Halton-Based Companies Among Canada’s Top Employers for Young People

Published February 9, 2018 at 4:31 pm

Millennials and Gen-Z kids aren’t exactly lifers when it comes to the workforce.

That’s old news.

So how do companies attract – and retain- them?

Millennials and Gen-Z kids aren’t exactly lifers when it comes to the workforce.

That’s old news.

So how do companies attract – and retain- them?

Employers know the current generation of students and recent graduates are all about finding the ‘right organization,’ which is a tough job in and of itself.

Winners of the 2018 Canada’s Top Employers for Young People were announced on Feb. 9 and Halton is well-represented. 

Oakville, Burlington, and Milton nabbed a spot on the list via Ford Motor Company of Canada, Siemens Canada, Sodexo Canada, and Rockwool.

Our neighbours are also on the list: Mississauga has six employers (Bayer, Citi Canada, Hatch Ltd., PepsiCo Canada, Samsung Electronics Canada, and Schneider Electric Canada), and Brampton is represented by Loblaw Companies.

Young people are discerning about where they start their careers – and want to be sure that their beliefs and values line up with a prospective employer’s.

Organizations can go about attracting the best and the brightest by connecting work to a higher purpose, say employers.

“In the competition for talent, a key variable for millennials and Gen-Z is the ability to connect their work with greater meaning – that’s where winners of this year’s competition excel,” said senior editor of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project Kristina Leung.

“Whether on a personal or professional level, the employers chosen for this year’s list provide opportunities for career growth and advancement – as well as opportunities to support broader social causes through community projects and volunteerism.”

Managing editor Richard Yerema calls it an ideal combination.

“It demonstrates an organization’s commitment to the growth of their employees as individuals – ultimately, that helps keep young people stay engaged and connected to the work they do,” he said.


Here are some notable initiatives that the editors recognized this year:

  • SAP Canada offers high-potential employees opportunities to participate in a ‘social sabbatical’ program, a unique, short-term assignment where the employee works with a team of international colleagues to solve business problems for entrepreneurs and SME sector organizations.
  • Toronto-based Citi Canada offers several public service opportunities for employees working as analysts – including ServiceCorps, a 1-year fellowship program that matches incoming tech analysts with non-profit and public-sector organizations.
  • Vancity/Vancouver City Savings Credit Union encourages ongoing employee development with generous tuition subsidies as well as a unique ‘live and work’ co-op training option for employees interested in living in Bologna, Italy, where various co-op training programs account for one-third of the city’s economic activity.
  • SaskPower manages an employee resource group (“Youth Network”) for staff under the age of 29 that meets regularly and hosts extracurricular activities.

Now in its 16th consecutive year, Canada’s Top Employers for Young People is an editorial competition that recognizes employers offering the nation’s best workplaces and programs for young people starting their careers.

Winners of the competition are chosen by the editorial team at the Canada’s Top Employers project on the basis of the programs and initiatives they offer to attract and retain younger workers.

These include a wide range of benefits, such as tuition assistance and the availability of co-op or work-study programs.

The editors also examine each employer’s mentorship and training programs, including benefits such as bonuses paid when employees complete courses or obtain professional designations, and review each employer’s career management program, looking for initiatives that help younger workers to advance faster in the organization.

The full list of 2018 winners is included below. 


Canada’s Top Employers for Young People

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Inc. / APTN (Winnipeg MB)

Accenture Inc. (Toronto ON)

AIG Insurance Company of Canada(Toronto ON)

Alberta Health Services / AHS (Edmonton AB)

Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc.(Boyle AB)

ATB Financial (Edmonton AB)

Baycrest Health Sciences(Toronto ON)

Bayer (Mississauga ON)

BC Hydro(Vancouver BC)

Bell Canada(Montréal QC)

Bennett Jones LLP(Calgary AB)

Bruce Power LP(Tiverton ON)

Cactus Restaurants Ltd.(Vancouver BC)

Canadian Tire Corporation Limited (Toronto ON)

Capgemini Canada Inc. (Toronto ON)

Capital One Bank (Canada Branch) (North York ON)

Cargill Limited(Winnipeg MB)

Centre for International Governance Innovation, The(Waterloo ON)

Ceridian HCM Inc.(Winnipeg MB)

CIBC (Toronto ON)

Cisco Systems Canada Co. (Toronto ON)

Citi Canada (Mississauga ON)

Cole Engineering Group Ltd. (Markham ON)

Collins Barrow Calgary LLP (Calgary AB)

Communications Security Establishment / CSE (Ottawa ON)

Connect Hearing (Victoria BC)

Corus Entertainment Inc. (Toronto ON)

Croesus Finansoft Inc. (Laval QC)

D2L Corporation (Kitchener ON)

DeltaWare Systems Inc. (Charlottetown PE)

Department of Finance Canada (Ottawa ON)

Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard (Ottawa ON)

Desjardins Group / Mouvement des caisses Desjardins (Lévis QC)

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office PLC (Toronto ON)

Edmonton, City of (Edmonton AB)

Enbridge Inc. (Calgary AB)

EPCOR Utilities Inc. (Edmonton AB)

Fednav Limited (Montréal QC)

Fidelity Canada (Toronto ON)

Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited (Oakville ON)

General Motors of Canada Company (Oshawa ON)

Groupe Dynamite Inc. (Mont-Royal QC)

Harvard Developments Inc. (Regina SK)

Hatch Ltd. (Mississauga ON)

Health Canada / Santé Canada (Ottawa ON)

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (Toronto ON)

House of Commons Administration (Ottawa ON)

Hydro Ottawa (Ottawa ON)

Intact Financial Corporation (Toronto ON)

Jazz Aviation LP (Dartmouth NS)

JOEY Restaurant Group (Vancouver BC)

Keurig Canada Inc. (Montréal QC)

Kinaxis Inc. (Ottawa ON)

KPMG LLP (Toronto ON)

L’Oréal Canada Inc. (Montréal QC)

Labatt Brewing Company Limited (Toronto ON)

Lafarge Canada Inc. (Calgary AB)

Loblaw Companies Limited (Brampton ON)

LoyaltyOne, Co.(Toronto ON)

Manitoba Hydro (Winnipeg MB)

Manitoba, Government of (Winnipeg MB)

Manulife (Toronto ON)

McMillan LLP (Toronto ON)

Metrolinx (Toronto ON)

Miller Group, The (Markham ON)

MTU Maintenance Canada Ltd. (Richmond BC)

Northwest Territories, Government of (Yellowknife NT)

Northwestel Inc. (Whitehorse YT)

NTT DATA Canada, Inc. (Halifax NS)

Nuance Communications Canada Inc. (Montréal QC)

Oliver Wyman Limited (Toronto ON)

Ontario Public Service / OPS (Toronto ON)

PepsiCo Canada (Mississauga ON)

Procter & Gamble Inc. (Toronto ON)

R.F. Binnie & Associates Ltd. (Burnaby BC)

Rockwool (Milton ON)

Rogers Communications Inc.(Toronto ON)

Royal Bank of Canada (Toronto ON)

Samsung Electronics Canada Inc.(Mississauga ON)

SAP Canada Inc. (Vancouver BC)

Saskatchewan Research Council / SRC (Saskatoon SK)

SaskPower (Regina SK)

SaskTel (Regina SK)

Schneider Electric Canada Inc. (Mississauga ON)

Siemens Canada Limited (Oakville ON)

Sodexo Canada Ltd. (Burlington ON)

StandardAero (Winnipeg MB)

Statistics Canada (Ottawa ON)

Sun Life Financial Inc. (Toronto ON)

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (Toronto ON)

Surrey, City of (Surrey BC)

TD Bank Group (Toronto ON)

UBC / University of British Columbia (Vancouver BC)

Ubisoft Toronto Inc. (Toronto ON)

Vancouver City Savings Credit Union (Vancouver BC)

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.(Vancouver BC)

Whistler Blackcomb (Whistler BC)

YMCA of Greater Toronto (Toronto ON)

York Regional Police (Aurora ON)

York, Regional Municipality of (Newmarket ON)

(Source: Mediacorp Canada Inc.)

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