It should come as little to no surprise that Canada's largest city is also home to some of the country's top employers.
And it turns out, the pandemic has made the Greater Toronto Area exceptionally competitive for employers -- who have responded by improving their employee benefits and programs.
Following the release of the list of Canada’s Top 100 Employers last month, Mediacorp Canada has released Greater Toronto’s Top Employers 2022, highlighting the best places to work in the region.
"Many GTA employers are now going above and beyond our benchmarks," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project at Mediacorp. "These organizations are pushing the conversation to the next level and we're seeing new benchmarks being set for the workplace benefits and policies we write about each year."
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As you can imagine, a number of bigwig companies dominate the GTA list, which includes companies from a wide range of industries including real estate, retail, food distribution, information technology, healthcare, and more.
Given the large number of head offices in the GTA, it's long meant that talented candidates had many options when it came to looking for new employers. However, with the pandemic's arrival, candidates with in-demand skills -- such as software or other technology areas -- suddenly found themselves being recruited by employers based well beyond the GTA.
As a result, the growth in positions where candidates can work from home or remotely has created unprecedented competition among GTA employers.
Now in its 16th year, the Greater Toronto's Top Employers competition recognizes employers with exceptional human resources programs and forward-thinking workplace policies.
Each year, the winners are evaluated on the same eight criteria as Mediacorp's national competition:
- physical workplace
- work atmosphere and social
- health, financial, and family benefits
- vacation and time-off
- employee communications
- performance management
- training and skills development
- community involvement
Given how monumental real estate has been to the resurgence of the Canadian economy amid the pandemic, the STOREYS team was pleased to see a number of real estate, development, and like-minded companies make it onto this year's ranking. This includes:
Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc.: Toronto-based architectural firm with 283 employees. Offers compassionate leave top-up for those called upon to care for a loved one, to 80% of salary for up to 17 weeks.
First Capital REIT: Toronto-based real estate development and management company with 340 employees. Supports parents-to-be with a subsidy for IVF, up to $15,000, as well as maternity and parental leave top-up payments.
Mattamy Homes Limited: Toronto-based real estate developer with 1,384 employees. Supports new mothers and fathers, including adoptive parents, with maternity and parental leave top-up payments and lets employees extend their leave into an unpaid leave of absence.
Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC): Pickering-based real estate appraisal company with 1,769 employees. Allows employees to apply for an unpaid or self-funded (deferred salary) leave of absence for up to one year in duration.
RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust: Toronto-based real estate investment company with 584 employees. Dedicated three paid days off if employees needed to isolate as well as adding two extra personal days off for eligible employees.
Toronto Community Housing Corporation: Canada's largest social housing provider with 2,348 employees. Provides exceptional maternity and parental leave top-up payments for employees who are new mothers, as well as a generous parental top-up for fathers and adoptive parents.
Turner Construction Company, Ltd.: Toronto-based construction company with 117 employees. Manages a reduced summer hours program that includes a company paid early shutdown every Friday afternoon, from the end of May to the end of August.
To read the full list of Greater Toronto Top Employers click here.
