Pension Plans, Not Foosball Tables: This Year's List of the Top Employers for<br>Canadians Over 40 is Announced

TORONTO, Sept. 30 /CNW/ - The 2010 list of the Top Employers for Canadians Over 40 was announced this morning, highlighting a growing trend by employers to focus on benefits that are becoming important to a workforce that is rapidly maturing.  The winners were announced this morning in the Report on Business section of The Globe and Mail newspaper and online on the popular job search engine Eluta.ca.

"We are definitely seeing more attention being paid to issues such as pensions and benefits of interest to Canadians in the second half of their careers," says Richard Yerema, the project's editor.  "Working Canadians are increasingly aware of the significant differences among employers when it comes to the benefits that are important to employees over 40."

Now in its ninth year, the Top Employers for Canadians Over 40 competition is organized by the editors of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project and recognizes the best workplaces for older Canadians.  These employers are Canada's leaders in creating special programs and benefits for employees over 40 years of age and are attracting older workers who are interested in these special initiatives.  The Canada's Top 100 Employers project is managed by Mediacorp Canada Inc., a Toronto-based publisher of specialized employment-related periodicals.

For the competition, each employer is evaluated by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers in terms of whether: (1) they offer interesting programs designed to assist older workers; (2) they actively recruit new workers aged 40 years or older; (3) their HR policies take into account the unique concerns of older workers, such as by recognizing prior work experience at previous employers in determining vacation entitlement; (4) they offer a pension plan with reasonable employer contributions; (5) they assist older employees with retirement and succession planning; (6) they create opportunities for retirees to stay socially connected to former co-workers through organized social activities and volunteering; (7) they extend health coverage and similar benefits to employees after retirement; and (8) whether they offer any programs, such as mentorship and phased-in retirement, to ease the emotional challenges of retirement and ensure older employees' skill sets are transferred to the next generation.

Employers apply for the Top Employers for Canadians Over 40 competition through the Canada's Top 100 Employers application process.  For this year's project, the Top 100 editors examined the recruitment histories of over 75,000 employers across Canada that they track for their popular job search site, Eluta.ca. From this initial group, the editorial team invited 16,000 of the fastest-growing employers to apply, plus another 8,000 companies and organizations in industries they wanted to examine more closely. Employers completed an extensive application process that included a detailed review of their operations and HR practices. Over 2,600 employers started the 2010 application process for the Top 100 project.  The final applicant pool was up 3.7% over last year's total, which was also a record.  Applicants for the Top Employers for Canadians Over 40 competition were compared to other employers in their industry and region using the criteria described above.

The full list of the 2010 winners of the Top Employers for Canadians Over 40 competition is as follows:

British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Kamloops BC

Business Development Bank of Canada, Montréal QC

Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Ottawa ON

CH2M HILL Canada Limited, Toronto ON

New Flyer Industries Canada ULC, Winnipeg MB

Ontario Public Service, Toronto ON

PCL Constructors Inc., Edmonton AB

Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto ON

Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Regina SK

Shell Canada Limited, Calgary AB

To view the complete Reasons for Selection explaining why this year's winners were chosen, please visit:
http://www.CanadasTop100.com/older_workers

For further information:

Tony Meehan, Publisher
Mediacorp Canada Inc.
416-964-6069 x9179