Background

Now in its 17^th year, Hamilton-Niagara's Top Employers is an annual competition organized by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers. This special designation recognizes the employers in the Hamilton-Niagara area of Ontario that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work. This year's winners were announced in a special feature published on November 23, 2023 by the Hamilton Spectator. Read the press release issued on the same day for more background on this year's competition.

Selection Process

Employers are evaluated by the editors of Canada's Top 100 Employers using the same eight criteria as the national competition: (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. Employers are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offers the most progressive and forward-thinking programs.

Editorial Partner

The Hamilton Spectator is our editorial partner on the Hamilton-Niagara's Top Employers project and announces the winners each year in a special feature each fall. For our detailed Reasons for Selection, please review the full list of winners. Publishing detailed Reasons for Selection is a distinguishing feature of our competition: it provides transparency in the selection of winners and “raises the bar” so that other employers can discover and adopt initiatives that work well elsewhere.

Eligibility Requirements

Any employer with its head office or principal place of business in the Hamilton-Niagara area may apply for this competition. For ease of reference, we define this to include the cities of Hamilton and Burlington, plus the Regional Municipality of Niagara (including St. Catharines, Welland, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls and Fort Erie). Employers of any size may apply, whether private or public sector.

2025 Competition

Applications for our 2025 competition will be available early in 2024. Our 2025 winners will be announced in The Spectator in the fall of 2024. Join our mailing list to stay up to date and receive an application for next year's competition.