EPCOR powers up roles that flow into rewarding careers

Kirstine Hull remembers applying for her first real job as a summer student, answering a job posting that her mother had circled in the newspaper and left on the kitchen table at breakfast. “It turned out to be the only place I ever applied to for work,” Hull says. “At EPCOR, back when it was Edmonton Power.”

Twenty-eight years later Hull is the senior vice president of corporate services at EPCOR Utilities Inc., which has evolved since 1891 from the city’s light and power company into a North American utilities company with operations in four provinces and three states.

She remembers advice she got from her father, a bricklayer. “One thing he said to me, and I’ll never forget it, is ‘Listen to the people that do the work.’ That has gotten me through my whole career.”

David Anli began his career at EPCOR with two eight-month terms as a co-op student before taking his first full-time position at the company in 2009 as an engineer-in-training. Fifteen years later, he’s maintenance manager for major electrical projects and recalls the mentorship, both official and unofficial, that helped him take on new roles.

An electrical engineer when he started at EPCOR, he began thinking about branching out. “I knew I wanted to challenge myself more and take a look at some management routes,” he says. “I also pursued my MBA while working full time and taking night classes.”

That degree was partly subsidized with personal development funding available to every full-time employee, and Anli augmented it with leadership courses offered through the EPCOR School of Business.

“I became more interested in development - everything from leadership to communications, how to give and take feedback, and that really made me want to take more training courses.”

Hull says that people would be surprised by the variety of roles needed at a company like EPCOR: data scientists, lab techs, water operators, powerline technicians and computer programmers. There are a variety of field and office roles available.

“And as we’ve become more digital in the delivery of our services,” she says, “there are new skill sets that we’re hiring for that wouldn’t have been there back in the day, like social media. We have people who monitor our social media and do our marketing.”

Anli says the best parts of his job begin with its challenges, both as an individual and as part of a team.

“I really like challenges and problem solving,” he says. “Perhaps that’s my engineering side coming out. Every day is a little different and that makes it exciting. But one of the more important reasons why I like working for EPCOR is that we all work collaboratively together, and it seems like a ‘we’ kind of mentality as opposed to being in this by yourself.

“Your success is my success, and that carries over into the people I work with.”

Hull looks back on the range of experience she’s acquired in her time at EPCOR. “It’s not just a job, it’s a career,” she says. “I’ve had 15 different roles. I could have moved into 15 different companies in that same amount of time, but I was able to do it here, in one place.”

Anli echoes this, citing his own journey from engineer to manager: “You can build a career, and I’ve had many roles throughout my career, so there are opportunities here that you may not even know that you might be well-suited for.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Alberta’s Top Employers winners, published January 28, 2025 in the Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Young employees find a sense of belonging at EPCOR

From her first day on the job, as part of an EPCOR Utilities Inc. team preparing to open its new state-of-the-art demineralized water treatment plant in Clarington, Ont., Victoria Donkers has felt welcomed, inspired and a part of something big.

An environmental technician graduate from nearby Fleming College, Donkers appreciates the importance of working at a facility that provides ultra-pure water for the steam systems at Ontario Power Generation’s Darlington Nuclear Generating Station. It's all part of helping produce enough electricity to serve two million homes in Ontario.

“Being part of a team of people — many of us all starting our careers at EPCOR together — was an exciting experience,” she says. And her engagement and excitement about working at the plant hasn’t stopped.

As an operator at the facility, she works on lab testing and has received training in forklift operations, first aid and environmental audits to ensure water from the plant is clear and clean.

In addition to the formalized training she’s received through the utilities company, Donkers is also grateful for the workplace culture, where she always feels comfortable asking for advice.

Donkers says she feels supported, too, by the company’s commitment to employees’ mental and physical wellness, which goes beyond coverage for dental and allied health providers.

Employees, for example, can claim expenses for equipment and activities that contribute to emotional or physical wellbeing. Donkers bought camping equipment, while other employees have been able to pay for a gym membership, a canoe, sports equipment or even veterinary expenses because of the joy pets bring to people’s lives.

And there is a focus on physical and mental health on the job that Donkers appreciates. The company encourages her team to do stretches at the start of every shift and holds seminars with experts who talk about mental wellness.

Ian MacNeill, senior vice president of corporate services, emphasizes that safety and a welcoming workplace are top priorities at the Edmonton-based company, which operates across Canada and the United States.

“We focus on ensuring our employees really feel that sense of belonging and that they are respected, valued and supported within EPCOR,” he says.

Along with the benefits Donkers highlights are the company’s nine employee-led resource groups. They include one for people of colour and their allies and one to focus on reducing stigma around mental health and wellness, among others.

To ensure that the company keeps up to date on the needs of its employees, it surveys them every two years. “We put a high value on employee feedback,” MacNeill says of the most recent survey’s 10,000 employee comments, which the company is now analyzing.

Community involvement is also encouraged. “Our employees are always eager to give back to their communities,” says MacNeill.

In 2024, for example, 930 employees in Canada and the United States volunteered over 2,300 hours, he says. And EPCOR invested over $4 million to support charitable partnerships and community events that year.

All of that adds up to a package that attracts young employees — and keeps them.

“I’ve learned a lot since I started here,” says Donkers. “I could honestly see myself staying until I retire.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top Employers for Young People winners, published January 20, 2026 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.