Canada's top 50 greenest employers

Nature's Path Organic Foods consumer services specialist, Beverley Yaworski works on the employee organic garden behind the office in Richmond, B.C., during her lunch break.

Jennifer Roberts for The Globe and Mail

Enlarge this image

Environment

Canada's top 50 greenest employers

Globe and Mail Update

Published Thursday, Apr. 21, 2011 7:26PM EDT

Last updated Tuesday, Apr. 26, 2011 2:40PM EDT

These companies were judged on their success in fostering a culture of environmental awareness

Building sustainability into a company requires commitment. These companies were judged on their success in fostering a culture of environmental awareness.

The editors at Mediacorp Canada, a Toronto-based publishing firm, selected Canada's Greenest Employers based on four main criteria: 1) the environmental programs they have developed; 2) the amount they have reduced the organization's environmental footprint; 3) the degree their employees are involved in these programs; and 4) the degree these initiatives have become part of the employer's public identity and attract new people to the organization.

Since the competition was launched in 2007, Richard Yerema, managing editor of Mediacorp, has observed a growing seriousness among firms building sustainability into their operations. Greening one's business requires focused and tangible goals and commitment in order to truly make a difference.

Employers apply for the Canada's Greenest Employers competition through the Canada's Top 100 Employers application process.

Diane Jermyn

Stories from this series:

Note: This table is not ranked. The companies on it appear in alphabetical order. Click on the column names to sort this table by any category.

Employer	Location	Industry	Number of employees	Why they made the list
Arc'teryx Equipment Inc.	North Vancouver	Outerwear manufacturing	375	Employees are active in Vancouver's Bike to Work Week.
BC Public Service	Victoria	Government support	25,581	Has pledged to reduce its overall emissions by one-third by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.
Bayer Inc.	Toronto	Pharmaceutical manufacturing	709	Built 10,000 square feet of green roof at the head office, which absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere and lowers the company's air conditioning and heating bills.
British Columbia Institute of Technology	Burnaby, B.C.	post-secondary education	1,677	More than 170,000 red wiggler worms work around the clock to create exceptional compost used to fertilize flower beds around the campus.
Busby Perkins + Will	Vancouver	Architectural services	82	Designed the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum-certified multi-family residential building in Canada.
Certified General Accountants Association of Canada	Burnaby, B.C.	Professional organization	142	Eliminated paper cups and plates from the cafeteria and replaced them with reusable ceramic kitchenware.
Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc.	Kitchener, Ont.	Audio and video equipment manufacturing	512	Upgrading its washrooms and installing fixtures that use less water.
Compass Group Canada	Mississauga	food service contractors	11,000	Developed a formal program for sourcing food locally where possible.
Corus Entertainment Inc.	Toronto	Television broadcasting	1,875	The new head office features a 'daylight harvesting' system that automatically reduces the light levels to take advantage of natural sunlight
Davis + Henderson LP	Toronto	Financial services	4,058	Has moved to vegetable and soy-based inks in its printing operations and recyclable packaging material for all cheque shipments.
Enbridge Inc.	Calgary	Natural gas distribution	4,070	Has invested in alternative energy generation, including six wind farms in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta that power more than 173,000 homes.
Enmax Corp.	Calgary	Electric power distribution	1,617	Created an in-house program encouraging employees to reduce their environmental footprint at work and at home.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc.	Toronto	Hotels	8,183	At some properties, operates programs that divert more than 80 per cent of trash (from food to furniture) from landfill.
Georgian College	Barrie, Ont.	Post-secondary education	729	Advocates energy reduction in its offices, from adjusting window blinds to using power bars to turning out unused lights during the day.
HP Advanced Solutions Inc.	Victoria	Computer services	377	Ensures that printers and copiers are stocked with only 100 per cent post-consumer paper and set to double-side printing as a default.
Hewlett-Packard Canada Co.	Mississauga, Ont.	Electronics manufacturing	7,301	Is a pioneer in its industry, recycling millions of pounds of used computer equipment and ink cartridges since 1987.
Home Depot Canada	Toronto	Hardware stores	14,100	In 2008 the company voluntarily phased-out harmful pesticides and herbicides across the country and began replacing them with environmentally friendly alternatives
Hydro Ottawa Ltd.	Ottawa	Electric power distribution	555	Manages a Christmas light exchange program for its employees, providing one string of energy efficient LED lights for every two old incandescent strings returned.
IKEA Canada LP	Burlington, Ont.	Home furnishings stores	1,508	Will phase out the sale of incandescent bulbs in 2011, offering only low-energy bulbs and solar lighting products.
KPMG LLP	Toronto	Certified public accountants	5,270	Volunteer employees have implemented recycling programs (including cellphones and eyeglasses), moved to fair-trade coffee and replaced bottle water with filtered water.
Loblaw Cos. Ltd.	Brampton, Ont.	Supermarket	31,582	Has committed to diverting 70 per cent of its in-store waste from landfill.
LoyaltyOne Inc.	Toronto	Marketing consulting	1,232	Manages a formal work-from-home program for some employees, providing state-of-the-art workstations and specialized telecommuter training.
Mars Canada Inc.	Bolton, Ont.	Candy manufacturing	458	Is working with the World Wildlife Fund to develop a fish sustainability commitment.
McGill University Health Centre	Montreal	Hospital	5,575	Launched an aggressive battery recycling program that even encourages employees to bring their own batteries from home for proper disposal.
Nature's Path Foods Inc.	Richmond, B.C.	Breakfast cereal manufacturing	141	Employees maintain a large organic staff garden with composting bins and an outdoor eating area.
New Flyer Industries Canada ULC	Winnipeg	Heavy duty truck manufacturing	1,283	Maintains metal recycling initiatives as part of its manufacturing process.
Ontario Power Authority	Toronto	Regulation and administration of utilities	210	An employee-led committee works toward the reduction of its overall carbon footprint.
Ontario Public Service	Toronto	General government support	64,725	Reduced electricity consumption in its buildings by 12 per cent from 2004 to 2007 and has committed to a further reduction of 10 per cent by 2012.
Red River College	Winnipeg	Post-secondary education	1,213	Operates a biodiesel processing facility that converts used kitchen oil from its Food Services and Culinary Arts program and blends it with diesel fuel to power the school's maintenance vehicles.
Regional Municipality of Waterloo	Kitchener, Ont.	Legislative bodies	2,367	Established the annual EcoFest, a public, educational event to promote sustainable lifestyles and activities.
Rescan Environmental Services Ltd.	Vancouver	Consulting services	108	Operates a green rebate program that provides a 25 per cent reimbursement on qualified environmentally friendly purchases (to $250 each year).
Research In Motion Ltd.	Waterloo, Ont.	Wireless communications equipment manufacturing	9,912	Uses drought-tolerant plantings to reduce or eliminate the need for irrigation and uses only environmentally sensitive fertilizers.
Royal Bank of Canada	Toronto	Commercial banking	51,100	Operates the internationally focused Blue Water Project to support water stewardship in countries where the bank operates.
SAS Institute Canada Inc.	Toronto	Computer programming services	239	A state-of-the-art rainwater collection system collects and stores water in specialized containers in the building's basement, which is utilized for the flushing of toilets.
SaskTel	Regina	Wired communications carriers	3,225	Supports the SaskTel Pioneers Computers for Schools, which provides more than 1,000 refurbished computers every year to schools and non-profit organizations across the province.
Sims Recycling Solutions	Brampton, Ont.	Materials recovery	68	Recently provided time off for employees to volunteer in local Earth Day cleanup initiatives.
Sodexo Inc.	Burlington, Ont	Food service contractors	10,524	Has committed to sourcing only sustainable fish and seafood by 2015.
Stantec Inc.	Edmonton	Engineering services	5,665	Company-wide policy puts computers into the sleep mode every evening and weekend, resulting in a potential 40 per cent reduction in computer energy use.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre	Toronto	Hospitals	4,825	Publishes an environmentally focused newsletter, website and blog.
Sylvis Environmental Inc.	New Westminster, B.C.	Consulting services	16	Provides employees with secure bicycle storage as well as onsite shower facilities with towels and toiletries.
Symcor Inc.	Mississauga, Ont.	Data services	3,073	The company's Mississauga printing operations are powered by Bullfrog Power's renewable energy investment program.
Toronto Hydro Corp.	Toronto	Electric power distribution	1,519	Operates the Great Refrigerator Round Up program that removed and recycled more than 5,700 old, inefficient appliances last year.
Toronto-Dominion Bank	Toronto	Commercial banking	38,907	One of the first major financial institutions to set and achieve carbon neutral status for its Canadian (and U.S. and international) operations.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc.	Cambridge, Ont.	Automobile manufacturing	6,738	Celebrates Earth Day for one month includes a variety of environmental awareness activities.
University of Alberta	Edmonton	Post-secondary education	8,429	Established an Office of Sustainability to oversee and create awareness.
University of Victoria	Victoria, B.C.	Post-secondary education	2,939	Continues to replace fossil-fuel-burning vehicles in its fleet with electric, hybrid and bio-diesel powered vehicles (and bicycles). Fossil fuel vehicles represent only 40 per cent of the fleet.
Vancouver City Savings Credit Union	Vancouver	Credit unions	1,744	Introduced a composting program for organic waste as part of its effort to recycle 60 per cent of its waste at the head office.
Veridian Corp.	Ajax, Ont.	Electric power distribution	198	Provides interest-free loans for its employees toward the purchase of energy-efficient appliances.
Whistler Blackcomb Holdings	Whistler, B.C.	Hotels	2,422	Established an environmental management strategy in 1993 with the goal of developing a model of stewardship for ski and mountain resort operations.
YMCA of Greater Toronto	Toronto	Family services	1,337	Recently completed construction of Toronto's largest public green roof, featuring a running track, walkway, native plant species and space for outdoor yoga and exercise.

Download table as a CSV file

0 comments

More Tables & Infographics

Oil in the Arctic

Thursday, May. 24, 2012 6:50PM EDT
Revolution Recording: by the numbers

Thursday, May. 24, 2012 6:00AM EDT
The breadth of the Seaspan empire

Wednesday, May. 23, 2012 5:50PM EDT

A Report On Business Magazine infographic
U.S. existing home sales since May, 2006

Tuesday, May. 22, 2012 6:47PM EDT
The CPPIB goes where the deals are

Tuesday, May. 22, 2012 5:44PM EDT

A Report On Business Magazine infographic
How the CPPIB diversifies its investments

Tuesday, May. 22, 2012 5:41PM EDT

A Report On Business Magazine infographic
Weighing the S&P 500

Monday, May. 21, 2012 5:38PM EDT
Expanding Canada's Arctic energy

Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 10:41PM EDT
The Boreal forest

Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 6:54PM EDT
A two-city perspective

Wednesday, May. 16, 2012 1:25PM EDT