Community-minded and moving forward: 'Atlantic Canada's Top Employers' for 2018 are announced

ST. JOHN'S, NL, Jan. 3, 2018 /CNW/ - For a region with a reputation of being the friendliest in Canada, it's not surprising that Atlantic Canada is home to some of the nation's best employers. Community roots run deep in this part of the country and the best employers here find ways to bring the best out in their employees in terms of giving back to the community. That's the message from the winners of Atlantic Canada's Top Employers for 2018, announced this morning in Atlantic Business magazine.

"The leading employers recognize that creating a spirit of community in their workplace strengthens engagement, staff cohesion and employee performance," says Richard Yerema, Managing Editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project, which manages the Atlantic Canada competition. "From the Avalon Peninsula to the Bay of Fundy and up to the Miramichi, we see that a strong sense of community is what links this region together and makes these employers so successful."

"Since the competition's inception, we've noticed a strong correlation between being a good workplace and taking a broader view of an organization's role in the community," says Anthony Meehan, Publisher of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project. "Employers that take the time to give back to the communities where they operate, it turns out, are almost always better places to work. Growing up in a town in Nova Scotia, I remember that nearly every employer, large or small, did something for the community – and this is something we still see today across Atlantic Canada."

Some notable initiatives that the editors recognized this year:

• Saint John, NB-based CAA Atlantic gives employees one paid hour each week to volunteer at a charity of their choosing.
  
  
• Halifax-based Admiral Insurance encourages employees to give back to the community by matching employee donations to local charitable groups.
  
  
• Moncton-based Medavie Blue Cross provides financial donations to charitable groups where employees volunteer – charities receive $500 for every 50 employee hours volunteered.
  
  
• Lunenburg-based High Liner Foods focuses its community efforts on alleviating hunger, helping its employees work towards the betterment of local communities, education, the environment as well as health and wellness.
  
  
• Saint John, NB-based Irving Oil has placed special emphasis on making employees from all backgrounds feel welcome through a range of new diversity and inclusion initiatives, including employee forums for women and millennials.
  
  
• Mount Pearl NL-based Inmarsat Solutions encourages staff to highlight great work by their colleagues through their "spot beam" employee-recognition awards.
  
  
• Charlottetown-based pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer BioVectra develops its employees' skills with tuition subsidies and a range of paid internships and apprenticeship options.

Now in its 9^th year, Atlantic Canada's Top Employers is a special designation that recognizes employers in Canada's four Atlantic provinces that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work. Employers are evaluated by the editors at Canada's Top 100 Employers using the same criteria as the national competition: (1) Physical 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. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offer the most progressive and forward-thinking programs. The annual competition is open to any employer with its head office in New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia or Newfoundland & Labrador; employers of any size may apply, whether private or public sector.

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 18 regional and special-interest editorial competitions that reach over 13 million Canadians annually through a variety of magazine and newspaper partners. Mediacorp also operates Eluta.ca, the largest Canadian job search engine, which includes editorial reviews from the Canada's Top 100 Employers project and is now used by almost 7 million users in Canada each year. Together with Willis Towers Watson, Mediacorp also hosts the Top Employer Summit, Canada's largest conference for senior-level HR professionals.

The full list of Atlantic Canada's Top Employers for 2018 is attached. The winners were announced today in the January edition of Atlantic Business magazine. Detailed reasons for selection were released this morning for each of the winning employers and are accessible via the competition homepage.

Atlantic Canada's Top Employers
2018 Winners

Admiral Insurance Services (Halifax NS)
BioVectra Inc. (Charlottetown PE)
CAA Atlantic Limited (Saint John NB)
CBCL Limited (Halifax NS)
Clearwater Seafoods LP (Bedford NS)
Crombie REIT (New Glasgow NS)
DeltaWare Systems Inc. (Charlottetown PE)
Emera Inc. (Halifax NS)
Health Association Nova Scotia (Bedford NS)
High Liner Foods Incorporated (Lunenburg NS)
Inmarsat Solutions (Canada) Inc. (Mount Pearl NL)
Irving Oil (Saint John NB)
IWK Health Centre (Halifax NS)
Jazz Aviation LP (Dartmouth NS)
Killam Apartment REIT (Halifax NS)
Medavie Blue Cross (Moncton NB)
New Brunswick Community College / NBCC (Fredericton NB)
Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union Ltd. (St. John's NL)
North Atlantic (St. John's NL)
Northwood Group of Companies (Halifax NS)
Noseworthy Chapman Chartered Professional Accountants (St. John's NL)
NTT DATA Canada, Inc. (Halifax NS)
Opportunities New Brunswick (Fredericton NB)
ResMed Halifax Inc. (Halifax NS)
Sekisui Diagnostics PEI Ltd. (Charlottetown PE)
Serco Canada Inc. (Goose Bay NL)
Ultra Electronics Maritime Systems Inc. (Dartmouth NS)
University of New Brunswick / UNB (Fredericton NB)
Verafin Inc. (St. John's NL)
Workers' Compensation Board of Nova Scotia (Halifax NS)

SOURCE Mediacorp Canada Inc.

Kristina Leung, Senior Editor, Mediacorp Canada Inc., 416-964-6069 x1464