Organized by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers, this special category recognizes the companies that offer the nation's best benefits for younger workers. Each employer is evaluated according to the programs they use to attract and retain young talent.
First published annually in 2001 as an appendix to the Canada's Top 100 Employers, the Canada's Top Employers for Young People competition has been published as its own list since 2007. Employers of any size, in the private or public sector, may apply for this competition, as long as the company has its head office or main place of business in Canada.
*Note: This list is not ranked: The companies are listed in alphabetical order.
Alberta Blue Cross, Edmonton. Medical insurance carrier; 892 employees. Among benefits for employees are subsidies for tuition and professional accreditation.
AltaGas Ltd., Calgary. Energy provider; 846 employees. Three weeks of paid vacation allowance.
ATB Financial, Edmonton. Credit unions; 3,857. Offers employee lounge and fitness facility.
Bayer CropScience Canada Inc., Calgary. Agricultural chemical manufacturing; 322 employees. Offers a flexible health benefits plan, allowing employees to customize coverage.
Bayer Inc., Toronto. Health care and crop science; 709 employees. Onsite fitness facility, an outdoor multi-purpose court, employee lounge and nap room.
Cactus Restaurants Ltd., Vancouver. Restaurants; 2,303 employees. Manages an in-house "Cactus Career Day."
Canad Inns, Winnipeg. Hotels; 1,358 employees. Offers flexible work hours, shortened workweek options and reduced summer hours.
Capital One Canada, Toronto. Credit cards; 225 employees. Provides new employees with a free iPod Nano.
Cargill Ltd., Winnipeg. Oils and grains farming; 7,267 employees. Manages development plans for all employees in support of long term career goals.
Co-operators Life Insurance Co., Regina. Life insurance provider; 750 employees. Offers "lunch and learn" career planning sessions and hosts an annual career week.
Corus Entertainment Inc., Toronto. TV broadcasting; 1,875 employees. Manages Corus University, with in-house and online classes for employees.
Critical Mass Inc., Calgary. Marketing; 271 employees. Onsite employee lounge with video games, music and foosball.
DeltaWare Systems Inc., Charlottetown. Computer programming services; 108 employees. Offers a $500 allowance for full-time employees to use for personal development.
Digital Extremes Ltd., London. Computer game developers; 96 employees. Profit-sharing plan is available to all employees.
Enbridge Inc., Calgary. Natural gas services; 4,070 employees. Manages internal and external mentorship programs.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, Toronto. Hotels; 8,183 employees. At some resorts, employees can take advantage of health club and golf memberships and ski passes.
First Calgary Financial Credit Union Ltd., Calgary. Credit union; 407 employees. Offers up to $250 for employees to take courses of their choosing, such as an arts or music class.
FortisAlberta Inc., Calgary. Electricity distribution; 961 employees. Offers employees who are engineers-in-training an opportunity to go on exchange at western Fortis utilities locations for a term of four to six months.
Free the Children, Toronto. Educates youth about poverty; 140 employees. Employees have recently met Dr. Jane Goodall, former Prime Minister Paul Martin, the Dalai Lama and Bill Clinton, to name a few.
GAP Adventures Inc., Toronto. Tour operators; 120 employees. Rewards top performers with trips around the world.
Golder Associates Ltd., Calgary. Engineering services; 2,384 employees. Dedicates a portion of net revenue to training initiatives.
Harbour Air Ltd., Richmond, B.C. Airline; 199 employees. Offers in-house apprenticeship and internship programs.
HSBC Bank Canada, Vancouver. Banking; 7,267 employees. Employee sports teams and social events are organized by company-subsidized social committee.
Humber College, Toronto. Education; 1,242 employees. Offers performance-based bonuses, such as Fridays off with spending allowance.
IKEA Canada Ltd., Burlington, Ont. Home furnishings; 1,508 employees. Bonus program available to all employees based on the company's annual performance.
Infusion Development Corp., Toronto. Software development; 137 employees. Manages a program that enables employees to work at one of Infusion's international offices for a year.
Intrawest ULC, Vancouver. Hotels; 291 employees. Manages an online resource for career planning.
Intuit Canada ULC, Mississauga, Ont. Software publishers; 500 employees. Allows employees to devote 10 per cent of their time to work on independent "interest" projects.
Keane Canada Inc., Halifax. IT; 485 employees. Created a New Leaders program to support the development of high potential employees.
L'Oréal Canada Inc., Montreal. Toiletry product manufacturing; 1,200 employees. Maintains early Fridays, closing at 3 p.m. in winter and 12.30 p.m. in summer.
Loblaw Cos. Ltd., Brampton, Ont. Grocery stores; 31,582 employees. Provides tuition subsidies for courses at outside institutions.
Mars Canada Inc., Bolton, Ont. Confectionery manufacturing; 458 employees. Provides free lunches on long-weekend Fridays.
McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Ltd., Toronto. Fast food; 4,620 employees. Offers access to amenities including an onsite fitness facility with sauna and personal trainer services.
City of Mississauga, Ont. Legislative bodies; 1,918 employees. Offers access to such amenities as an onsite first aid room.
Nexen Inc., Calgary. Energy producer; 2,134 employees. Helps employees manage their personal learning and career development.
OpenText Corp, Waterloo, Ont. Computer programming; 1,221 employees. Provides subsidies for professional accreditation.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Toronto. Certified public accountants; 6,240 employees. New employees start with three weeks' vacation.
Radialpoint SafeCare Inc., Montreal. Computer programming; 172 employees. Offers interns the opportunity to have lunch with the CEO and attend tech talks held by specialists.
Rescan Environmental Services Ltd., Vancouver. Environmental consulting; 108 employees. Rewards exceptional performance with hockey, concert or movie tickets.
Research In Motion Ltd., Waterloo, Ont. Communications manufacturing; 9,912 employees. Celebrates milestones and holidays with RIM Rocks concerts, featuring past performances from the Tragically Hip, Van Halen, the Barenaked Ladies, Aerosmith and, most recently, U2.
Rogers Communications Inc., Toronto. Communications; 23,207 employees. Offers discounts on company products such as cellphones, digital television and baseball tickets.
RSM Richter Chamberland LLP, Montreal. Certified public accountants; 576 employees. Offers in-house training for employees completing their exams.
Sequel Naturals Ltd., Port Coquitlam, B.C. Health product manufacturing; 48 employees. Offers a television and video games in the employee lounge, and employees may bring their pets to work.
Stantec Consulting Ltd., Edmonton. Engineering services; 5,665 employees. Operates career development centre to help employees identify and achieve career goals.
Starbucks Coffee Canada, Toronto. Coffee retailer; 1,849 employees. Offers employees weekly gifts, such as a free pound of coffee or box of tea.
Strangeloop Networks Inc., Vancouver. Computer systems design services; 35 employees. Rewards exceptional performance with weekend getaways, Lakers tickets and spa certificates.
Sybase Canada Ltd., Waterloo, Ont. Computer programming; 223 employees. Manages program to support high-potential employees for managerial positions.
Syncrude Canada Ltd., Fort McMurray, Alta. Oil producer; 5,580 employees. Manages an apprenticeship program for high school students.
Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto. Banking; 38,907 employees. Offers employees up to three paid days off per year for study leave.
Telus Corp., Vancouver. Communications; 24,384 employees. Exceptional employee performance recognized with quarterly share options.
Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto. 174 employees. Manages a bursary program that helps subsidize travel costs of employees to film festivals around the world.
University Health Network, Toronto. Hospitals; 8,363 employees. Created a "virtual coffee" program, which allows employees to speak with senior management in an informal setting.
Upside Software Inc., Edmonton. Computer programming; 150 employees. Rewards exceptional performance with bonuses, including use of the company time-share.
Vision Critical Communications Inc., Vancouver. Computer programming; 282 employees. Allows employees to bring their pets to the office.
Whole Foods Market Canada Inc., Vancouver. Supermarkets; 1,030 employees. Offers an extensive in-house mentoring program for new employees.
The online version of this story includes a correction to the amenities at City of Mississauga.