Alberta's Top Employers 'recognized for doing the right thing'
Organizations meet the evolving needs of their employees
2025 Winners
Meet the 2025 winners of the Alberta's Top Employers competition. Click on any employer name below to discover our editors' detailed Reasons for Selection.
Employees at Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) bond at Connect, the organization's winter
campus community event.
Alberta's Top Employers 'recognized for doing the right thing'
Organizations meet the evolving needs of their employees
Calgary-based Pason Systems straddles two facets of Alberta's 21st-century economy. A technology firm, it represents the diversification of the past decade to grow the economy beyond oil and gas. Yet, the company is also deeply involved in oil and gas, making the sector more innovative and efficient.
Pason is often recognized for another reason, too: It is frequently among Alberta's Top Employers, including for 2025.
"One of the things about receiving this recognition each year is it really helps showcase our great workplace culture," says Heather Hantos, vice-president of human resources at Pason, where its full-time staff grew by more than 10 per cent in 2024.
For the 85 organizations on this year's list, being named a top Alberta employer is more than a badge of honour. Making the list is a key recruitment tool in the province's hot job market.
"It is a chance to be recognized for doing the right thing," says Kristina Leung, managing editor of Canada's Top 100 Employers, which encompasses the Alberta's Top Employers initiative.
Each company named to Alberta's list is in competition to be among Canada's Top 100 Employers, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2025. The competition judges businesses in eight general categories: (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.
Over the course of its history, the annual competition has become an important stage for Alberta workplaces to highlight their advantages. Today's employers are increasingly upping the ante when it comes to these programs, adds Richard Yerema, executive editor of the Canada's Top 100 Employers project.
"Aspects of benefit programs or health benefits plans are much more flexible, much more accommodating to all types of lifestyles and different arrangements that people live in. Gone are the days of a one-size-fits-all health plan," explains Yerema.
Benefits today are more flexible and comprehensive than ever, often highly targeted to the changing face of workers "accommodating all types of lifestyles," he adds.
They need to be. Alberta's Top Employers (2025) are finding themselves in heated competition for younger workers, who often prefer more time off and flexibility as much as competitive financial compensation packages, Leung explains.
Many value the ability to work from home and have an employer "in touch" with their values, including programs that give back to the community, she adds.
For organizations such as Strathcona County in Sherwood Park, which has been a Top Employer for more than 10 years, earning a spot on the list helps attract skilled workers just arriving to the province.
"If we have a reputation as a place to build a great career, that's not just beneficial for the organization, but the community we serve," says Darrell Reid, chief administrative officer for Strathcona County. An employer offering a variety of occupations, from first responders to public works, the municipality emphasizes career development, often driven by its 2,400-plus workers, he adds.
What's more, making the list is really a reflection of its workers' efforts, Reid adds.
"It acknowledges that our members have helped create this great workplace that compares really well to the best workplaces in Canada."
This story appeared in the official magazine announcing Alberta's Top Employers (2025), published January 28, 2025, online in The Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal and on Eluta.ca. The story was created by Content Works, Postmedia's commercial content division, on behalf of Alberta's Top Employers.
Enbridge offers employees up to $1,000 annually for goods or supplies to assist charitable projects in
the community (Photo: S.Conway).
Finding the best people pays off for Alberta energy companies
With employment opportunities growing, industry focuses on attracting workers
The recipe for success in Alberta's energy industry isn't about producing a better product; it's about the people, says Jason Denney, president and chief executive officer of Teine Energy in Calgary, one of this year's 85 Alberta's Top Employers.
"When you think about the business, oil and gas producers essentially produce the same product."
Yet, the financial results of companies in the business can be vastly different from one another, which is "quite frankly, a function of people," he adds. "The highest-quality people at an organization are going to create the best financial outcomes."
The view is not unique in Alberta's industry, especially as oil and gas has experienced a renaissance after the downturn of the mid-2010s that has still left its scars. Many companies are more circumspect about future growth. Unlike past booms, employers are less focused on growing as quickly as possible. They recognize the importance of having the skilled workers of today and tomorrow to sustain growth, especially as many within their current workforce approach retirement.
"The challenge is generational change," says Riccardo Silvestro, director of human resources at Gibson Energy in Calgary, also a Top Employer.
Like many successful energy companies, Gibson's continued success hinges on being able to fill the "gap of retiring, experienced workers."
Finding the next generation of energy workers can be challenging. Many young adults did not see a future in oil and gas amid the downturn. Instead, they sought training in other sectors of the economy, including technology, Silvestro says.
Now, a significant focus of the industry's recruitment is showcasing how it remains among the best places to build a career. Being named one of Alberta's Top Employers (2025) is one of their best tools for recruitment, says managing editor Kristina Leung of Canada's Top 100 Employers, which manages the Alberta program.
For the energy companies among the Alberta workplaces on this year's list, the recognition reflects their overall success. Leung notes that 27 per cent of Alberta's top workplaces had double-digit growth in their full-time staffing numbers over the past year.
"That's pretty high," Leung says, adding that nationally, about 15 per cent of businesses saw growth of 10 per cent or more.
Of course, being able to attract workers in Alberta's hot job market is essential to succeed.
One recent report noted that oil and gas services employment reached a 10-year high this past fall, according to BMO Capital Markets.
Helping drive growth is the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, nearly tripling the capacity of oil flowing from Alberta to the West Coast. Trans Mountain will help maintain sustainable growth for the industry and, in turn, a growing need for skilled workers. A 2024 federally funded report from Careers in Energy forecasts Canada's energy industry could require up to 116,000 new workers by 2035, driven by growth and retirement.
Alberta post-secondaries such as the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Edmonton are at the forefront of training those skilled workers.
"NAIT is a leader in training the future-ready workforce," says Dr. Agatha Ojimelukwe, dean of the School of Energy and Natural Resources at the polytechnic school.
Increasingly, NAIT is focused on outreach, "identifying and dispelling myths of working in the field" so young Albertans see a future for themselves in the industry, she says.
NAIT itself is not immune to industry labour market challenges. A Top Employer for 14 straight years, it views making the list as a great recruitment tool to ensure it has top instructors with many years of industry experience, Ojimelukwe notes.
Increasingly, being named to the list is an evergreen pursuit, to help gain an edge attracting the best workers, says Melissa Moye, Enbridge's chief human resources and inclusion officer. "We're always looking to be a first-choice employer."
Enbridge's success toward this goal, she adds, is a result of its comprehensive support for workers' well-being across four key areas: financial, physical, mental and social.
Part and parcel to that is offering innovative perks, such as 12 flex days annually in addition to vacation.
Similarly, Top Employer Gibson Energy offers novel benefits such as $15,000 annually per employee for mental health care. It also provides up to $30,000 lifetime per worker for adoption, surrogacy and fertility services.
"Even workers who will never need this benefit frequently tell me how proud they are to work for a company offering this," Silvestro notes about the family-building initiative.
That said, attracting top talent is about more than benefits programs that resonate with the new generation of workers. It's about showing they have a great future in the industry, says Teine's Denney.
"A lot of young people think it's a sunset industry," he says. "That's our challenge today, to change that narrative, so young people can see oil and gas remains a fantastic industry to build a career."
This story appeared in the official magazine announcing Alberta's Top Employers (2025), published January 28, 2025, online in The Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal and on Eluta.ca. The story was created by Content Works, Postmedia's commercial content division, on behalf of Alberta's Top Employers.
Methodology
Any employer with its head office or principal place of business in Alberta may apply for Alberta's Top Employers.
With a 4.4 per cent population growth rate over the past year, Alberta is Canada's fastest-growing province. This growth, when paired with a thriving economy, motivates employers to adopt the forward-thinking strategies needed to attract and retain top talent.
To determine competition winners, employers are compared to organizations in similar industries and of similar size. Employers are evaluated on eight selection criteria, which are: (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.
While the underlying criteria have remained consistent since the project's inception, areas of review have expanded and evolved with the advent of new programs and policies. Examples include workplace safety, hybrid and remote work options, and health and wellness.
Now in its 20th year, the competition is a catalogue of best practices, representing some of the most progressive and forward-thinking employers in the region.
– Sonja Verpoort
This story appeared in the official magazine announcing Alberta's Top Employers (2025), published January 28, 2025, online in The Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal and on Eluta.ca.
Edmonton-based MacEwan University offers employees generous mental health benefits, ranging from
$2,000 to $2,500 per year.
Apply
If you are an exceptional employer with progressive HR programs and policies, consider applying for next year's edition of Alberta's Top Employers. Now entering its 26th year, our project is the nation's longest-running editorial competition. Applications for 2026 open in February. Join our mailing list for more info.
