Crozier lays the groundwork for employees’ success

When Julie Scott went looking for a new civil engineering job, she wanted one that would give her the chance to show what she could do, and she found just that at C.F. Crozier & Associates Inc.

“I wanted to work at a place where I had a lot of opportunity and a lot of room to grow. A place where the people would have a lot of faith and give you a chance to show what you’re made of,” says Scott. “And, honestly, that’s exactly what Crozier did and does. For that reason, Crozier was the perfect fit for me.”

Scott, who had seven years’ experience, felt that she would likely have to spend years, decades even, to be considered for a project manager position. That wasn’t the case at Crozier, which offers a wide variety of engineering and consulting services in addition to the land development expertise for which it’s known.

“In Julie, we saw someone who was really bright, dedicated and hard-working, and we thought, ‘Let’s expose her to the business. Let’s expose her to clients and see how she does.’ Well, she’s exceptional,” says Nick Mocan, company president. “You give somebody like that an opportunity, they take it and run with it.”

Mocan would know. He was the first student to work at Crozier back in 2004, the year that the company was formed in Collingwood, Ont., where its head office remains. He joined the company full time a year later, and in 2009 bought into the employee-owned firm, which doubled its number of shareholders last year. He was promoted to president in 2020.

Mocan was mentored by the company’s founder and CEO, Chris Crozier, who would include him in client meetings and more. Crozier, he says, would spend as much time talking with him about the business side of things as he would the engineering side.

“If they don’t understand the bigger picture – and the importance of their role – they’re not really going to take ownership of their work,” explains Mocan, who works out of the company’s Milton, Ont., office. “So we like to expose our people to as much of the business of engineering as possible. And when they understand the business of it and why they’re doing what they’re doing, like Julie does, they get excited about it.”

Scott, who works in the company’s downtown Toronto office, not only finds the work challenging and satisfying, she also thinks Crozier has a “fantastic culture” engrained in it.

She’s also impressed by ideas like the Crozier Women’s Initiative, a trial program that pairs women mentors and mentees – engineering remains a predominantly male profession, she notes.

That’s just one of several progressive initiatives undertaken by the company – which made headlines in 2021 by offering its employees up to $20,000 toward the purchase of their first home.

And then there are the benefits, such as a parental leave top-up of 80 per cent. There’s also a modernized health benefits program, increased mental health coverage, a flexible hybrid work model and, at the end of the fiscal year, a bonus program.

In its 19 years, the company has seen tremendous growth, with more than 300 employees working in Ontario in offices in Collingwood, Milton, Bradford, Toronto and now Guelph.

In some ways, Mocan has come full circle with the new Guelph office – the person heading it up first worked for him as a student, as he did for Crozier.

“I’m sure it’s rewarding for Chris to see so many of us grow into various roles,” Mocan says. “We’ve been through a lot together and there’s so much more to accomplish.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers winners, published April 4, 2023 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.