Top 35 best employers for new Canadians

British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, Vancouver

• Hydroelectric power generation; 5,437 employees.
• CEO chairs Immigrant Employment Council of B.C.

Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Halifax

• Wired telecommunications carrier; 8,442 employees.
• Developing a program to provide work placements for new Canadians.

Bank of Montreal, Toronto

• Commercial banking; 25,541 employees.
• Organizes onsite hiring fairs for new Canadians at its headquarters.

Business Development Bank of Canada, Montreal

• Non-depository credit intermediation; 1,685 employees.
• Recognizes international credentials during the hiring process.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto

• Commercial banking; 33,773 employees.
• Participates in a “speed mentoring” program in which employees meet one-on-one with employee mentors.

Canadian Tool & Die Ltd., Winnipeg

• Fluid power cylinder and actuator manufacturing; 218 employees.
• Participated in Workplace Integration of Newcomers pilot project.

Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc., Kitchener, Ont.

• Audio and visual equipment manufacturing; 402 employees.
• Provides internships to new Canadian engineers in partnership with the Waterloo Region Immigrant Employment Network and Conestoga College.

DALSA Inc., Waterloo, Ont.

• Semi conductor and regulated device manufacturer; 787 employees.
• Has provided paid ESL training to employees, on request, on company premises during company time for 10 years.

Davis + Henderson, Toronto

• Manifold business forms printing; 1,206 employees.
• Hired candidates from Newcomer Opportunities for Work program.

Deloitte & Touche LLP, Toronto

• Certified public accountants; 7,474 employees.
• Helps new Canadian employees adjust to the workplace through a co-worker “buddy” program.

Energy Resources Conservation Board, Calgary

• Regulation and administration of communications, electric, gas and other utilities; 792 employees.
• Hires new Canadian job seekers with international credentials in engineering, geology and other technical fields.

Enermodal Engineering Inc., Kitchener, Ont.

• Engineering services; 76 employees.
• Has hired immigrants referred by the Working Centre.

Epcor Utilities Inc., Edmonton

• Hydroelectric power generation; 2,832 employees.
• Travelled to Manila to recruit aerial power line workers and hired them as permanent employees.

Export Development Canada, Ottawa

• International trade financing; 1,075 employees.
• Attended Hire Immigrants career fair.

Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, Montreal

• Lawyers; 1,406 employees.
• Established a six-month paid internship program to help internationally trained lawyers.

Regional Municipality of Halton, Oakville, Ont.

• Legislative bodies; 1,550 employees.
• Provides Career Bridge internships to new Canadians in fields such as asset management, community relations and transportation services.

KPMG LLP, Toronto

• Certified public accountants; 5,245 employees.
• Provides work placements to new Canadians enrolled in the Toronto District School Board’s Enhanced Language Training for Financial Services program.

Manulife Financial Corp., Toronto

• Life insurance carriers; 10,034 employees.
• Provides paid internships in mid- and senior-level positions to new Canadian job seekers through the Career Bridge program.

Maple Trade Finance Inc., Halifax

• Intermediation; 19 employees.
• Is taking a leadership role in addressing new Canadian recruitment and integration.

McGill University Health Centre, Montreal

• General medical and surgical hospitals; 6,039 employees.
• Develops in-house training to hire internationally trained administrative technicians to work as medical secretaries.

Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto

• General medical and surgical hospitals; 2,268 employees.
• Recognizes years of international work experience for new Canadian nurses.

Providence Health Care, Vancouver

• General medical and surgical hospitals; 3,507 employees.
• Hired nearly 100 internationally trained nurses as part of the International Recruitment Campaign.

Replicon Inc., Calgary

• Environmental consulting services; 76 employees.
• Administers technical skills tests to ensure internationally trained candidates are evaluated on par with candidates with Canadian credentials.

Rescan Environmental Services Ltd., Vancouver

• Environmental consulting services; 108 employees.
• Pairs new Canadian engineers with senior engineering employees.

Saskatoon Health Region, Saskatoon

• General medical and surgical hospitals; 5,319 employees.
• Saskatchewan is the first province to sign memorandum of understanding with the Philippines in regard to hiring nurses.

SaskEnergy Inc., Regina

• Natural gas distribution; 1,031 employees.
• Does not screen out internationally trained engineers during the hiring process.

St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto

• General medical and surgical hospitals; 3,450 employees.
• Teaches other organizations how to create mentoring programs for immigrant job seekers or employees.

Stikeman Elliott LLP, Toronto

• Lawyers; 1,286.
• Has hired lawyers who have completed National Committee on Accreditation requirements to practise law in Canada.

Syncrude Canada Ltd., Fort McMurray, Alta.

• Crude petroleum and natural gas extraction; 5,430 employees.
• Does not hire temporary foreign workers; hires immigrants with Canadian citizenship.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto

• Commercial banking; 37,088 employees.
• Has mentored more than 400 new Canadian job seekers to help them access professional networks in their fields of expertise

Toronto Community Housing Corp., Toronto

• Residential property managers; 1,403 employees.
• Welcomes new Canadians by posting available jobs in ethnic community newspapers, working with community organizations and attending job fairs.

TransCanada Corp., Calgary

• Natural gas distribution; 2,337 employees.
• Trains recruiters to address and recognize cross-cultural issues in the hiring process.

University of Ottawa, Ottawa

• Colleges, universities and professional schools; 2,813 employees.
• Employment presentations to immigrant service organizations about jobs at the university and how to apply.

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Vancouver

• General medical and surgical hospitals; 10,498 employees.
• Provides classroom training and on-site practicums to internationally trained nurses enrolled in a provincial program and hires them when their work practicum is complete.

Wardrop Engineering Inc., Winnipeg

• Engineering services; 819 employees.
• Provides onsite English language instruction and cross-cultural training.

HOW THEY WERE CHOSEN

The Best Employers for New Canadians are chosen by editors at Mediacorp Canada Inc., a Toronto-based publishing firm. They select the winners based on five main criteria, according to whether the companies:

• Offer programs designed to assist employees who are recent immigrants to Canada; 
• Have reduced employment barriers for recent immigrants, such as by recognizing foreign educational credentials and experience;
• Assist new employees with foreign professional or educational credentials in getting their qualifications recognized in Canada;
• Offer programs such as internal coaching or mentoring to help employees who are recent immigrants understand the Canadian workplace; and
• Their managers and employees receive training in cross-cultural issues or inclusiveness, to help create a welcoming and productive environment for employees who are recent immigrants.

The Best Employers for New Canadians competition is managed by Mediacorp editors who publish Canada’s Top 100 Employers, in partnership with ALLIES, a joint initiative of the Maytree Foundation and the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation. The partners at ALLIES do not take part in the selection process.

Compiled by Diane Jermyn