Top Employer: Co-operators Group Limited, The

Recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2025), Waterloo Area's Top Employers (2025) and Southwestern Ontario's Top Employers (2025):

By Richard Yerema and Kristina Leung, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Nov 14, 2024)

Here are some of the reasons why Co-operators Group Limited, The was selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2025), Waterloo Area's Top Employers (2025) and Southwestern Ontario's Top Employers (2025):

Co-operators helps employees build long term savings with a defined contribution pension plan and provides further peace of mind with health benefits that extend to retirees (with no age limit and 75 per cent premium coverage)
Co-operators offers generous coverage for mental health care of up to $5,000 per year and enables employees to top up health and dental coverage with a health spending account of $500 annually
Co-operators supports parents-to-be with maternity and parental leave top-up, to 80 per cent of salary for a maximum of 26 weeks (inclusive of adoptive parents)

Rob Wesseling, CEO at Co-operators, speaks at the organization's annual general meeting

Employer Background

Industry	Insurance
Established in Canada	1945
Publicly traded	yes
Major Canadian locations	Toronto ON, Québec QC, Laval QC, Burlington ON, Guelph ON, Regina SK, Calgary AB, Moncton NB, Montréal QC, Mississauga ON
Full-time employees in Canada	6,299
Part-time employees in Canada	180
Workforce engaged on a contract basis	2.97%
Average age of employees in Canada	42 years
Longest serving employee	54 years

Work Environment Rating: A

Flexible work options	hybrid work option, flexible work hours, 35-hour work week (with full pay), telecommuting, shortened work week (fewer hours with less pay), compressed work week, earned days off program
Commuter amenities	walk to public transit, subsidized parking, electric vehicle charging stations
Onsite workplace features	head office building features a living plant wall, telecommuter workstations, sit-stand workstations, private phone booth, religious observance room, and a self-serve lunchroom, additionally, offices across Canada have a number of unique features, including a new cafeteria at the Regina office, a multi-faith room at the Calgary office, and a volunteer community garden at the Burlington office
Employee lounge amenities	comfortable seating, music, television, video games, board games
Onsite cafeteria	healthy menus, special diet menus, subsidized meals
Onsite fitness facility	for employees only, free membership, subsidized membership, treadmills, stationary bikes, stairmasters, elliptical trainers, weights, shower facilities, yoga room, studio space

Work Atmosphere & Communications Rating: B+

Financial Benefits & Compensation Rating: A

Outside salary surveys	participates in outside salary surveys every 12 months
Employee salary reviews	individual salaries are reviewed every 6 months
Long-term savings	defined-contribution (DC) pension
Long-term planning	retirement planning assistance, phased-in retirement work options
Year-end bonuses	available to all employees
Referral bonuses (max)	new employee referral bonuses (up to $2,000) for some positions
Signing bonuses	available for some positions
Additional financial benefits	share purchase plan available to some employees, discounted home insurance, discounted auto insurance

Health & Family-Friendly Benefits Rating: A

Health plan premium	as part of the health plan, the employer pays up to 100% of the premiums
Minimum hours worked for coverage	18 hours per week
Waiting period	there is no waiting period for coverage
Family coverage option	yes
Retiree coverage with no age limit	yes
Dental coverage	routine, restorative, orthodontics
Eyecare	$100 every 1 year
Paid sick days	employees receive 7 days off each year
Health plan includes	traditional coverage (e.g. prescription drugs), employee assistance (EAP) plan, semi-private hospital room, physiotherapy, medical travel insurance, homecare, medical equipment and supplies, massage therapy, nutrition planning, podiatrist, osteopathy, chiropractor, alternative coverage (e.g. acupuncture, naturopathy)
Mental health practitioner benefit	up to $5,000 each year
Health spending account	up to $500 each year
Wellness spending account	up to $250 each year
Fitness club subsidy	up to $250 each year
Additional health and wellness initiatives	access to LIFT Wellness on Demand (library of virtual workouts available in English and French)
Maternity top-up (mothers)	up to 100% of salary for 6 weeks
Parental top-up (mothers)	up to 80% of salary for 20 weeks
Parental top-up (fathers)	up to 80% of salary for 26 weeks
Adoption top-up	up to 80% of salary for 26 weeks
Additional family-friendly benefits	compassionate top-up to 100% of salary for 8 weeks

Vacation & Personal Time-Off Rating: B

Vacation allowance	new employees receive 3 weeks of paid vacation after their first year on the job
Vacation jump	vacation increases after 5 years of employment
Maximum vacation allowance	employees move to a maximum of 6 weeks of vacation over their career
Previous experience	considers previous work experience when setting annual vacation for new employees
Personal paid days off	employees can schedule 3 personal days off each year, as needed
Unpaid leave of absence option	yes

Employee Engagement & Performance Rating: A+

Employee performance reviews	employees receive individual performance reviews every 12 months
Managers receive performance review training	yes
Confidential employee feedback	employees can also provide confidential feedback on their manager's performance
Exit interview	exit interview option is available for departing employees
Performance recognition	individual performance bonuses, on-the-spot rewards, peer-to-peer recognition awards, long-service awards, tailored and unique rewards (e.g. travel), Inspire platform with redeemable points, BRAVO annual awards to honour employees who have gone significantly above and beyond (employees are nominated by peers and reviewed by a selection committee, winners receive a 3-night stay with a guest at a chosen destination)
In-house survey period	in-house surveys are conducted every 4 months
Outside survey period	outside consultant surveys are held every 4 months

Training & Skills Development Rating: A

Career planning	in-house career planning services
In-house training initiatives	apprenticeship/skilled trades programs, mentoring, in-house training, online training, leadership development programs, paid internships, subsidies for professional accreditation, mentoring to transfer retirees' skills
Tuition subsidies (related to job)	yes
Tuition subsidies (unrelated to job)	yes
Financial bonuses for course completions	yes
Unique training & development programs	rotational actuarial student program

Community Involvement Rating: A

Scope of charitable involvement	local, national
Employee charitable involvement	employees are involved in selection of charities, employees receive paid time off to volunteer, (up to 2 paid days)
Total employee volunteer hours (on company time)	over 27,031 hours last year
Total number of charities supported last year	approximately 750 charitable and community organizations were supported last year
Some of the community organizations supported	United Way, Financial Resilience Institute, Canada Helps, The Circle Project
Charitable giving	matches employee donations
Community highlight	The Co-operators Group maintains a charitable focus on initiatives related to social wellness, an inclusive economy, environmental resilience, and supporting a co-operative society

Recognized as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2024):

Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Apr 15, 2024)

Here are some of the reasons why Co-operators Group Limited, The was selected as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2024):

Co-operators' Impact Investing programs are designed to support investments that provide positive returns alongside positive social or environmental impacts
Co-operators offers a number of insurance products to encourage its customers to make greener choices, including insurance discounts for LEED construction and automobile insurance discounts for hybrid and electric vehicles
Co-operators' new head office in Guelph (currently under construction) has been designed to meet LEED Gold certification and WELL certification -- the company's CUMIS subsidiary head office in Burlington features new beehives along with an onsite apple orchard that is harvested by volunteers and donated to community organizations every fall

Co-operators staff harvest apples from the orchard at CUMIS' office in Burlington, ON for the 31st Apple Day, which is donated to local community groups

Highlights

Industry	Insurance
Major Canadian locations	Toronto ON, Québec QC, Laval QC, Burlington ON, Guelph ON, Regina SK, Calgary AB, Moncton NB, Montréal QC, Mississauga ON
Full-time employees in Canada	6,916
Part-time employees in Canada	214
Employee green team	sustainability leadership committee
Senior executive who oversees initiatives	vice-president, sustainability and citizenship
Publishes sustainability report	yes
Green highlights	Impact Investing (to support investments that provide positive returns alongside positive social or environmental impacts), insurance products to encourage customers to make green choices (from discounts for LEED construction, to auto insurance discounts for hybrid and electric vehicles), met carbon neutrality goals in 2020 (offset 100% of emissions over 2010 baseline levels) and has set additional goals to reduce emissions from its operations by 45% by 2023 and achieve net zero by 2040, sustainability course (for all new employees as part of their onboarding to help encourage a sustainability view of their work), ongoing lunch and learn webinars on environmental (and other) topics throughout the year
Building footprint includes	PV solar panels, rainwater collection, green roof, geothermal heating/cooling, electric vehicle charging stations, apple orchard at the CUMIS subsidiary's head office in Burlington (annual harvest is picked by volunteers and donated to community organizations), LED lighting upgrades, new head office being constructed to LEED Gold and WELL certifications, beehives at the head office
Extended recycling	batteries, e-waste, light bulbs, cellphones, plastic bags, organics, furniture (donated to charity), varying by location
Commuter amenities	bike racks and shower facilities, bike co-op partnership (Moncton office)
Community partnerships	University of Waterloo's faculty of environment (partnership to address flood issues), Smart Prosperity (coalition to guide the transition to a low-carbon economy), United Nations Environment Programme (signatory to the Finance Initiative's Principles for Sustainable Insurance), Montréal Carbon Pledge (signed in 2014, includes a public disclosure of its carbon footprint), Share the Road Cycling Coalition, Climate Proof Canada, Wildfire Community Preparedness Day (works with FireSmart Canada, the National Fire Protection Association, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, and other levels of government), founding supporter of the Zero Waste Economic Transformation Lab (program to reduce impacts of waste and emissions that are generated in the construction and demolition industry)

The Career Directory

Co-operators Group Limited, The has been selected for The Career Directory, our guide to entry-level recruitment for recent college and university graduates.

An employee at Co-operators works in the common space in the Guelph, ON office

Highlights for New Grads

Industry	Insurance
Full-time employees in Canada	5,001 to 10,000
Major Canadian locations	Toronto ON, Québec QC, Laval QC, Burlington ON, Guelph ON, Regina SK, Calgary AB, Moncton NB, Montréal QC, Mississauga ON
Student opportunities	paid internships, summer jobs, co-op opportunities
Training	subsidies for professional accreditation, orientation program, online training, in-house training, mentoring, in-house career planning services
Tuition subsidies (related to job)	yes
Typical new grad positions	Licensed Insurance Representative, Actuarial Analyst, Auto Claims Representative, Underwriting Assistant, Associate Systems Developer, Social Media Coordinator
Work benefits	health benefits for new employees, flexible work hours, telecommuting, employees receive paid time off to volunteer
Vacation allowance	new employees receive 3 weeks of paid vacation after their first year on the job

Academic fields recruited

Bachelor of Commerce / Business Administration
- Accounting
- Finance
- Human Resources
- Information Systems
- Marketing
Bachelor of Engineering
- Computer Engineering
- Environmental
Bachelor of Laws
- Corporate
- Labour
- Real Estate
Bachelor of Science
- Actuarial / Statistics
- Computer Science
- Environmental
- Kinesiology
- Mathematics
- Occupational Therapy
- Physical Therapy
- Psychology
Community College Diploma
- Advertising
- Audio/Video Technician
- Business
- Communications / Public Relations
- Computer Science
- Facility Management
- Financial Planning
- Human Resources
- Information Technology
- Insurance
- Marketing / Sales
- Office Administration
Professional Accreditation
- Accounting (CA)
- Accounting (CMA)
- Financial Planning (CFP, FMA)
- Human Resources (CHRP, CEBS)
- Insurance (RIBO, OTL, CIP)
- Investment Planning (CFA, CIM)
Secondary Education
- High School Diploma

Recruits at these schools

Concordia University

First Nations University of Canada

Humber College

MacEwan University

McGill University

McMaster University

Mohawk College

Seneca College

Université de Moncton

Université de Montréal

Université du Québec à Montréal

Université Laval

University of Calgary

University of Guelph

University of Regina

University of Toronto

University of Waterloo

Wilfrid Laurier University

Employee social committee name	Thrive Committees at offices across the country
Past social events	quarterly connection events at major office locations (summer events, year-end celebrations, employee appreciation day), recognition event for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (featuring local indigenous entrepreneurs and guests), Canada Day celebrations, and Apple Day (a Burlington office tradition to harvest apples that grow across campus)
Cultural aspects	dress-for-your-day policy, casual dress (e.g. jeans) daily, music while working, organized social activities for retirees
Employee communications	intranet site, company newsletter, internal social media

Co-operators Group Limited, The

Visit website