Top Employer: The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation

Recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2022) and Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2022):

By Richard Yerema and Kristina Leung, Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Nov 11, 2021)

Here are some of the reasons why The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation was selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2022) and Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2022):

The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation moved all employees to work-from-home arrangements at the onset of the pandemic and ensured employees had the necessary tech to set up comfortable home offices, including subsidies for home office equipment purchases such as chairs, screens and printers -- and refined its flexible work policies to allow employees to flex their workday start and finish times, offered additional paid time off, hosted light meeting days and enhanced support for health and wellness through their health benefits program
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation supports its new moms with maternity and parental leave top-up payments, to 85 per cent of salary for 25 weeks and extends parental leave top-up to new dads and adoptive parents, to 85 per cent of salary for 10 weeks -- and offers a $5,000 subsidy for parents who are adopting a child
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation starts its new employees with three weeks of paid vacation, moving to four weeks after just three years of employment -- senior personnel start with four weeks of paid vacation

Staff members at the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation attend a fundraising event

Employer Background

Industry	Charitable foundations
Established in Canada	1982
Major Canadian hiring locations	Toronto ON
Full-time employees in Canada	120
Part-time employees in Canada	2
Workforce engaged on a contract basis	24%
Average age of employees in Canada	39 years
Longest serving employee	23 years

COVID-19

Pandemic response

enhanced safety, mitigation and cleaning protocols, employees working from home were offered subsidies for home office equipment purchases (for high-end desk chairs, screens and printers), offered additional paid time off, light meeting days, additional resources to support health and wellness and redefined flexible hours, allowing employees to work through hours of the day that best suited their new work-from-home arrangements

Physical Workplace Rating: A

Editorial note	due to the pandemic, some workplace amenities may be temporarily unavailable
Commuter amenities	transit subsidies, online carpool sign-up, subsidized parking, electric vehicle charging stations, secure/sheltered bicycle parking, nearby bike sharing station, corporate ride-sharing account
Workplace features	telecommuter workstations, sit-stand workstations, private phone booth, nap room, religious observance room, discounts at local restaurants
Employee lounge amenities	comfortable seating, television
Onsite fitness facility	for employees only, free membership, subsidized membership, treadmills, stairmasters, elliptical trainers, rowing machines, weights, shower facilities, kettlebells, undulation ropes, exercise mats, medicine balls, stretch straps
Other nearby amenities	Regent Park North Recreation Centre, John Innes Community Recreation Centre Trinity Community Recreation Centre, Queen’s Park

Work Atmosphere & Communications Rating: B

Employee social committee name	The People Committee (est. 2019)
Cultural aspects	business-casual dress daily, dress-for-your-day policy, employee sports teams
Employee communications	intranet site, company newsletter, traditional/email suggestion box

Financial Benefits & Compensation Rating: A

Outside salary surveys	participates in outside salary surveys every 24 months
Employee salary reviews	individual salaries are reviewed every 12 months
Long-term savings	defined-benefit (DB) pension, defined-contribution (DC) pension
Long-term planning	retirement planning assistance, phased-in retirement work options, life & disability insurance
Year-end bonuses	corporate discount program (e.g. retail, services, travel, etc.), 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
Flexible coverage	health plan is flexible with adjustable premiums and coverage levels
Minimum hours worked for coverage	20 hours per week
Waiting period	there is no waiting period for coverage
Family coverage option	yes
Dental coverage	routine, restorative
Paid sick days	employees receive 5 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 $200 each year
Health spending account	up to $1,200 each year
Wellness initiatives	formal wellness strategy built around 8 pillars of wellness (including emotional, social, spiritual, financial, intellectual, occupational, environmental, and physical)
Maternity top-up (mothers)	up to 85% of salary for 15 weeks
Parental top-up (mothers)	up to 85% of salary for 10 weeks
Parental top-up (fathers)	up to 85% of salary for 10 weeks
Adoption top-up	up to 85% of salary for 10 weeks
Adoption assistance subsidy	up to $5,000 per child
Additional family-friendly benefits	extended parental leave to unpaid leave, phased-in return to work for new parents, child care onsite
Flexible work options	flexible work hours, 35-hour work week (with full pay), shortened work week (fewer hours with less pay), compressed work week, telecommuting

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 3 years of employment
Maximum vacation allowance	employees move to a maximum of 7 weeks of vacation over their career
Paid summer shutdown	employees receive 5 days off during the summer months
Paid holiday shutdown	during the Christmas to New Year's holiday break, employees receive an additional 4 days off
Personal paid days off	employees can schedule 1 personal day off each year, as needed
Unpaid leave maximum	12 months
Self-funded/deferred salary leave maximum	2 months
Additional time-off information	senior personnel start at 4 weeks

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, peer-to-peer recognition awards, long-service awards, tailored and unique rewards (e.g. travel), annual and unique holiday party awards include informal, creative, fun and unique categories, including the Duct Tape (for those who can fix anything), the Call of Duty award (for a colleague who will always sign up and help), Biggest Animal Lover (for the employee with the biggest love for animals) and the Cool Cucumber Award (for those who handle pressure "like a boss"), and introduced the Winning from Home Awards to acknowledge the realities that occur while working from home in a humorous manner (including awards such as the You're on Mute award, the Most Fun Background award and the Netflix Navigator award)
In-house survey period	in-house surveys are conducted every 3 months
Outside survey period	outside consultant surveys are held every 24 months

Training & Skills Development Rating: A+

Career planning	in-house career planning services
In-house training initiatives	in-house training, online training, paid internships, subsidies for professional accreditation
Tuition subsidies (related to job)	yes
Tuition subsidies (unrelated to job)	yes

Community Involvement Rating: A

Scope of charitable involvement	local, national
Employee charitable involvement	employees are involved in selection of charities
Community highlight	As its raison d'être, the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation is well known for its annually held events that support cancer research through a number of very popular fundraising initiatives, including the Ride to Conquer Cancer, the Weekend to Conquer Cancer, Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer and Quest to Conquer Cancer.
Pandemic-related community initiatives	Launched an innovation funding program led by a cross-functional group of employees to develop new fundraising ideas, resulting in 20 potential opportunities for innovation and introducing four innovative digital fundraising ideas.

The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation

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