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Leading by Listening: the winners of this year’s ‘Canada’s Top 100 Employers’ competition are announced

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As Canadians adapt to a new normal of work, finding the right fit becomes a question of choice. This year’s Canada’s Top 100 Employers are leading by listening, tapping into employee feelings and sentiments about the many challenges of the past year. The 2023 winners were announced today by Mediacorp Canada Inc., organizers of the annual competition.

“Employers are trying to find their footing in unfamiliar territory,” says Richard Yerema, executive editor of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project at Mediacorp. “There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach for hybrid and remote work. Agility and willingness to learn from feedback and try something new is what differentiates this year’s winners.”

Along with managing the return to the workplace, organizations have doubled down on their efforts to support health and wellness, from enhanced programming and resources to increased coverage for mental health services and providing access to mindfulness and meditation apps.

“There really isn’t an alternative to listening to employees and trying to understand how their needs have changed,” adds Anthony Meehan, publisher at Mediacorp “We see a lot being written on trends like ‘quiet quitting’ and employees not wanting to return to their pre-pandemic working arrangements, but the reality is that burn-out and mental health have become significant challenges. Finding ways to ensure that employees can disconnect, rest and recharge has become mission-critical to an organization’s success and sustainability.”

Now in its 23rd annual edition, Canada’s Top 100 Employers is an editorial competition that recognizes employers with exceptional human resources programs and forward-thinking workplace policies. Editors at Mediacorp grade employers on eight criteria, which have remained consistent since the project’s inception: (1) Physical Workplace; (2) Work Atmosphere & Social; (3) Health, Financial & Family Benefits; (4) Vacation & Time Off; (5) Employee Communications; (6) Performance Management; (7) Training & Skills Development; and (8) Community Involvement. The editors publish detailed ‘reasons for selection’ for these criteria, providing transparency in the selection of winners and a catalogue of best practices for employers and job-seekers.

Founded in 1992, Mediacorp Canada Inc. is the nation’s largest publisher of employment periodicals. Since 1999, the Toronto-based publisher has managed the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project, which includes 18 regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach millions of Canadians annually through a variety of magazine and newspaper partners, including The Globe and Mail. Mediacorp also operates Eluta.ca, one of Canada’s largest job search engines, which reaches over two million job-seekers annually and features exclusive editorial reviews from the Canada’s Top 100 Employers project. The company also publishes The Career Directory, now in its 30th year – a free online guide for recent college and university graduates looking for employers hiring candidates from their educational background.

The full list of 2023 winners were announced this morning in a published in The Globe and Mail in print and online. The full list of winners and our editors’ detailed reasons for selection were also released today online.

2023 Winners

Here are the 2023 winners of the Canada’s Top 100 Employers competition. Click an employer name to read our editors’ full Reasons for Selection:

A-B

C-D

E-I

K-O

P-T

U-Z

SOURCE: Mediacorp Canada Inc.

Gentle Teaching Stories: “I am more aware of how to treat others with unconditional love and respect.”

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Meet Our COR Family: Casey Sakires

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Hello! I am Casey! I am the Employee Experience Advisor. Primarily I am that familiar face for new supports as they are interviewed, on-boarded, and begin their journey with COR. I have been at COR for 3 years now! The way that I found out about COR was that I actually saw a posting for the Director of People and Culture role. I began exploring the website and inquiring about the organization – everything resonated with me. I don’t even know how much time I ended up spending watching every video and reading all about COR. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard of COR before! I ended up applying; I didn’t get hired for that role, but ended up being offered a new position – Employee Experience Advisor! And…. here we are 3 years later…. Time flies!

I have many favourite projects that I am involved with at COR! Most notable would be 100 Acts of Kindness, the Golden Ticket, and Employee Appreciation. I think the 100 Acts of Kindness would be my favourite! Shifting internally last year through Covid – doing a 3-hour Facebook Live Event where we read nominations for our awesome #CORFam for being awesome and seeing people come to the office and receive their nomination and receive their COR swag was awesome! It was amazing to see everyone again and there was a buzz around CORhq!

I think my proudest moments are seeing people grow through the organization. There have been people we have interviewed as supports who we hired and who have grown into Key Supports and Team Leaders. Seeing them grow through COR has been inspiring! Some advice that I have for people who want to join the COR family is that we always try to keep our interviews as relaxed as possible and more of a conversation while getting to know each other – just be your true authentic self. Our interviews are all values based; just be yourself and don’t stress about the ‘interview’. I would also recommend anyone who wants to make a difference in someone’s life to check us out and apply to be a support. When we are looking through resumes we are looking for that heart and genuine interest and passion in being that positive person in someone’s life, so make sure that interest and passion shine through! I’ve never been part of an organization that genuinely cares so much about its employees and community!

Fun facts about me:

  • My favorite book is 4 agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
  • In my spare time I like to be with my family, Workout, play flag/touch football, or do anything active!

Gentle Teaching Stories: “I have become more compassionate, kind and patient towards the ones I love.”

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Meet Our COR Family: Jonathan Mathieson

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Hi! I am Jonathan! I am the Finance and Administrative Assistant at COR. My role involves the support of day-to-day accounting operations, including accounts payable and accounts receivable, maintaining accurate records of COR’s financial transactions, ensuring accurate administration of employee benefit and pension plans, ensuring employee expense reports are reviewed monthly and submitted for payroll processing, assisting with the annual budgeting process, along with filing, reporting, ordering office supplies and opening, sorting and distributing incoming correspondence.

I first learned about COR through a referral. I was very intrigued as I was pursuing a kinesiology degree and had lots of exposure to people with disabilities as my mother was born deaf. I joined COR as part-time support in 2019, after completing my volunteering hours for my course through the University of Regina. At the time, I was working full-time with the Ministry of Finance and eventually left my full-time position to become full-time at COR in 2022.

My favourite initiative at COR would have to be the development and implementation of efficient processes. I have created a custom premium deduction calculator and I have implemented a plethora of automated processes into my day-to-day operations! I have had many proud moments at COR. It is vague, however, my proudest moment would have to be seeing the growth and development of the individuals I was supporting. It is extremely fulfilling to see someone adopt healthy habits in their day-to-day lives. The advice that I would give to COR candidates is to be yourself! COR is a diverse workplace that embraces everyone’s unique individuality. As an organization, COR has been steadily growing. If you’re looking for a place where you can grow as a person and grow your career, COR might just be the perfect fit for you!

Fun facts about me:

  • My favourite book would have to be rich dad poor dad. This book gives a great perspective on the value of money and creating generational wealth.

My favourite quote would have to be “Fail to plan, plan to fail”. I believe that people are more efficient at whatever they want to do if they are very intentional with their actions.

  • In my free time, I enjoy staying healthy and active through weight lifting, running, and recreational sports such as football, ultimate Frisbee, boxing, and dodgeball. I enjoy channeling my creativity through photography and videography. I also value spending time with friends and family.

Gentle Teaching Stories: “I want to impact the lives of the people I serve in the future.”

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Meet Our COR Family: Param Singh

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Hi, I’m Param! I have been a key support at COR since June 2019! The way I heard about COR was when my classmate in Yorkton was telling me about it when I was moving to Regina (her friend used to be a support at COR)! There are many things that I love about COR, but I absolutely love the COR studio activities! They are always so inclusive and fun! Whenever I get the chance to go for an activity with someone I support, I always have a good time whether it is art, ipad classes, or games!

One of my proudest moments at COR is when I can change my support’s mental space and help them come back to a safe place where they feel confident again after a rough day. My advice to anyone who is thinking about becoming a support would be to be open-minded, responsible, accept people for who they are, and help them be their best selves. I always try to bring as much positivity into the house when individuals are having a bad day.

Fun Facts about me!

My favourite quote is “there is no such thing as a neutral exchange. You leave someone either a little better or a little worse.”-Dale Carnegie.”

  • I can break eggs with one hand
  • In my spare time, I play video games, go to the gym, go for a bike ride, go for a walk, or cook!

Meet Our COR Family: Dante Curti

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Hi! I am Dante! I have been with COR for 7 months and currently am a support for three boys! One of my favorite things about being at COR is being able to witness the boys laugh, smile and interact is something which truly brings me a lot of joy. One of my proudest moments while being a support would be witnessing the boys grow into such amazing humans. Each individual has faced so much adversity and to see them push through it with the help of our team, brings me great pride. They have come such a long way and will only continue to progress. It makes me feel very proud of them.

My advice for anyone that is thinking about becoming a support at COR is to not be afraid to ask questions! Being a support can generate a lot of questions and one thing that I have learned is that every person at COR is here to help, and you are not alone!

Fun facts:

My favorite quote is, “Follow your own path and let the people talk.” -Dante Alighieri

During my free time, I like to play video games, go to the gym, hang out with friends, cook, and take my dog for walks.