Recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2025) and Greater Toronto'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 Manulife Financial Corporation was selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2025) and Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2025):
- Manulife helps employees plan ahead and save for the future with retirement planning assistance services, a defined contribution pension plan, and year-end bonus and share purchase programs -- and employees can transfer their unused health credits to their personal savings
- Manulife provides extensive support for all stages of family planning, from unlimited coverage for fertility drugs and treatment procedures to support for adoption (to a maximum of $20,000 per year) -- the company also offers maternity and parental leave top-up for new and adoptive parents, to 100 per cent of salary ranging from 12 to 20 weeks, depending on the employee
- Manulife's head office features an onsite fitness facility, as well as a dedicated Wellness Centre that offers employees a place for quiet meditation or space just to take a rest -- and the company encourages a focus on whole body health through its Mental Health Month in May, featuring virtual meditation, weekly chair yoga, stretching classes and breathing workshops
Manulife fosters an inclusive workplace – from the top
Starting a new job can be an intimidating experience, especially when the company is Canada’s largest insurer, a financial services firm with a huge global presence and a history that stretches back more than 130 years. But Manulife Financial Corporation works hard to remove that intimidation factor, according to Manulife Canada president and CEO Naveed Irshad.
“I’m personally committed to creating an environment that’s safe and inclusive, where all colleagues can bring their authentic selves to work every single day and everybody feels respected, valued and heard,” says Irshad. “Psychological safety is really important to me and to the company. I know how it feels when you don’t have it.”
A first generation Canadian, Irshad admits he dealt with a lot of racism growing up. It’s something he discusses with employees on a regular basis. “I never used to talk about it,” he says. “I never thought I would be in front of an audience of thousands of Manulife employees, openly talking about it. The experience, while traumatic and tough at the time, heavily influenced me and led me to become the leader I am today.”
Irshad maintains an open door policy with all employees, responding to employee texts and emails, hosting regular coffee chats and listening to employee feedback. The company also issues an annual employee engagement survey across the organization.
That attention to employee engagement was one of the things that attracted Onyi Odom to Manulife. She first became aware of the company as a co-op student at the University of Toronto. Today, Odom is manager of communications, learning and development with the company, where she develops and executes communications strategies and global town halls for the global chief accounting officer.
“Manulife is super dedicated to building a very welcoming culture,” she says. “I’m able to engage and meet people through events, lunch and learn sessions, networking opportunities, just to name a few.”
Manulife has also given Odom an opportunity to take on pursuits that aren’t related to her day-to-day work. “I am personally quite passionate about women’s empowerment, and I’m happy to be able to contribute as a committee member of the Global Women’s Alliance employee resource group. I’ve kicked off an International Women’s Day conference, led Lunch with a Leader and facilitated multiple group mentorship sessions. I love that Manulife provides me with the opportunity to grow within my career, not specific to my job mandates.”
Irshad says individual employees are the company’s most important asset and Manulife’s corporate culture is one of its strongest long-term advantages. Making sure employees can grow and develop a career is crucial for maintaining that advantage.
“I’m a perfect example of this,” he says. “Throughout my 26 years at Manulife I’ve had the opportunity to work in different areas and businesses. I spent time working in the U.S., and four years leading our operations in Singapore, which I value greatly. Having the opportunity to move around, in non-technical and management leadership roles, different jobs and projects, has been an incredibly valuable experience.”
In 2023, Manulife celebrated over one million hours dedicated to learning globally. For 2024, it has set an internal learning goal of 32 hours per employee. “We want our team members to grow in their roles, build their careers with us,” says Irshad. “Learning plays a key role in that.”
“Manulife provides us with a lot of opportunities to learn and grow our careers,” says Odom. “It’s not just a great company to work for, it’s a company with amazing people who really care about your success.”
Recognized as one of Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2025):
By Kristina Leung, Chantel Watkins, and Cypress Weston, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Jan 20, 2025)
Here are some of the reasons why Manulife Financial Corporation was selected as one of Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2025):
- Recent grads at Manulife have access to a rotational program that allows them to experience different roles and departments -- the rotational component includes a formal mentorship program, networking events, lunch and learns, leadership training, specialized projects and offers international rotation opportunities within Asia, the U.S. and Canada for investments, advanced analytics, and actuarial student programs
- Manulife's internship program welcomes students from a broad range of fields each year, providing opportunities to participate in a variety of activities including engaging directly with senior leadership, networking, intern appreciation events, and an internal career fair where they can learn about Manulife's new graduate programs
- Manulife encourages students to create meaningful connections with peers throughout the entirety of their work term, beginning on the very first day with student orientation where time is allocated to meet fellow students -- social events are organized throughout each term by a co-op social committee, including a final end-of-term event
Recognized as one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers (2025):
By Kristina Leung, Chantel Watkins, and Cypress Weston, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Feb 24, 2025)
Here are some of the reasons why Manulife Financial Corporation was selected as one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers (2025):
- Manulife committed to increasing BIPOC representation by 30 per cent at the director level and above in North America by 2025, as well as maintaining a minimum of 25 per cent of annual graduate hiring for BIPOC talent
- The company implemented diverse candidate slates to increase hire and promotion rates of diverse candidates for director-level roles and above, and also provides training on inclusive recruitment and mitigating unconscious bias for hiring managers, talent acquisition teams and human resources business partners
- Manulife drives leadership accountability for diversity and inclusion through local segment and function plans developed by members of the executive leadership team (which are reported and tracked by the CEO and diversity, equity and inclusion council), DEI dashboards and scorecards (reviewed by senior leaders on a quarterly basis), and the inclusion of accountability in all people leader performance goals
The Career Directory
Manulife Financial Corporation has been selected for The Career Directory, our guide to entry-level recruitment for recent college and university graduates.
