More than a decade in the making: 'Southwestern Ontario's Top Employers' for 2024 is announced

TORONTO, Jan. 16, 2024 /CNW/ - In a region that's home to a remarkable variety of established industries and renowned institutions, Southwestern Ontario is making its mark when it comes to creating progressive workplaces and forward-thinking human resources initiatives. The best of these initiatives were recognized for the first time today, as Southwestern Ontario's Top Employers (2024) were announced by Mediacorp Canada Inc., organizers of the annual Canada's Top 100 Employers project.

"We are honoured to be able finally to bring readers stories about the best employers in Southwestern Ontario," says Anthony Meehan, publisher of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project. "The region tells a compelling story through its history, its people, and the wide variety of industries that make up Southwestern Ontario's employment landscape – many of our editorial team live or have lived in the region, so we know it well. We've been collecting stories on its employers for over a decade, now we're confident that we can showcase the very best in the region."

"Southwestern Ontario has much to offer, for employees and the nation as a whole," adds Kristina Leung, managing editor at Mediacorp. "At the employer level, there is remarkable support for employee training and development. We see the best employers putting in place organizational practices that will stand the test of time, so these organizations will improve alongside their employees. It mirrors the long economic history of Southwestern Ontario itself."

Employers are evaluated on eight selection criteria: (1) 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. Trends at this year's winners include: support for employees who want to start a family; significant opportunities for professional development and investments in training, such as generous tuition reimbursement; and incentives for employees to be active in their community, such as paid time off for volunteering. The competition is open to any employers having its head office in Southwestern Ontario, which is the region between Lake Huron/Georgian Bay and Lake Erie, excluding Greater Toronto and Niagara — the same area that roughly comprises the '519' telephone area code.

Some of the local initiatives singled out by the editors this year include:

• Health insurance provider GreenShield, based in Windsor, has developed a listening culture through annual employee surveys and recognizes exceptional employees with a variety of awards programs (including peer-to-peer recognition, on-the-spot awards and its annual 'EPIC Award' for top-performing employees).
  
  
• Western University in London, helps employees plan for the future with retirement planning assistance services along with a defined contribution pension plan –the university also extends its health benefits plan to retirees, with employer-paid premiums and no age limit.
  
  
• Waterloo-based accounting firm MAC LLP offers a reduced (37.5 hour) work week and allows employees convert any additional time worked into extra pay at the end of the year, or transfer it to their RSP.
  
  
• When designing their employee wellness program, Collingwood-based engineering firm C.F. Crozier & Associates reached-out to employees to survey their needs – as a result, a formalized wellness committee developed a program to include all aspects of wellness: emotional, physical, financial, intellectual, environmental, and spiritual.

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 19 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, used by millions of job-seekers annually to find new job postings and discover what the nation's best employers are offering.

The full list of Southwestern Ontario's Top Employers (2024) was released today by the editorial team at Canada's Top 100 Employers. Detailed reasons for selection for each of this year's winners, as well as additional stories and photos, were published today by the editors and are accessible via the competition homepage.

Join the conversation about today's announcement on our LinkedIn page and elsewhere on social media: #SWOTopEmployers #TopEmployers2024

SOURCE Mediacorp Canada Inc.

Stephanie Leung, Editor, [email protected]