Shaw Communications Completes First Phase of Total Business Transformation Initiative

• Total Business Transformation initiative will enable Shaw to be a company that can execute quicker, function more efficiently, and connect Canadians to the world around them better than ever before.
• Voluntary Departure Program represents first step towards building a streamlined and more agile operating model; 18-month transition period ensures operational stability.
• Customer service and operational focus remain top priorities as company makes orderly transition to a new service delivery model.

CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 15, 2018 - Shaw Communications Inc. (TSX:SJR.B) (TSX:SJR.PR.A) (TSX:SJR.PR.B) (NYSE:SJR) (TSXV:SJR.A) today announced the results of its voluntary departure program (“VDP”), the first step in a multi-year Total Business Transformation (“TBT”) initiative, designed to reinvent its operating model to better meet the changing tastes and expectations of consumers and businesses.

“Shaw has built decades of success by being a company that adapts well and shapes its future. We determine how we can improve, choose a path, and act on it. We are making the necessary changes to better serve our customers through a lean, integrated and more agile workforce,” said Jay Mehr, President, Shaw Communications.

Approximately 3,300 employees elected to participate in the VDP, which represents 25% of the company’s total workforce. As anticipated, the majority of employees who have chosen to accept the voluntary departure packages are in areas of Shaw’s business that can be further optimized through the use of technology and a more efficient service delivery model. “The actual uptake falls within scenarios considered and therefore we expect the business to continue to operate in the normal course with no impact on customer experience,” Mr. Mehr said.

As part of the program design, the majority of customer-facing employees (i.e., Customer Care, Retail, Sales) were not eligible to participate in the VDP and – as a key component of the program – Shaw has control over the timing of employee departures across the company to ensure they are actively managed through an orderly transition over the next 18 months.

In connection with various TBT activities to-date, including the VDP, the company expects to incur a restructuring charge of approximately $450 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2018, primarily related to severance and other employee related costs, as well as additional expenses associated with the TBT initiative. The anticipated annualized savings, which include reductions in operating expenses and capital expenditures (i.e. capitalized labour), related to the VDP is expected to be approximately $225 million, to be fully realized in fiscal 2020. The company expects the savings to be equally weighted between operating expenses and capital expenditures. While the restructuring charge will be recognized in the second quarter fiscal 2018 results, the actual timing of employee payments related to the charge will occur over an 18-month period, starting in April 2018.

“We made the difficult but necessary decision to modernize our wireline and satellite businesses by offering a generous package to those people who helped us build Shaw and chose not to join us in this transformative period of growth,” Mr. Mehr said. “We thank all our employees for the contributions they have made to this organization and we thank each of them for their dedication to our customers.”

The company remains in the early stages of Total Business Transformation and additional details will be provided as progress is made. Specific information regarding the timing of anticipated savings related to the VDP, will be discussed in conjunction with the release of our second quarter fiscal 2018 results on April 12, 2018.

About Shaw

Shaw Communications Inc. is a leading Canadian connectivity company. The Wireline division consists of Consumer and Business services. Consumer serves residential customers with broadband Internet, Shaw Go WiFi, video and digital phone. Business provides business customers with Internet, data, WiFi, digital phone, and video services. The Wireless division provides wireless voice and data services through an expanding and improving mobile wireless network infrastructure.

Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (Symbol: TSX - SJR.B, SJR.PR.A, SJR.PR.B, NYSE – SJR, and TSXV – SJR.A). For more information, please visit www.shaw.ca.