Once you're on the career ladder, the company you work for can make a huge difference to not only your happiness, but your professional development, bank balance and retirement planning. For 2020, the best companies to work for in Canada offer a strong work-life balance, education and training programmes, and give employees the chance to give back to their communities, according to Glassdoor. Want to find out more about them? Click or scroll through the top Canadian employers, as reviewed anonymously by workers themselves.
Nestlé arrived in Canada in 1918 with the purchase of a small milk factory in Chesterville, Ontario. Today, Nestlé in Canada employs approximately 3,200 people in over 18 manufacturing, sales and distribution sites across the country, with the head office located in North York, Ontario. The company places an emphasis on wellbeing, and offers staff a “healthy lives” program to offer education on nutrition for employees and their families.
One employee on Glassdoor notes that Accenture has a “fantastic culture, amazing flexibility, good rewards and varied projects”. The Fortune 500 consulting company has more than 492,000 employees worldwide, serving clients in more than 120 countries. Its notable projects include “Envisioning new career pathways”, which is aiming to build an inclusive future of work for employees whose jobs might most be at risk from automation. Accenture also delivers a number of environmental and volunteer programmes. The firm has also been included on DiversityInc's Top 50 Companies for Diversity list for 13 consecutive years.
Apple Canada Inc has its HQ in Markham, Ontario, where more than 100 people work. Keeping to the ethos that “everyone is an innovator”, Apple invests heavily in new projects, and has over 800 engineers and specialists working on cameras alone. Perks include programmes that match employees’ charitable contributions, reimbursements for continuing education, and special employee pricing on Apple products.
The 67-year-old retail giant IKEA Group is stronger than ever. It achieved US$45.4 billion in revenue 2019 and has 433 locations and 211,000 employees globally. Its benefits include the One IKEA Bonus programme, which is based on work performance, and ‘Tack!’ – 'thank you' in Swedish – a loyalty programme which rewards employees with an extra contribution to their pension for staying with the company. Glassdoor reviewers’ also noted the company's “encouraging flexible working policy”.
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is one of the largest and most culturally diverse school boards in Canada, with approximately 246,000 students in 584 schools and 40,000 employees. Over 40% of their graduates rank as Ontario Scholars, and more than 80% of their graduates go on to university or college. Despite the challenges around pay and long hours that education can bring, employees highlighted the school’s “friendly, welcoming environment.”
Costco Wholesale owes its existence to entrepreneur Sol Price who opened the first Price Club warehouse in San Diego in 1976, creating the concept of retail warehouse clubs. Costco's first warehouse opened seven years later in Seattle, and merged with Price Club in 1993. It now has more than 10 million customers across Canada. With many of its employees on part time or temporary contracts, education is a key part of Costco’s culture. The organisation offers a college student retention programme, which allows students to work during term breaks and take time off during the school year. It also offers to college and university scholarships for tuition and fees.
One of Canada's biggest banks, the Royal Bank of Canada employs more than 86,000 full- and part-time employees globally, who serve more than 16 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the US and 34 other countries. In 2019 the bank won Canada’s Best Diversity Employer, and it makes a particular effort to welcome those who are new to Canada. It also has an impressive graduate programme and attempts to tackle youth unemployment through breaking the “no experience, no job” cycle.
Canadian telecommunications company Vidéotron was established in 1964, under the name "Télécâble Vidéotron Ltée" as northern Montréal's first cable television network. Vidéotron serves 1,830,400 cable television customers, including over 1,517,600 digital cable subscribers. Reflecting the culturally rich city of Quebec, the company has a diverse workforce, while providing competitive salaries and stable hours for employees. The business is keen to support the people of Quebec too, and supports many community causes focusing on young people and families in need with donations.
Providing care to the community for more than 200 years, University Healthcare Network (UHN) is a landmark in Canada’s health care system. Made up of Toronto General, Toronto Western, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and The Michener Institute of Education, the network saw the Toronto General named one of the world's Top 10 Hospitals in 2019 by Newsweek. And it's not just a good outlook for patients, with workers receiving benefits too. Work-life balance is a fundamental part of UHN's culture, as the organisation offers an onsite wellness center, an employee assistance program, as well as medical and dental benefits.
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Purdys was founded in 1907 by Richard C. Purdy, who opened his first shop on Robson Street in Vancouver. Today, the organisation has a 900-strong workforce. The company has managed to maintain its family feel despite its growth, with employees praising management’s hands-on approach. Workers’ also benefit from a 30% discount on chocolate and confectionery, gym membership, and a decent vacation allowance.
Mobile phone retail firm Glentel operates under the brands Tbooth Wireless, WIRELESS etc., and WIRELESSWAVE. There are various positions in retail and corporate across all 356 of its locations, with its longest serving employee staying with the company for 35 years. The earning potential in the company is especially good, with employees claiming that Glentel provides plenty of opportunities for career progression, high commission, and performance-related bonuses.
Harris Computers is described by one employee on Glassdoor as an organisation which “truly expresses the values between staff, management, and to those outside of the company”. It has over 5000 employees across 158 locations and provides software for healthcare, utilities, and private and public sectors. Benefits include a highly recommended life insurance plan, a good pension plan, generous vacations, and quirky social events.
Based in Toronto, the Sunnybrook Healthcare Sciences Centre is the location of largest trauma centre in Toronto, and welcomes 1.2 million patients per year. The hospital is also home to Canada’s veteran centre. Employees cite a strong work-life balance and a high standard of education as the main benefits of working at the centre. It offers support for continuing education and the Sunnybrook Leader Institute to boost internal progression.
ManpowerGroup is the third largest staffing firm in the world. Operating across 80 countries, in 2018 ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the ninth year. ManpowerGroup has been praised for its work on accessibility, having recruited thousands of people with disabilities with employees. The company is now working with the Dutch Council for Refugees to offer re-training and employment.
Cisco Systems Canada has recently improved its benefits for workers growing their families, and has increased Supplemental Unemployment Benefit – known as top-up payments – for those on maternity leave from six to 13 weeks, and now offers top-up payments for fathers up to four weeks, and between four and 13 weeks for adoptive parents. The firm is supportive of employees wishing to volunteer during working hours, and even has an employee-led Civic Council, which decides what organisations Cisco will support.
The Canadian federal government is not only Canada’s largest employer, it also has some of the most attractive career opportunities. With more than 200 different departments to choose from, jobs range from geologists to program managers. Alongside typically high salaries and job security, they also provide a number of strong career pathways for graduates and others entering the job market, and part-time jobs for students.
Construction business Aecon provides infrastructure services to public and private sector clients, but it also likes to build on its employees' skills. The ‘Aecon University’ offers employees a number of different courses, feedback assessments and individual learning development programmes. The company also takes pride in its commitment to safety of its staff, and has a transparent approach towards corporate social responsibility and sustainability.
Last year, Ericsson announced that there would be more than 30 new jobs for engineers, data scientists, AI/machine learning (ML) architects, and software developers at Ericsson's Montréal Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator hub. The firm's existing employees enjoy a flexible approach towards career development and training, while 90% of its employees said in an internal survey that they felt the organisation’s values were relevant to them.
As Canada's largest city, and the fourth largest city in North America, the City of Toronto has shown a commitment to diversity and inclusion efforts, having been featured on Canada’s Best Diversity Employers every year since 2016. It has a particularly strong focus on its Aboriginal Employment Strategy, where its working with city divisions to increase awareness of the community’s barriers to work and employment, and improved outreach for master’s and PhD students.
This responsible, sustainable travel company has 2,200 employees globally, with 28 offices worldwide and its headquarters located in Toronto. Glassdoor reviewers highlighted that G Adventures is an organisation that “lives and breathes its values”, which are based around “changing people’s lives for the better” for employees and customers alike. As a lively, unconventional company, its perks include karaoke nights, dog-friendly offices, and a free trip each year after six months of working there.
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Founded in 1971 in North Vancouver as The Keg n’ Cleaver by George Tidball, the restaurant chain now operates in nine provinces and five American States. Employees praise the company’s discounts, which offer 40% off food and drink for staff members and up to three friends for floor staff, and up to an extra 8 people for management workers. Its benefits package for those working over 30 hours a week includes family medical, vision, and dental coverage. It’s a sociable organisation, hosting regular staff parties and sporting events.
The six-year-old company, which raised $500 million in June 2019 from investors including Coatue, Tencent and Sequoia, claims to be one of the world’s biggest online education companies, with 70,000 teachers in the US and more than 600,000 students in China. There's flexibility to choose your own schedule, on-going support, and a strong network. VIPKID's CEO, Cindy Mi, has a 92% approval rating on Glassdoor, having set up the company following her own poor experiences as a teacher and student.
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Alongside taking second position in Glassdoor’s Great Places to Work, Salesforce ranked second place in Forbes’ best companies to work for in 2019. The cloud-based company providing customer-relationship management services offers a number of rewards and benefits, including a $100 per month wellness reimbursement for employees and their families, paid time off to volunteer, and also covers the costs of courses from pre-approved education providers. The company’s CEO has tried to instil the notion of ‘Ohana’ (Hawaiian for 'extended family') into the Salesforce culture to promote a happy working environment.
Bill Gates’ multi-billion tech company came to Canada in 1985, and has grown to have 11 offices across the country, including its Canadian headquarters in Mississauga. The organisation champions a flexible working culture, with employees frequently praising management’s emphasis on a family-friendly working environment on Glassdoor. As you’d expect, there’s also a big emphasis on innovation. Most recently, the company announced a $40 million programme for its researchers to use AI to tackle global health crises.
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