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2017 edition

The editors of Canada’s Top 100 Employers evaluate each employer based on the programs and initiatives they offer to attract and retain younger workers.Getty Images/iStockphoto

The most popular of the special-interest competitions, Canada's Top Employers for Young People is a winning proposition not only for the 100 organizations recognized here, but also for young Canadians looking to launch a career.

For the companies, the competition showcases who they are and what they do, providing a means of reaching out to future skilled employees. For young job-seekers, the competition is a valuable resource in finding the right fit with a youth-friendly company where they can get the support needed to excel.

Whether the organization is an engineering firm, hospital, brewery or cosmetics manufacturer, as large as Royal Bank of Canada with 52,488 employees or as small as Ecclesiastical Insurance Office PLC with just 68, this year's winners offer an outstanding array of progressive initiatives for younger workers.

These include paid internships, job rotation opportunities, mentorship, school partnerships and education tuition subsidies as well as strong in-house training and development programs for career advancement. A number of companies also maintain internal networks to foster connections and give young employees a voice, such as the Millennial Innovation Council at Capgemini Canada to encourage cross-generational collaboration, Croesus Finansoft's in-house "Gen Y Committee" to integrate, involve and motivate employees under 30 and Lafarge Canada's knowledge transfer days.

Kristina Leung, senior editor of Canada's Top 100 Employers at Mediacorp Inc., notes that recruitment initiatives for diverse or disadvantaged youth continue to be a focus for many of the companies. For instance, Saskatchewan Research Council maintains a dedicated aboriginal mentorship program to provide mentoring to students in STEM disciplines throughout the school year and Toronto-Dominion Bank partners with various community organizations to provide employment opportunities for diverse youth of all backgrounds.

These kinds of socially conscious initiatives are integral to Canada's Top Employers for Young People and are key to attracting and retaining today's young talent.

Methodology

The methodology and selection criteria used to determine this year's list remains unchanged from previous years.

The editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers evaluate each employer based on the programs and initiatives they offer to attract and retain younger workers. These include tuition assistance, the availability of co-op or work-study programs, mentorship and training programs, including benefits such as bonuses paid when employees complete certain courses or professional designations.

The editors also review each employer's career management program, looking for initiatives that can help younger workers advance faster in the organization. Lastly, the editors look at the average age of employees at each organization to better understand the composition and profile of their work force.

Any employer with its head office or principal place of business in Canada may apply for this competition through the Canada's Top 100 Employers application process. Organizations of any size may participate, whether private or public sector. Employers complete a single application for the national, regional and special-interest competitions, including Canada's Top Employers for Young People.

The list

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network Inc. / APTN, Winnipeg. Television broadcasting; 138 employees. Accepts up to four interns a year who are dedicated to reporting indigenous content.

Accenture Inc., Toronto. Management consulting; 3,425 employees. Manages a summer consulting internship program featuring an opportunity to attend a student leadership conference in Chicago.

Agrium Inc., Calgary. Agriculture products and fertilizer manufacturing; 3,440 employees. Offers a Marketers-in-Training program to help new grads combine their university or college knowledge with on-the-job training.

Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc., Boyle, Alta. Pulp and paper mills; 408 employees. Hosts a Career Week, with mill tours, business unit information booths, give-a-ways and door prizes.

AltaGas Ltd., Calgary. Natural gas distribution; 1,020 employees. Sponsors three scholarships for Mount Royal University students, recognizing excellence in business administration and communications/public relations.

ATB Financial, Edmonton. Credit union; 4,802 employees. Offers a summer student program featuring lunch-and-learn sessions, classroom learning and access to senior leaders.

Baycrest Health Sciences, Toronto. Nursing-care facilities; 975 employees. Developed a youth job-shadowing program to provide youth volunteers an opportunity to job shadow for a day.

Bayer, Mississauga. Pharmaceutical manufacturing; 1,522 employees. Manages the BIMS Global Program to help develop the company's younger talent to take on senior leadership roles.

BC Hydro, Vancouver. Hydroelectric power generation; 5,018 employees. Manages a two-year Engineer-in-Training program for recent engineering grads that includes rotations through multiple areas of the organization.

Bennett Jones LLP, Calgary. Law firm; 861 employees. Provides in-house mentoring for legal assistants, legal summer students and articling students.

Boeing Canada Operations Ltd., Winnipeg. Aircraft equipment manufacturing; 1,579 employees. Offers generous tuition subsidies for courses taken at outside institutions.

Brighter Mechanical Ltd., Richmond, B.C. Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors; 101 employees. Maintains a comprehensive trades development program to provide multiyear skills development streams for young people new to trades.

Bruce Power LP, Tiverton, Ont. Nuclear power generation; 4,071 employees. Hosts one of nine Canadian chapters of the North American Young Generation Nuclear organization.

Cactus Restaurants Ltd., Vancouver. Restaurants; 1,314 employees. Offered its first in-house Professional Cook Level 1 Class for first-year Cactus Club apprentices.

Calgary, City of, Calgary. Municipal government; 12,171 employees. Maintains a dedicated Youth Employment Centre to provide career counselling and planning to young people ages 15 to 24.

Cameco Corp., Saskatoon. Uranium mining; 3,040 employees. Established a trades apprenticeship program which includes mentoring, on-the-job training and financial support.

Canada Revenue Agency / CRA, Ottawa. Federal government; 39,495 employees. Maintains a Young Professional Network, a self-managed forum for young people.

Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd., Toronto. Retail; 85,000 employees. Offers a Finance Associate Analyst Rotational Program for graduates interested in finance.

Capgemini Canada Inc., Toronto. Information technology; 371 employees. Created a job-rotation program for staff with more than one year of experience.

Capital One Bank (Canada Branch), North York, Ont. Credit card issuing; 973 employees. Encourages creativity through Innovation Days, 48-hour events that allow employees to break from their regular jobs and work in teams on an innovation that interests them.

Cargill Ltd., Winnipeg. Food and agricultural products; 8,166 employees. Offers a variety of in-house training opportunities including a high-performance leadership academy and an online university.

Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, Ont. Business association; 82 employees. Piloted the region's first high-school Model UN, a one-day conference for senior high-school students.

Ceridian, Winnipeg. Payroll services; 1,597 employees. Offers New Grad Boot Camp, an eight-week curriculum for university interns and new grads in one of three streams, technical, project or business.

CIBC, Toronto. Banking; 36,215 employees. Manages a comprehensive co-op program featuring lunch-and-learn workshops, coaching and mentoring plus social events to help students connect across the organization.

Cisco Systems Canada Co., Toronto. Computer and equipment manufacturing; 1,741 employees. Offers an international Early-in-Career exchange, pairing participants with others for a one-week exchange to a Cisco host country.

Citco (Canada) Inc., Toronto. Portfolio management; 1,119 employees. Hosts a New Graduate Open House for prospective new grads to meet the senior management team, network and learn about the industry.

Citi Canada, Mississauga. Banking; 2,614 employees. Manages a number of Campus Analyst programs to provide recent graduates with opportunities to gain career-level experience.

Coca-Cola Canada, Toronto. Beverage and food manufacturing; 5,252 employees. Offers a 12-week paid summer sales internship program.

Collins Barrow Calgary LLP, Calgary. Accounting; 101 employees. Provides designated employee opportunities to work overseas for a temporary paid work term.

Communications Security Establishment, Ottawa. Federal government; 2,176 employees. Created a Young Professionals Network to provide support and a voice for young employees.

Connect Hearing, Victoria. Offices of physical, occupational and speech therapists, and audiologists; 359 employees. Supports employee development through a number of unique training opportunities.

Corus Entertainment Inc., Toronto. Media production and broadcasting; 1,513 employees. Participates in an internship program managed by Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning's Faculty of Animation, Arts and Design.

Croesus Finansoft Inc., Laval, Que. Custom computer programming; 159 employees. Maintains an in-house Gen Y Committee, which aims to integrate, involve and motivate employees under 30.

DeltaWare Systems Inc., Charlottetown. Custom computer programming; 100 employees. Offers mentoring to new employees as well as a professional development allowance.

Department of Finance Canada, Ottawa. Federal government; 750 employees. Hosted its second annual Interdepartmental Innovation Fair to showcase employees' innovations and successes and invited local students to participate.

Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Coast Guard, Ottawa. Federal government; 10,251 employees. Offers an Inshore Rescue Boat Program to provide employment experience and mentorship to postsecondary students.

Desjardins Group / Mouvement des caisses Desjardins, Lévis, Que. Credit union; 40,944 employees. Manages a Young Intern Officer program for individuals between the ages of 18 and 30.

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office PLC, Toronto. Insurance; 68 employees. Manages a Business Intern Program, a three-year rotational program for recent university graduates pursuing the Chartered Insurance Professional designation.

Enbridge Inc., Calgary. Natural gas distribution; 5,848 employees. Created a four-year professional development program to provide new engineering graduates with exposure to gas distribution engineering and operations activities.

EPCOR Utilities Inc., Edmonton. Electric power distribution, 2,273 employees. Created a job-shadow program to provide opportunities to work in another area of the business.

Fednav Ltd., Montreal. Deep-sea freight transportation; 176 employees. Hires two interns who participate in rotations in various departments.

Fidelity Canada, Toronto. Portfolio management; 792 employees. Offers a generous Work Relocation Program to help students cover moving costs if relocating for a co-op placement.

General Electric Canada / GE, Mississauga. Diversified technology and equipment manufacturing; 7,213 employees. Helps recent finance grads gain work experience through a Financial Management Program.

Great-West Life Assurance Co., Winnipeg. Insurance; 10,938 employees. Recruits actuarial students for summer co-op opportunities each year.

Groupe Dynamite Inc., Montreal. Retail; 1,824 employees. Created a Graduate Rotational Program to help cultivate young talent.

Hatch Ltd., Mississauga. Engineering; 2,930 employees. Offers scholarship grants, hosts information sessions and collaborates on research and development projects in partnership with universities across Canada.

Health Canada / Santé Canada, Ottawa. Federal government; 9,113 employees. Manages the Health Canada Science Management Development program, a three-year initiative for employees who want to become senior managers.

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto. Hospital: 514 employees. Created the Leading the Way Youth Employment Initiative to help high-school students with disabilities gain work experience and build connections.

Home Depot of Canada Inc., Toronto. Retail; 13,790 employees. Maintains an active presence on campuses, partnering with more than 100 colleges, universities and trade schools across Canada.

House of Commons, Ottawa. Legislative bodies; 1,556 employees. Selects 40 students from CEGEPs and high schools across Canada to participate in a dedicated Page Program.

Hydro One Ltd., Toronto. Electric power distribution; 5,482 employees. Provides scholarships, including paid work terms, in numerous categories including women in engineering, aboriginal students and black students.

Hydro Ottawa, Ottawa. Electric power distribution; 638 employees. Created an Engineer Intern Training and Development program to support the development of recent engineering grads.

Intact Financial Corp., Toronto. Insurance; 11,314 employees. Maintains a Graduate Leadership Development Program, a two-year rotation program for MBA graduates.

Intelliware Development Inc., Toronto. Computer programming; 83 employees. Encourages ongoing training and development through monthly lab sessions to facilitate hands-on technical knowledge sharing and learning.

Jazz Aviation LP, Dartmouth, N.S. Air transportation; 4,266 employees. Offers scholarships to students enrolled in Aircraft Maintenance Engineer programs at local community colleges.

JOEY Restaurant Group, Vancouver. Restaurants; 325 employees. Created a JOEY Campus employee website, a virtual university featuring online resources.

KPMG LLP, Toronto. Accounting; 6,385 employees. Launched Avenues, a program for graduates in the early stages of their career with the firm.

L'Oréal Canada Inc., Montreal. Cosmetics manufacturing; 1,200 employees. Manages Brandstorm, a marketing competition that allows groups of students to present a case-study analysis to L'Oréal judges.

Labatt Breweries of Canada, Toronto. Breweries; 3,143 employees. Created an expansive 10-month Global Management Trainee Program for undergraduate students.

Lafarge Canada Inc., Calgary. Concrete manufacturing; 5,143 employees. Hosts Precast Day to provide learning opportunities to students obtaining an engineering degree.

LoyaltyOne Co., Toronto. Marketing consulting; 1,187 employees. Maintains a Millennial Advisory Board of 30 millennial employees from different teams who consult regularly on organizational changes.

Manitoba, Government of, Winnipeg. Provincial government; 12,762 employees. Offered more than 1,300 students full– and part-time opportunities, including summer employment and co-op placements.

Manulife, Toronto. Insurance; 12,868 employees. Maintains an extensive co-op program, providing students with opportunities to participate in a variety of activities and events.

Matrix Solutions Inc., Calgary. Environmental consulting; 594 employees. Participates in the Operation Minerva program to encourage young women to consider a career in the sciences.

McMillan LLP, Toronto. Law firm; 666 employees. Maintains a student writing mentor program to help students and associates develop writing skills for research memos.

Metrolinx, Toronto. Public transit; 3,071 employees. Partnered with The United Way and Ready, Willing and Able to generate employment opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities or autism spectrum disorder.

Morgan Stanley Services Canada Corp., Montreal. Secondary market financing; 577 employees. Participates in on-campus events, career fairs, interview days and information sessions.

Northwest Territories, Government of, Yellowknife. Territorial government; 5,950 employees. Created a graduate internship program to recruit qualified postsecondary northern graduates into positions related to their field of study.

Northwestel Inc., Whitehorse. Telecommunications; 506 employees. Provides tuition subsidies for job-related courses and maintains a Northern Futures Scholarship program.

NTT Data Canada, Inc., Halifax. Computer systems design; 994 employees. Manages a dedicated business analyst program for recent MBA grads.

Nuance Communications Canada Inc., Montreal. Software publishers; 740 employees. Encourages employees to cultivate creativity through innovation challenges.

Ontario Public Service / OPS, Toronto. Provincial government; 62,080 employees. Maintains the Premier's Council on Youth Opportunities, an advisory body comprised of youth, young professionals, front-line workers and other leaders to help improve outcomes for young people.

PepsiCo Canada, Mississauga. Soft drink and food manufacturing; 9,358 employees. Manages Connect, a network for employees from all generations, job functions and levels of experience.

Pharmascience Inc., Montreal. Pharmaceutical manufacturing; 1,735 employees. Created a Business Leadership Rotation Program, to help employees develop the necessary skills for management-level positions.

Procter & Gamble Inc., Toronto. Consumer product manufacturing; 1,754 employees. Maintains the FAST Program to provide summer interns with opportunities to work on multifunctional teams to address current business issues.

Provincial Health Services Authority / PHSA, Vancouver. Hospitals; 10,346 employees. Offers a Radiation Therapy Service Technologist Trainee Program, which features dedicated training and practical experience for up to five years.

R.F. Binnie & Associates Ltd., Burnaby, B.C. Engineering; 115 employees. Manages an Engineer-in-Training program to support the career advancement of its employees and facilitate professional accreditation.

RBC, Toronto. Banking; 52,488 employees. Offers career-level experience to recent university and college graduates through their Career Launch Program, a one-year paid internship for graduates under 24.

Rogers Communications Inc., Toronto. Telecommunications, cable publishing and subscription programming; 23,177 employees. Created a dedicated rotational program to help candidates who have graduated within the past two years to gain industry experience.

SAP Canada Inc., Toronto. Custom computer programming; 2,863 employees. Provides students with the opportunity to work for a 10-week period, offered in partnership with BCIT's Business Information Technology Management Program.

Saskatchewan Government Insurance / SGI, Regina. Insurance; 1,882 employees. Participates in the Gradworks Intern Development Program for recent postsecondary graduates.

Saskatchewan Research Council / SRC, Saskatoon. Research and development; 344 employees. Offers mentoring for Engineers– and Geoscientists-in-Training to support employee efforts to achieve professional accreditation.

SaskPower, Regina. Hydroelectric power generation; 3,331 employees. Hires engineering interns for a period of eight to 16 months with a variety of positions across business units and departments.

SaskTel, Regina. Telecommunications; 3,102 employees. Participates in the InRoads program, an aboriginal-focused internship that includes pre-employment guidance and career counselling.

Siemens Canada Ltd., Oakville, Ont. Engineering; 4,904 employees. Offers a finance leadership development program to recruit, train and develop high-potential graduates through formal training, mentorship and rotations within the company.

Sodexo Canada Ltd., Burlington, Ont. Food service contractors; 5,961 employees. Manages an international mobility program, allowing employees to work in one of the 79 countries where Sodexo operates.

StandardAero, Winnipeg. Aircraft engine maintenance; 1,255 employees. Offers apprenticeship opportunities in a variety of trades including welding, power engineering, machining, plumbing and electrical.

Sun Life Financial Inc., Toronto. Insurance; 9,213 employees. Manages an actuarial development program that includes study materials, exam fee reimbursement and work rotations.

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto. Hospitals; 5,950 employees. Hosts an annual Healthcare Student Career Fair to create awareness of careers in a health-care environment.

Surrey, City of, Surrey, B.C. Municipal government; 1,825 employees. Offers practicum opportunities for students who attend local colleges and universities.

TD Bank Group, Toronto. Banking; 43,273 employees. Manages more than 20 associate programs to provide recent graduates with opportunities to gain career-level experience in a variety of fields.

Telus Corp., Vancouver. Telecommunications; 23,328 employees. Hosts a Social Enterprise Competition for employees to share ideas for a social enterprise that will help Canadians enhance their well-being.

UBC / University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Universities; 10,459 employees. Offers a variety of in-house training programs including the award winning Coaching@UBC program.

Ubisoft Toronto Inc., Toronto. Software publishers; 3,494 employees. Created a dedicated graduate program to identify and nurture the development of high-potential employees.

Unilever Canada Inc., Toronto. Consumer product manufacturing; 1,362 employees. Manages an extensive international internship program featuring a number of unique training and development opportunities.

Vision Critical Communications Inc., Vancouver. Custom computer programming; 562 employees. Participates in co-op programs and works with a number of postsecondary institutions.

West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., Vancouver. Sawmills; 5,449 employees. Manages a New and Young Worker Program to provide extensive training to employees under 25.

Whistler Blackcomb, Whistler. Skiing and resort operations; 3,250 employees. Participates in the Government of British Columbia's Blade Runners program to help at-risk youth between 15 and 30 develop employment skills.

YMCA of Greater Toronto, Toronto, Individual and family services; 1,546 employees. Helps young people improve their official second language skills while gaining paid work experience through a national summer work student exchange program.

York, Regional Municipality of, Newmarket, Ont. Municipal government; 3,352 employees. Established an Accelerated Advancement for Analysts program to provide work experience to recent graduates of masters programs.

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