Recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2023), Canada's Top Family-Friendly Employers (2023) and National Capital Region's Top Employers (2023):
Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Nov 17, 2022)
Here are some of the reasons why Export Development Canada was selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2023), Canada's Top Family-Friendly Employers (2023) and National Capital Region's Top Employers (2023):
- EDC offers supportive workplace policies to help employees balance work and their personal lives -- programs include family caregiver leave for adults (with top-up to 95 per cent of salary for up to eight weeks) and paid personal leave for family emergencies (five to 10 days depending on the situation)
- EDC's benefits plan provides employees with flexibility in determining appropriate coverage options -- flex credits can be allocated to health and wellness spending accounts, RRSP, TFSA or RESP accounts; or distributed as a donation to the United Way (employees also receive up to two paid volunteer days off each year)
- Additionally, the company offers enhanced mental health benefits to a maximum of $2,500 per year and manages a unique paramedical benefits extension program for employees with ongoing medical conditions (employees may apply to receive 90 per cent reimbursements with an unlimited maximum)
- EDC considers previous work experience and starts new employees with three weeks of paid vacation, moving to four weeks after only five years on the job (some employees start with four weeks) -- employees can also purchase up to five additional days off through their flexible health benefits plan

Employer Background
Industry | International trade financing and support services |
Established in Canada | 1944 |
Major Canadian hiring locations | Ottawa ON, Toronto ON, Vancouver BC, Mississauga ON, Montréal QC |
Full-time employees in Canada | 2,019 |
Full-time employees worldwide | 2,032 |
Workforce engaged on a contract basis | 3.3% |
Average age of employees in Canada | 41.1 years |
Longest serving employee | 42.7 years |
Work Environment Rating: A
Hybrid work | adopted a phased-in return to the office and is working with employees to define four personas for its hybrid workforce (virtual, occasionally onsite, routinely onsite and 100% onsite) |
Flexible work options | flexible work hours, telecommuting, reduced summer hours |
Commuter amenities | walk to public transit, transit subsidies, online carpool sign-up, electric vehicle charging stations, secure/sheltered bicycle parking |
Onsite workplace features | 18-storey head office was built to LEED Gold standards, workplace features live plants and original artwork, café and kitchen areas on each floor, customizable meeting spaces as well as large event spaces, training rooms, small private work rooms, in-house catering kitchen for meals and snacks at onsite events, telecommuter workstations, sit-stand workstations, religious observance room, self-serve lunchroom, outdoor patio |
Employee lounge amenities | comfortable seating, 2 large lounge areas on the 5th and 18th floors |
Other food options at main location | Bridgehead coffee shop, vending machine stocked with healthy and fresh options (in partnership with a local restaurant) |
Onsite fitness facility | for employees only, free membership, treadmills, stationary bikes, stairmasters, instructor-led classes (virtual classes include yoga, body pump, sports conditioning, martial arts, high-intensity interval training, spin classes, outdoor boot camps, Zumba and weight circuits), elliptical trainers, rowing machines, weights, shower facilities, facility is open 6 days a week, employs a full-time fitness coordinator who provides fitness advice and ensures equipment is properly maintained |
Work Atmosphere & Communications Rating: B
Past social events | virtual games, book clubs, social hours |
Cultural aspects | business-casual dress daily, employee sports teams |
Employee communications | intranet site, company newsletter, traditional/email suggestion box, internal social media |
Other in-house communications | annual employee conference (hosted virtually last year), EDC Sounding Board (confidential platform for employees to ask questions about policies, regulations, or anything related to the organization), blogs for audience-specific forums (green team, technology, inclusion, diversity and equity, women) |
Financial Benefits & Compensation Rating: B+
Employee salary reviews | individual salaries are reviewed every 12 months |
Long-term savings | defined-contribution (DC) pension |
Long-term planning | retirement planning assistance, life & disability insurance |
Year-end bonuses | available to all employees |
Referral bonuses (max) | new employee referral bonuses (up to $5,000) for some positions |
Signing bonuses | available for some positions |
Additional financial benefits | discounted home insurance, discounted auto insurance, discounts on tickets to major concerts and sporting events, relocation assistance for new hires and current employees moving to other office locations |
Health & Family-Friendly Benefits Rating: A
Health plan premium | as part of the health plan, the employer pays up to 100% of the premiums |
Flexible coverage | health plan is flexible with adjustable premiums and coverage levels |
Minimum hours worked for coverage | 15 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 |
Paid sick days | employees receive 10 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), virtual healthcare services |
Mental health practitioner benefit | up to $2,500 each year |
Additional health plan information | flex credits can be allocated towards the purchase of additional vacation days, health or wellness spending accounts, RSP, TFSA or an RESP, or donated to a registered Canadian charity, unique paramedical benefits extension program (employees with ongoing medical conditions may apply to receive 90% reimbursements with unlimited maximum) |
Additional health and wellness initiatives | LiveWELL hub with extensive wellness resources, annual Healthy Workplace Month in October (programs, resources, and webinars to bring awareness to health-related topics with a new topic each week), access to LifeSpeak (videos, podcasts and monthly web chats on wellness topics), Mental Health Week campaign |
In vitro fertilization (IVF) | $20,000 per lifetime |
Maternity top-up (mothers) | up to 95% of salary for 17 weeks |
Parental top-up (mothers) | up to 95% of salary for 9 weeks |
Parental top-up (fathers) | up to 95% of salary for 18 weeks |
Adoption top-up | up to 95% of salary for 18 weeks |
Additional family-friendly benefits | compassionate top-up to 95% of salary for 18 weeks, academic scholarships of up to $2,700 per child |
Additional family-friendly information | family caregiver leave for adults (top-up to 95% of salary for up to 8 weeks), paid personal leave option for family emergencies (5 to 10 days depending on the situation) |
Vacation & Personal Time-Off Rating: A+
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 5 weeks of vacation over their career |
Previous experience | considers previous work experience when setting annual vacation for new employees |
Paid holiday shutdown | during the Christmas to New Year's holiday break, employees receive an additional 3 days off |
Personal paid days off | employees can schedule 2 personal days off each year, as needed |
Unpaid leave of absence option | yes |
Additional time-off information | many employees start with 4 weeks of paid vacation, employees can purchase up to 5 additional vacation days as part of EDC's health benefits plan, in addition to the 2 paid personal/floater days, employees may apply for Special Leave days (the needed number of days are determined on a case-by-case basis between employees and their managers) |
Employee Engagement & Performance Rating: A
Employee performance reviews | employees receive individual performance reviews every 6 months |
Managers receive performance review training | yes |
360° feedback option | as part of the review process, performance feedback is also solicited from co-workers and other managers familiar with each employee's work |
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, long-service awards, corporate recognition awards with nominee profiles posted on the corporate intranet (Bravo Awards for employees who model key behaviours, and the Excellence in Customer Experience Award, People Leadership Award, and Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador Award), impact recognition program launched in 2021 (peer-nominated awards for employees who have made an impact on their peers, community, customers and EDC's partners) |
Training & Skills Development Rating: A
Career planning | in-house career planning services |
In-house training initiatives | mentoring, in-house training, online training, paid internships, subsidies for professional accreditation |
Related tuition subsidies | employer covers up to 100% of tuition per year |
Annual tuition maximum | employer pays up to $24,000 in tuition subsidies for job-related courses per year |
Unrelated tuition subsidies | employer covers up to 100% of tuition per year for courses unrelated to current position |
Unrelated tuition maximum | employer pays up to $24,000 in tuition subsidies per year for courses unrelated to current position |
Education leave | educational leaves of absence are available |
Unique training & development programs | extensive catalog of online, live and on-demand courses (over 1,500 courses and curated content), language training, social media training, leadership forums |
Community Involvement Rating: A+
Scope of charitable involvement | local, national, international |
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 148 hours last year |
Total number of charities supported last year | approximately 60 charitable and community organizations were supported last year |
Some of the community organizations supported | CARE Canada (longstanding partnership), Children's Aid Foundation of Ottawa, Juno Beach Centre Association, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada, Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health, Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia, to name a few |
Charitable giving | matches employee donations, matches employee volunteer hours with company donations |
Community highlight | EDC supports a variety of charitable organizations every year through a formal charitable donations program, matching employee donations ranging from $500 to $2,500. Established in 2003, the program has provided over 450 donations to over 100 charitable organizations across Canada. |



For EDC, caring for employees leads to happy clients
Several years before the arrival of the pandemic, Export Development Canada (EDC) – the Ottawa-based Crown corporation that helps Canadian businesses expand internationally – began allowing hybrid work arrangements for employees. And that has been a great boon for Montréaler Cathy Beauvais.
Beauvais recently took on a new role as sustainable finance guarantee initiative owner. She leads one of EDC’s key environmental, social and governance initiatives – the roll-out of the organization’s sustainable finance guarantee, designed to help Canadian companies in carbon-intensive sectors transition to more sustainable business models.
And with the hybrid system, says Beauvais, an employee for 15 years, she has been able to achieve greater work-life balance. “I have two small boys, so it really helps me. You’re not losing the time it takes to get to the office, and it makes things a whole lot easier.”
On days when she does need to be in the office, she adds, her leaders are very understanding if, for example, she needs to take a longer lunch break to attend an event at her sons’ school or to volunteer for a food bank in her Montréal neighbourhood, a commitment that is very important to her. “It means a lot to me that leadership allows such flexibility and recognizes that you are fully committed and trusts that you’re doing the honest thing.”
EDC has a very supportive culture, says Patricia Vincent, vice-president of human resources, operations and employee wellness. “Close to 30 per cent of our employees have joined since the pandemic, yet we have been able to maintain a very high level of employee engagement. When I ask new staff what they love about EDC, they say it’s very collegial and that the company really does care about their experience. And we believe that leads to a great customer experience.
“One area where we put significant focus,” she continues, “is diversity, equity and inclusion. We do have a very diverse workforce and employees feel that we are a very inclusive employer.”
At the same time, she says, in the past year EDC has ramped up its focus on mental health and has endeavoured to reduce the stigma around mental illness. “We have offered learning opportunities for both employees and leaders in this realm,” she notes, “and now offer the Workplace Mental Health Leadership certificate program to our leaders.”
As for Beauvais, she notes that among the family and mental-health issues the organization has addressed in recent years is the strain on families that are supporting older parents. “They’ve done a lot of training sessions on this. Even if you’re not dealing with it directly, there’s a good chance that a colleague is and might need those resources to feel that they are not alone.”
On the volunteerism side, notes Vincent, one day every year employees are encouraged to go into communities on company time on its Community Investment Day and participate in organized volunteer opportunities. “We also have several giving campaigns in which EDC matches employee donations, as happened with relief in the wake of Hurricane Fiona. We provide up to two paid working days per year for employees to volunteer in their communities.”
For Vincent, EDC’s overall mandate is a galvanizing force for employees – and has been especially motivating during the pandemic. “We help companies of all sizes seize business opportunities around the world, helping them to grow and flourish.”
This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top 100 Employers winners, published November 18, 2022 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.
Recognized as one of Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2023):
Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Jan 23, 2023)
Here are some of the reasons why Export Development Canada was selected as one of Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2023):
- EDC's dedicated Growing Professionals Committee offers development opportunities, resources and support to students and young professionals, as well as organizing various social events throughout the year -- the committee also manages a mentorship program designed to promote career development, support diversity and inclusion, and facilitate connections among employees of all experience levels
- The Growing Professionals Committee also recently launched a collaborative case competition, engaging members of the committee to pitch improvements to EDC's digital onboarding experience -- teams present their ideas to senior executives, and the winning team may see their idea be implemented by the Transformation Office
- The 24-month Project Finance Associate Program provides a combination of structured and hands-on training to new associates at EDC -- participants are immersed in finance fundamentals and supported with regular feedback on progress and performance

Highlights
Industry | International trade financing and support services |
Major Canadian hiring locations | Ottawa ON, Toronto ON, Vancouver BC, Mississauga ON, Montréal QC |
Full-time employees in Canada | 2,019 |
Student opportunities | paid internships |
In-house training programs | orientation program, in-house training, online training, in-house career planning services, mentoring, leadership training |
Related tuition subsidies | employer covers up to 100% of tuition per year |
Annual tuition maximum | employer pays up to $24,000 in tuition subsidies for job-related courses per year |
Unique training and development opportunities | mentorship program through the Growing Professionals Committee, 12-week unpaid internship offered through the Connexions program at Ottawa University's Telfer School of Business (participants may be offered paid internships upon completion), virtual onboarding buddy program |
Additional highlights | student career advice workshops hosted by the CEO, Youth Education Program (awards scholarships to Canadian students with a demonstrated interest in international business), offers up to 30 $4,000 international business scholarships annually (25 go to undergraduate students), currently piloting an Indigenous Research Internship to build a talent pool of Indigenous students, workshop to guide students to find their dream job at EDC (attended by over 60 employees, topics included career direction, career development resources, potential career paths at EDC, and negotiating effectively, to name a few) |
Dedicated employee resource group | Growing Professionals Committee is a self-driven group of students and young professionals, providing social and professional development opportunities and resources for students and new grads |
Vacation allowance | new employees receive 3 weeks of paid vacation after their first year on the job |
Recognized as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2023):
Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Apr 17, 2023)
Here are some of the reasons why Export Development Canada was selected as one of Canada's Greenest Employers (2023):
- EDC's newly named Environmental Resource Group recently relaunched its website to provide information and engage directly with more employees, including environmental tips, data on its own operational greenhouse gas emissions, historic building audits, and an internal blog to help employees reduce their own environmental footprint
- EDC manages a comprehensive recycling program that includes paper, metals, plastics and waste -- and the company has set goals to reduce the company's annual food waste from over 16,600 kg down to approximately 9,000 kg
- Along with a rooftop patio and green roof, EDC partnered with Alvéole to introduce two rooftop beehives that are home to 50,000 bees -- in their first season, the hives produced 180 jars of honey, which were sold to employees with the funds donated to United Way

Highlights
Industry | International trade financing and support services |
Major Canadian hiring locations | Ottawa ON, Toronto ON, Vancouver BC, Mississauga ON, Montréal QC |
Full-time employees in Canada | 2,019 |
Employee green team | environmental employee resource group |
Senior executive who oversees initiatives | Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Sustainability Officer |
Formal strategy/policy name | environmental and social risk management framework, climate change policy (2019) |
Publishes sustainability report | yes |
Green highlights | Environmental Resource Group's (formerly the Green Team) mandate is to support and promote efforts to reduce the company's operational environmental footprint (with a primary focus on the areas of paper usage, waste sent to landfill, energy and water consumption and business travel), Community Investment Day (typically a day of volunteering, shifted to a virtual event during the pandemic) |
Noteworthy initiatives | EDC Cleantech Team (dedicated service for the support of clean-tech companies), sustainable bond framework supports financing for green, social and transition initiatives that include activities that decarbonize a customer’s operations (including carbon capture utilization and storage and use of low carbon intensity fuels) |
Building footprint includes | green roof, rooftop vegetable garden managed by kitchen employees (provides a variety of produce including kale, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, hot peppers, bell peppers and herbs), LED lighting upgrades |
Extended recycling | workstation waste management program features clearly labelled recycling, waste and composting bins that are designed to match the larger receptacles in the café and public areas, phased out all disposable cutlery (and provided each employee with their own set of reusable cutlery) |
Commuter amenities | Commuter Challenge (employees walk, run, cycle, carpool, take transit or telecommute to work), walk to public transit, secure/sheltered bicycle parking, online carpool sign-up, transit subsidies |
Community partnerships | Waste Reduction Week and Environment Week (hosted a week-long waste-free lunch challenge), partnership with Alvéole to introduce rooftop beehives that are home to 50,000 bees (produced 180 jars of honey in its first year, sold to employees with funds donated to the United Way), La Relance Technology Service (partnership that collects, repairs and refurbishes old technology and donates to local schools, libraries and non-profits) |
The Career Directory
Export Development Canada has been selected for The Career Directory, our guide to entry-level recruitment for recent college and university graduates.

Highlights for New Grads
Industry | International trade financing and support services |
Full-time employees in Canada | 1,001 to 2,500 |
Major Canadian hiring locations | Ottawa ON, Toronto ON, Vancouver BC, Mississauga ON, Montréal QC |
Student opportunities | paid internships |
Training | subsidies for professional accreditation, orientation program, online training, in-house training, mentoring, in-house career planning services, leadership training |
Annual tuition maximum | employer pays up to $24,000 in tuition subsidies for job-related courses per year |
Other info for new grads | Offers international business scholarships (up to 30 annually), awards scholarships to Canadian students through the Youth Education Program |
Typical new grad positions | Credit and Banking Analyst/Associate, Risk Analyst, Underwriter, Underwriting Policy Coordinator, Loans Services Manager, Financial Analyst, Corporate Banking Officer, Service Desk Professional, Account Manager, Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable Specialist |
Starting salary | $55K to $60K |
Work benefits | flexible work hours, telecommuting, transit subsidies, employees receive paid time off to volunteer, (up to 2 paid days) |
Vacation allowance | new employees receive 3 weeks of paid vacation after their first year on the job |
Academic fields recruited
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Bachelor of Arts
- Business
- Economics
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Bachelor of Commerce / Business Administration
- Accounting
- Finance
- Information Systems
- Marketing
- Public Administration
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Bachelor of Science
- Computer Science
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Master of Arts
- Economics
-
Master of Business Administration
- Accounting
- Finance
- Information Systems
- Marketing
- Public Administration
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Master of Science
- Information Studies / Library Science
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Professional Accreditation
- Accounting (CA)
- Accounting (CGA)
- Accounting (CMA)
- Investment Planning (CFA, CIM)