Annual competition honours best employers in Canada, hails companies that are 'forward thinking'
The list of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2011 has been released by Mediacorp Canada. (The complete list of winning organizations is at the bottom of this article.)
The annual competition honours the best employers in the country. This year, amidst daily news of modest economic growth, the editors of the competition call the winners a “remarkable group of far-sighted employers that are offering lessons to other Canadian employers in creating exceptional places to work.”
"The decisions that employers make during times like these will affect their organizations for years to come, because challenging economic times also present many subtle opportunities for progress," said Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project.
For far-sighted employers, the benefits of being considered one of the nation's best places to work are considerable, said Mediacorp Publisher Tony Meehan.
"The elephant in the room is Canada's changing demographic composition," said Meehan. "Even with modest economic growth, it will soon be nearly impossible to replace Canada's current workforce, given current rates of immigration and labour force entry. Forward-thinking employers are seizing this opportunity to prepare for the day when not all organizations will be able attract the key people they need."
Guy C. Hachey, president and chief operating of Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal, said making the list recognizes all the hard work the company does on the people front.
"This year, in the spirit of continuous improvement, we decided to compare our current practices with those of the most successful organizations in Canada," said Hachey. "Being selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers recognizes the progress we have made in providing a rewarding environment for our employees, as well as our commitment to attract and retain the best talent."
Philip Blake, president and CEO of Bayer in Toronto, said the company is proud it has made the list four years running.
"It is an incredible honour to be acknowledged as one of Canada's leading employers for four consecutive years," said Blake. "Bayer listens to employee feedback and works at improving its programs to better meet employee needs."
At construction firm EllisDon in Mississauga, Ont., Janine Szczepanowski, vice-president of leadership and entrepreneurial development, said being on the list is further confirmation that the programs and initiatives the company has in place to attract and retain employees are working.
"Our success comes from staying true to our culture and ensuring that we reinforce our culture through the candidates that we hire, our day to day management and the initiatives we undertake as we strive toward building an even stronger company."
2011 list of Canada’s Top 100 Employers
Employers are listed alphabetically:
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation
Agrium Inc.
Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc.
Alcool NB Liquor
AMEC Americas Limited
ATB Financial
Bank of Canada
Bayer Inc.
BC Hydro
BC Public Service
BioWare ULC
BMO Financial Group
Bombardier Aerospace
British Columbia Lottery Corporation
British Columbia Safety Authority
Business Development Bank of Canada
Cameco Corporation
Canadian Security Intelligence Service
Capital District Health Authority
Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business (Publishers of Canadian HR Reporter)
Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto
Cementation Canada Inc.
Ceridian Canada Ltd.
Certified General Accountants Assoc. Canada
Co-operators Life Insurance Company
Cogsdale Corporation
College of Physicians & Surgeons of Ontario
Compass Group Canada
Deeley Harley-Davidson Canada
Digital Extremes
Edmonton Regional Airports Authority
EllisDon Corporation
Enbridge Inc.
Ericsson Canada Inc.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
Farmers Cooperative Dairy Ltd.
Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Limited
George Brown College
GlaxoSmithKline Inc.
Goldcorp Inc.
Golder Associates Ltd.
Great Little Box Company Ltd., The
Home Depot Canada, The
HP Advanced Solutions Inc.
Human Resources & Skills Development Canada
IMP Group Limited
Industry Canada
ISM Canada
Johnson Corporation, The
KPMG LLP
L'Oréal Canada Inc.
Ledcor Group of Companies
Loblaw Companies Limited
Manitoba Hydro
Mars Canada Inc.
McGill University
MDS Nordion Inc.
Medtronic of Canada Inc.
Molson Coors Canada
Monsanto Canada Inc.
National Energy Board
NB Power Holding Corporation
New Flyer Industries Canada ULC
Nexen Inc.
Novartis Pharma Canada Inc.
Nuance Communications Canada Inc.
Office of the Auditor General of Canada
OMNI Health Care Ltd.
Ontario Public Service
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Procter & Gamble Inc.
Rescan Environmental Services Ltd.
Research In Motion Limited (RIM)
Royal Bank of Canada
SAS Institute Canada, Inc.
Saskatchewan Government Insurance
SaskTel
Shell Canada Limited
Siemens Canada Limited
Simon Fraser University
Sophos Inc.
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
Stantec Inc.
Statistics Canada
Stikeman Elliott LLP
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
TD Bank Financial Group
Telus Corporation
Toronto Community Housing Corporation
Toronto Hydro Corporation
Toronto, City of
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc.
TransCanada Corporation
Union Gas Limited
University of Toronto
Vancouver City Savings Credit Union
Vancouver Island Health Authority
World Vision Canada
Yellow Pages Group Co.
Yukon Hospital Corporation
How winners were chosen
Now entering its 12th year, the Canada's Top 100 Employers competition is an editorial project organized by Mediacorp Canada Inc., a specialty publisher of employment guides and periodicals.
To develop this year's list, Mediacorp editors examined the recruitment histories of more than 75,000 employers across Canada that it tracks for its job search site, Eluta.ca. From this initial group, Mediacorp invited 10,000 of the fastest-growing employers to apply, plus another 2,500 companies and organizations in industries its editors wanted to examine more closely. Employers completed an extensive application process that included a detailed review of their operations and HR practices. More than 2,750 employers started this year's application process.
Employers are graded on eight key areas: physical workplace; work atmosphere and social; health, financial and family benefits; vacation and time off; employee communications; performance management; training and skills development; and community involvement.
