How they were chosen
It’s not enough for Canada’s Best Diversity Employers for 2012 to have diversity and inclusiveness programs in place. Winning companies also needed a clearly defined strategy to achieve their goals along with review and tracking measures.
Mediacorp’s editorial team judged employers on their programs for five major employee groups: women; members of visible minorities; persons with disabilities; aboriginal peoples; and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered/transsexual (LGBT) peoples.
Additional criteria for diversity include initiatives relating to: recruitment, retention, development, training and education, employee resources, affinity groups, leadership and management accountability, customer, market, vendor and supplier diversity, and community partnerships.
Kristina Leung, editor of Canada's Top 100 Employers, observes that support for diversity and inclusion appears to be “recession proof” with many organizations building on past successes to create new programs and policies.
Agrium Inc., Calgary: Nitrogenous fertilizer manufacturing; 2,419 employees. Partnered with the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association to provide networking opportunities to women who are new to Canada.
Amex Canada Inc., Markham, Ont.: Credit card issuing; 3,412 employees. Maintains a range of employee resource groups including “HOLA” for Hispanic Origin and Latin American employees and “AXP” for Asian employees.
BC Hydro, Vancouver: Hydroelectric power generation; 5,911 employees. Maintains a database of aboriginal businesses in order to match the company’s upcoming contracts with aboriginal vendors.
Boeing Canada Operations Ltd., Winnipeg: Aircraft parts and auxiliary equipment manufacturing; 1,382 employees. Partners with the Society for Manitobans With Disabilities to provide employment opportunities to disabled job seekers.
Bombardier Aerospace, Dorval, Que.: Aircraft manufacturing; 17,222 employees. Working on creating professional networking opportunities for women in the aerospace industry, in partnership with “Women in Aerospace.”
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Montreal: Banking. 1,834 employees. Recognizes employees who champion diversity affairs through internal awards.
Cameco Corp., Saskatoon: Uranium-radium-vanadium ore mining; 2,859 employees. Introduced a “Workplace Inclusion and Accommodation” program in support of the development of a barrier-free work environment. Maintains extensive aboriginal outreach programs.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Toronto: Commercial banking; 33,489 employees. Organized a month-long celebration of diversity and inclusion across all of the bank’s operations.
Capital District Health Authority, Halifax: Hospitals; 6,421 employees. Conducted an in-house diversity survey to solicit feedback for new initiatives and benchmark current programs against industry leaders.
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Toronto: Specialty hospitals; 1,950 employees. Created a designated role to manage aboriginal recruitment and retention initiatives as well as engage the broader aboriginal community.
Corus Entertainment Inc., Toronto: Television broadcasting; 1,478 employees. Stations partner with local universities and colleges to offer internship opportunities to diverse groups.
Deloitte & Touche LLP, Toronto: Certified public accountants; 7,922 employees. Provides managers with a diversity toolkit, covering a range of topics including bias awareness and an overview of common stereotypes.
Ernst & Young LLP, Toronto: Certified public accountants; 4,161 employees. Manages reverse-mentoring initiatives including the “Coaching our Leaders” program, which pairs partners with mentors who are a visible minority, or female employees.
Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, Toronto: Law offices; 1,232 employees. Provides pro-bono legal services to Pride at Work Canada, a non-profit corporation supporting LGBT professionals in the Canadian workplace.
Health Canada-Santé Canada, Ottawa: Administration of public health programs; 9,537 employees. Reserves one-quarter of available positions in their science management development program for employees who are visible minorities.
Hewlett-Packard Canada Co., Mississauga, Ont.: Computer equipment manufacturing; 7,100 employees. Created a “Diversity Value Chain” that outlines the company’s diversity goals and achievements.
Home Depot Canada, Toronto: Hardware stores; 13,079 employees. Advertises job vacancies in a variety of newspapers including Sing Tao, Shinp, and the Indo-Canadian Voice.
Human Resources & Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), Gatineau, Que.: General government support; 24,768 employees. Employees manage an Aboriginal Employee Circle as well as a network for employees who are visible minorities.
Information Services Corp. of Saskatchewan, Regina: Title abstract and settlement offices; 322 employees. Created a five-year diversity strategy with quarterly and annual diversity and inclusiveness goals.
Jazz Aviation LP, Enfield, N.S.: Air transportation; 4,880 employees. Recruiters contacted more than 300 aboriginal graduates using the aboriginal graduate database managed by the Aboriginal Human Resource Council.
KPMG LLP, Toronto: Certified public accountants; 5,413 employees. Requires all employees to complete mandatory diversity in the workplace training.
