholders that we serve with our social capitalism, I'd like to express our heartfelt gratitude to you and wish you and Linda all the best in this truly well-deserved retirement. I'd also like to extend a warm welcome, a warm TELUS welcome to the Honorable John Manley, who will become chair upon his election to our board later today and will certainly build upon Dick's legacy of success and excellence. Thank you, Dick, and congratulations, John. Turning to our 2022 financial results, TELUS's operational excellence was once again characterized by industry-leading customer growth. Notably, we achieved over 1 million net client additions, a record high for TELUS that eclipsed our Canadian peers.
Your company also earned world-leading customer loyalty with blended mobile phone, PureFibre internet , Optik TV, security, and voice churn rates all below 1%. This is truly a unique accomplishment on a global basis. We achieved strong financial results with operating revenue and EBITDA growth of 8.6% and 9.5%, respectively. Free cash flow for the year increased by an industry-leading 64% to approximately CAD 1.3 billion, surpassing our original target for the year. The superiority of our world-leading networks was again amplified in 2022 as your company once again earned global accolades. This includes ranking number one for the speed, quality, user experience, and expansiveness of our networks from global analytics companies, U.K.-based Opensignal, U.S.-based Ookla, U.S.-based PCMag, and Canada-based Tutela.
As we are increasingly recognizing, reliable networks are the backbone of digital economies and societies, enabling positive outcomes for us all. TELUS' global best networks ensure that everyone can stay connected to what matters most, including healthcare, safe and healthy food, online education, friends and family, and as this AGM demonstrates, remote working, all with the accompanying environmental benefits. TELUS is determined to build on these successes in 2023, as demonstrated today by our strong first quarter results that we have announced. This includes industry-leading customer growth of 163,000 new client additions on a net basis, our strongest first quarter on record. This includes industry-leading customer loyalty on a North American-wide basis, with churn rates at or below 1% across mobile phone, PureFibre internet, Optik TV, security services, and residential voice.
This includes industry-leading consolidated revenue and EBITDA growth of 16% and 11% respectively, alongside industry-leading free cash flow growth of 29% at your company. Turning now to take a look at the emerging growth areas of our business. TELUS Health achieved several milestones in 2022. Notably, we welcomed the LifeWorks team into our TELUS family and continued to meaningfully scale our health operations into the first quarter of 2023, including covering now 67 million lives with our healthcare programs, an increase of more than 45 million over last year. Executing 590 million digital health transactions over the past 12 months, reflecting almost a 6% year-over-year increase. This includes earning close to 2 million new virtual healthcare members in the past year, increasing our membership to 5.2 million, an increase of 60% over the prior year.
Turning to TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, your company continued to integrate and grow this compelling business, achieving revenue growth of 24% and reaching CAD 354 million in annual revenues in the 2022 financial year. Throughout 2023 and well beyond, we will realize significant value as the world's leading provider of Agriculture & Consumer Goods technology solutions and the underlying data analytics. We will also continue advancing the sector's efficiency and effectiveness, including the production of quality food, the reduction of food wastage, improving food and retail execution, and driving trade promotion optimization all through data analytics and the dynamic insights that they yield to deliver critical business outcomes for our clients. Our consistently strong financial results have enabled your company to create unparalleled long-term value for our shareholders.
Thanks to the efforts of our team and the guidance of our board, we have delivered leading total shareholder returns over the past five, 10, 15, and 20 years. When looking back from the beginning of 2018, TELUS delivered a total shareholder return of 54%, exceeding the return of the TSX by 4% and the MSCI World Communication Services Index by 51%. From the start of 2013, we've delivered a shareholder return of 176%, besting both the TSX and the MSCI by 49% and 117% respectively. The same story holds true for the 15-year timeframe from the beginning of 2008, with TELUS delivering leading returns of 359%, outperforming the TSX by 223% and the MSCI by 308%.
Lastly, when looking back over the 20-year period from 2003, TELUS generated an impressive total shareholder return of 1,372%, surpassing the TSX by 925% and the MSCI by 1,139%. It's quite a legacy, Dick. In addition, since 2004, TELUS has returned more than CAD 23 billion to shareholders, including CAD 18 billion in dividends, representing more than CAD 16 on a per share basis. Importantly, through individual holdings, mutual funds and pension plans, TELUS' owners are our neighbors. They're our friends and they're our colleagues across Canada and around the world. This includes our own TELUS team members, who collectively represent our fifth-largest shareholder overall.
Exemplifying our long-standing commitment to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees donated an unprecedented CAD 125 million in 2022 to charitable and community organizations. This represents approximately 5% of our pre-tax profits, more than any other company in Canada. Notably, TELUS' Friendly Future Foundation directly impacted the lives of more than 1 million youth in 2022, granting CAD 10.6 million to 548 organizations in need of a helping hand. Since 2000, our TELUS family has generously devoted CAD 1.5 billion, including critically 2 million days of volunteerism on a global basis. Over the same period, TELUS has paid CAD 54 billion in total tax and spectrum remittances to our federal, provincial, and municipal governments.
These funds support public works projects and critical infrastructure as well as education, healthcare, national defense, cultural pursuits, and initiatives that improve the social and economic well-being of our communities and fellow citizens. As our team progresses through 2023, we will do so with our hallmark passion for purpose, as reflected by our ambitious targets on the following slides. Firstly, we will continue to give where we live, guided by our five social impact goals for 2023. Secondly, we will advance our efforts in respect of achieving key sustainability goals as we endeavor to improve the health of our planet.
Finally, we will strive to once again, because we have the momentum and the demonstrable track record to deliver best-in-class customer service coupled with best-in-class financial results, as demonstrated by our industry-leading financial targets that we have set out for this organization in the 2023 financial year. Every day in and day out, TELUS leverages the power of technology to enable vital connectivity for millions of citizens. Given this responsibility, it is critical that we continually invest in our world-leading networks so that they stay world-leading for the betterment of our country. Today, we are announcing that TELUS is investing more than CAD 81 billion in new infrastructure, operations, and spectrum across Canada over the next five years. This transformational investment will create thousands of jobs and opportunities for even more communities, from urban to rural.
Since 2000, TELUS has invested almost CAD 240 billion from coast to coast in operations, spectrum, and critical infrastructure for our world-leading wireless and PureFibre networks. Indeed, speaking of PureFibre, this year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of TELUS PureFibre, which is delivering the fastest, most robust communications technology in the world to 3 million households and businesses, and counting. Undeniably, PureFibre is better for customers as it provides a faster and more reliable connection in our digital world and digital economy. It's better for business as it improves productivity and increases performance, such as the potency of TELUS PureFibre. TELUS PureFibre is better for the environment as it has reduced more than 5,300 tons of greenhouse gas emissions since 2019, and counting.
In closing, I would like to thank our shareholders, our customers, our community partners, and from the heart, our team members for empowering us to make a world of difference and for all the efforts that they've made to making these results come to fruition. I invite you all to follow TELUS's social media channels for updates throughout the year ahead as we demonstrate with passion our social purpose in action and making a difference in our communities where we live, where we work, and where we serve. Thank you. I'd now like to welcome Andrea to review today's agenda and outline some procedural matters. Andrea, over to you.
Thank you, Darren. Hello, everyone. Before I begin, I'd like to express my gratitude to you, Dick. Thank you for your exceptional commitment to governance, your guidance, and your leadership of our highly effective board throughout the years. Turning to the meeting. We have a few business items to cover today, as outlined on the agenda. In addition to tabling our financial statements, there are 5 motions that we will be voting on. Once all of the motions have been voted on, we will 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 after our question-and-answer session after the meeting. Let us turn to the meeting procedures. I'm pleased to advise that we have the necessary quorum.
The preliminary scrutineers report indicates that approximately 50.83% of the shares are represented here today at this meeting. I will add the final scrutineers 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 this meeting. Back to you, Dick.
Thank you. Thank you, Andrea. I declare this meeting to be properly constituted. I would like to appoint Tara Israelson and Steven Bandola, representatives of Computershare, as the scrutineers for this meeting. Let me introduce you to the 14 board members standing for re-election. Biographical information on each nominee can be found in our information circular. I've already introduced Darren Entwistle, our CEO, and I've also introduced John Manley, the incoming Chair of our board. Other nominees include Ray Chan, Hazel Claxton, Lisa de Wilde, Victor Dodig, Thomas Flynn, Mary Jo Haddad, Kathy Kinloch, Christine Magee, David Mowat, Marc Parent, Denise Pickett, and W. Sean Willy. Let's proceed with those matters that require a vote at this meeting. Andrea, could you please explain the voting procedure for the shareholders that follow?
Yes. Thanks, Dick. Voting on the five resolutions will be conducted by an online poll, which I will explain shortly. First, I would like to table TELUS's audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, which are included in our 2022 annual report. These were made available to shareholders on March 31st. Additional copies are available by sending an email request to our investor relations department at ir@telus.com. Let me explain some of the basic features of our virtual meeting platform and how you can vote at our meeting. When you're logged in today, either as a shareholder or a guest, you should see the information screen displayed. Here, you can view information about TELUS and ask questions. To see our slide presentation while you are listening to the webcast, simply click the broadcast icon or the arrow.
Again, this year, we are 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 five items of business. We have 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 your screen, and the resolution wording will be displayed. To vote, select one of the voting options. Your response will be highlighted. A confirmation message will appear to show that your vote has been received. To change your vote, simply select the other voting option. If you would like to cancel your vote, please press Cancel.
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. Dick will open the poll on all five 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 have not already done so before the polls close. 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 and type your question in the chat box at the bottom of the messaging screen.
Click the Send button, you should receive a confirmation that your message has been received. We ask that shareholders and proxy holders please be brief and concise and answer only one topic per question. If you have a question related to the resolution that's 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, Dick 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. Chris will be monitoring all questions submitted and will relay them to Dick. If there are many similar ones on the same topic, Chris may pick one or he may summarize the nature of the questions.
All shareholder questions are welcome. We will not address those that are irrelevant to the business of the meeting or to TELUS's operations that are related to non-public 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.
This year, we also invited 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 24 hours after today's meeting, they will remain online for one week. We will now turn to the first item of business to be voted upon. Dick, over to you.
Thanks, Andrea. I'll now open the polls for all five items of business, and 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 upcoming year. The board has set the number of directors at 14. The 14 nominees I listed earlier in this meeting represent a diverse cross-section of experience and background, and they've all agreed, if elected at today's meeting, to help direct the future of TELUS for the next year. Further to our advanced notice requirements for director nominations, Andrea has advised me there are no additional nominations for election as directors that were received. Now, 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, any questions on the election of directors?
There are no questions, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chris. For the election of directors, you'll see the names of all 14 nominees. Please scroll down to ensure that you voted on all 14 nominees. To cast your vote for a nominee, please select four, and to withhold your vote from a nominee, please select withhold. The next item of business is the appointment of our auditor 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 auditor?
I move that Deloitte LLP Chartered Professional Accountants be appointed as the auditor of the company for the ensuing year at a remuneration to be fixed by the directors.
Thank you, John and Chris. Any questions on the appointment of directors?
There are no questions, Mr. Chair.
Let's now turn to the motion to appoint the auditor. To cast your vote for the auditor's 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 right in our information circular, that was made available to shareholders on March 31st. We value your direct feedback on the company's executive compensation approach, the board will consider the results of this vote when evaluating future compensation policies, procedures, and decisions. This resolution must be approved by a simple majority of the votes cast by the holders of shares. May I please have a motion to approve our approach to executive compensation?
I move that the shareholders accept, on an advisory basis, the approach to executive compensation disclosed in the company's information circular delivered in advance of the 2023 annual general meeting of shareholders.
Thank you, John and Chris. 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, and to vote against this resolution, please select against. The next item of business is a motion to approve an increase to the share reserve under TELUS's restricted share unit plan, or RSU plan. The purpose of the RSU plan is to align the interests of management with those of shareholders by providing incentive compensation based on the value of the shares and to promote retention.
This stat of strategy provides an opportunity for participants to acquire through RSUs an increased ownership interest in the company. On March eighth, 2023, subject to shareholder approval, the board amended the RSU plan to increase the maximum number of shares to be reserved for issuance from 20 million shares to 49 million shares, representing approximately 3.40% of the number of outstanding shares. May I please have a motion to approve an increase on the maximum number of shares to be reserved for issuance from 20 million shares to 49 million shares under the RSU plan?
I move that the resolution set out in the 2023 information circular regarding an increase to the share reserve to 49 million shares under the RSU plan be approved.
Thank you, John and Chris Main. Any questions on the RSU plan resolution?
There are no questions, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chris. To cast your vote for the increase to the RSU plan share reserve, please select four. To vote against this resolution, please select against. The next item of business is a motion to approve an increase to the share reserve under TELUS's performance share unit plan or PSU plan. The purpose of the PSU plan is to link a portion of the at-risk compensation of the recipients to the share price and promote retention. This strategy provides an opportunity for participants to acquire through executive PSUs and management PSUs an increased ownership interest in the company. On March 8th, 2023, subject to shareholder approval, the board amended the PSU plan to increase the maximum number of shares to be reserved for issuance from 4,800,000 shares to 8,800,000 shares.
That represents approximately 0.61% of the number of outstanding shares. May I please have a motion to approve an increase of the maximum number of shares reserved for issuance under the PSU plan from 4,800,000 shares to 8,800,000 shares.
I move that the resolution set out in the 2023 information circular regarding an increase to the share reserve to 8,800,000 shares under the PSU plan be approved.
Thank you, John and Chris. Any questions on the PSU plan resolution?
No questions, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, Chris. To cast your vote for the PSU plan resolution, excuse me, to increase the share reserve, please select four. To vote against this resolution, please select against. We'll now continue with voting. If you've not already done so, please vote on all five items of business, I'll give you some additional time to finalize your vote selections. I declare the poll closed on all five items of business. Thank you. Scrutineers will now tabulate the results. We will disclose the official voting results shortly after this meeting. However, based on the proxies we received to date, we can confirm the results of the votes today. On the first motion, the election of directors, the 14 nominees listed on the information circular are elected.
On the second motion, the appointment of auditors, Deloitte LLP has been appointed as the company's auditor 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 regarding an increase to the share reserve under the RSU plan, the resolution has been approved. On the fifth motion regarding an increase to the share reserve under the PSU plan, that resolution has also 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 sedar.com or on telus.com following today's meeting. Now that we've completed the formal items of business, I declare the meeting terminated. We'll now 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 had noted earlier, you can select the messaging icon on the bottom of your screen and type your question or comment in the chat box at the bottom of your messaging screen. Please remember to press Send. 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'll post all questions and answers same spot within 24 hours. They will be available for one week following posting. We'd like to remind you that shareholders are always welcome to ask questions throughout the year, not just at this time of 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 appropriate TELUS team members get back to you. With that, do we have the first question, Chris?
Yes. We have a question from Cathy Anne, who asks: What is the TELUS board doing to increase the number of visible minorities and women on the TELUS board and senior executive team?
Thank you for your question, Cathy Anne. In 2022, we were one of only a few Canadian corporations to adopt and surpass diversity policies and targets beyond gender. We continue to surpass our board diversity policy targets. At this year's AGM, with the reduction in the number of our board members to 14, with my retirement, 46% of our independent director nominees are women. Two directors identify as members of a visible minority, and we have one who identifies as indigenous. There are four women with an executive officer position on the TELUS executive leadership. That represents 40% of this team. In addition, nearly, excuse me, nearly 30% of our executive leadership team identifies as members of a visible minority.
57% of the participants at TELUS senior leaders succession planning program are women, and this program prepares high-performing leaders for leadership roles at TELUS. Please excuse me. TELUS' commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is central to our social purpose, as reflected in our promise to make a friendlier future. We were recognized by Forbes as one of the best places to work in the world and named one of Canada's best diversity employers 13x .
We firmly believe that honoring the diversity of our TELUS team, customers, and communities lead to new perspectives, and it creates remarkable outcomes for Canadians. Working alongside the TELUS board, Darren and the senior leadership team over the last two decades foster a diverse and inclusive culture and that has been highly gratifying, and it's something that I am certainly proud of. Thanks for your question, Cathy Anne. I hope this gives you some more insight into TELUS' commitment to diversity and inclusion. Do you have the next question, Chris?
Yes, Mr. Chair. Brian is asking, how is TELUS' security business going?
Thank you for your excellent question, Brian. It's Darren here. I am pleased and proud to share, thanks to the fantastic work of our TELUS security team, that your company recently achieved a very significant milestone by reaching our 1 millionth security subscriber. What a fantastic accomplishment that it is by the amazing team.
Undoubtedly, this accomplishment is owing to our team's passion and unparalleled commitment to constantly putting our customers first, and what a difference that makes in the marketplace. You know, in just five years, our team has worked tirelessly with innovation and a high level of commitment to scale with excellence our smart security business. What started five years ago as an acquisition of 40,000 subscribers in Western Canada has now evolved into our national TELUS SmartHome Security and TELUS Secure Business. Boy, have we come a long way in a short period of time.
Today, we are the largest security company in all of Canada and the fastest-growing security company in North America. That's pretty cool. Moreover, with our organic growth in residential and commercial security and automation, we've seen strong accompanying penetration of our health services in our security base and an excellent pairing of our mobile and home services. In other words, people really like our bundle. We've also expanded our portfolio with pretty new, cool, innovative technology and services, including personal safety, SmartWear, TELUS Online Security, and cybersecurity. Reflecting the excellence and the skills of our customer-centric team being put into action for the benefit of our customers, our security service has certainly earned significant external recognition.
By way of just a few examples, we have won multiple Stevie Awards over the last two years, including the International Gold Awards for Achievement in Customer Experience and for Customer Service Department of the Year. We've won the International Silver Award for Customer Service Team of the Year, and we've won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Customer Service. Now to me, that's putting customers first, and that's what distinguishes us from the competition. TELUS Security was also named the most trusted home security provider in Canada by BrandSpark for the second year in a row. Engendering trust and delivering peace of mind in an increasingly anxious and insecure world is a pretty potent value proposition and necessary within our societies.
Myself and the board are truly grateful to our excellent team for helping Canadians feel more secure, for helping Canadians feel more in control as we create safer, more connected homes, more connected businesses and communities across Canada for their betterment. Thank you again, Brian, for your question, and thank you for being a customer and a shareholder of TELUS. We really appreciate it. Chris, next question.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. Bruce asks about TELUS's governance process for determining executive compensation.
Thank you for your question, Bruce. TELUS has a long-standing history of establishing best practices in corporate governance. We were one of the first corporations in Canada to voluntarily extend a say on pay advisory note to shareholders more than a decade ago. TELUS leverages a pay-for-performance approach, linking our executives pay to the achievement of our corporate priorities. A large majority of executive compensation remains at risk, 80%-90% of that contingent on company, business unit, and individual performance.
Our board's people, culture, and compensation committee benchmarks our compensation program with an independent consultant, and levels are established based on responsibility, expertise, competence, experience and performance. The salary range midpoints are at the 50th percentile of the peer group. TELUS team delivered stellar results in 2022, over the past two decades has consistently achieved industry-leading operational and financial results, significantly outperforming peers.
It's delivered superior value for shareholders and industry-best customer service on our globally recognized networks. In addition, over the last two decades, we increased our value nearly sevenfold to CAD 70 billion inclusive of TELUS International. We achieved the largest tech IPO in TSX history with TELUS International. We launched TELUS Health and TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods. We reached 18 million customer connections, a growth of 318% since the year 2000. Our brand value increased from few hundred million Canadian dollars to CAD 10.3 billion. We returned over CAD 23 billion to shareholders, including more than CAD 18 billion in dividends and another CAD 5 billion in share repurchases, representing over CAD 16 per share. We generated a total shareholder return of 720%.
That's more than double the TSX return of 350% and 717 percentage points above the MSCI World Communication Services Index. Finally, we've contributed CAD 1.5 billion, including 2 million days of service since 2000, making TELUS the most giving company in the world. Well, Bruce, I hope that provides a little more insight about TELUS policies and practices for executive compensation. Again, thank you very much for your question. Do we have time for one more question, Chris?
No.
Okay. With that, we will try to just move on to close out now. Our time is up. I'd like to remind you that responses to any questions we weren't able to answer today, though, will be posted on telus.com/agm, and you'll be able to get those responses shortly. Just to close out, I'd like to extend my personal thanks and that of the Board of Directors to all the TELUS team members whose commitment to putting customers first and making a world of difference drives our ongoing success.
Through your efforts, you continue to demonstrate our heartfelt social purpose by creating remarkable outcomes for our customers and our communities. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Darren for his remarkable leadership, vision, passion for TELUS throughout the years. I remember seeing Darren as a young man in his thirties, starting out making an acquisition of Clearnet.
At that time, there was a lot of pushback in terms of what he was doing, and clearly, this young man, now matured, has really grown into a world leader in terms of the telecom industry. It's been a delight, Darren, to see what you've accomplished. I'm sure that going forward it will continue. I certainly have found it a pleasure to work with you around the boardroom table and around the business. It's really been an exciting journey together. Thank you very much. I'd also like to thank you to provide a thank you to all our participate 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.
On a personal note, I'm extremely proud to have witnessed TELUS' tremendous growth over the years as it grew from a small regional telecom company 20 years ago into the technology titan that it is today. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have been part of this journey. I look forward to seeing what our company will accomplish under your leadership, John, and beyond. Lastly, thank you once again for attending today and for sharing our commitment to continue making the future friendly for all our shareholders, customers, and communities. Thank you very much.