Recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2022) and National Capital Region's Top Employers (2022):
Mediacorp Canada Inc. staff editors (Nov 11, 2021)
Here are some of the reasons why Shopify Inc. was selected as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers (2022) and National Capital Region's Top Employers (2022):
- In addition to its charitable focus on supporting education and entrepreneurs, Shopify extended its charitable program to donate laptops to two area hospitals to help families and patients stay connected during the pandemic and subsequent restrictions
- In addition to Shopify's basic health benefits plan, employees receive $5,000 which can be put towards a health or wellness spending account, a charitable giving account or retirement savings (employees may choose how funds are allocated to each option) -- the company's health benefits plan also features a generous mental health practitioners benefit of up to $2,500
- Shopify introduced the "Digital by Default" work style approach to incorporate a "digital-first way of thinking, working and operating" -- in recognition that "office has changed," the company's ongoing focus will ensure that the vast majority of employees can easily work offsite as required and "accelerate on all the good parts of remote working"

An employee at Shopify works remotely
Employer Background
Industry | Multi-channel commerce platform |
Established in Canada | 2004 |
Publicly traded | yes |
Major Canadian hiring locations | Vancouver BC, Toronto ON, Montréal QC, Ottawa ON, Waterloo ON |
Full-time employees in Canada | 5,758 |
Part-time employees in Canada | 67 |
Full-time employees worldwide | 7,558 |
Workforce engaged on a contract basis | 6.19% |
Average age of employees in Canada | 32.97 years |
Longest serving employee | 12.07 years |
COVID-19
Pandemic response | ongoing Digital by Default approach to incorporate a "digital-first way of thinking, working and operating" in response to employees working from home throughout the pandemic -- the ongoing conversation looks to "accelerate on all the good parts of remote working" in designing the future of work at the company |
Physical Workplace Rating: A+
Editorial note | due to the pandemic, some workplace amenities may be temporarily unavailable |
Commuter amenities | transit subsidies, subsidized parking, electric vehicle charging stations, secure/sheltered bicycle parking, nearby bike sharing station |
Workplace features | Shopify's LEED Gold-certified head office is centrally located in downtown Ottawa, with offices spread across 11 floors and decorated in accordance to various themes (from Canadiana to Prohibition), the workplace features a mix of different spaces designed to accommodate different personalities, working and learning styles, and individual needs (such as open and closed spaces, meeting rooms of different sizes, social areas and quiet nooks), private rooms for breastfeeding/pumping and prayer, yoga/meditation studio, virtual reality room, telecommuter workstations, sit-stand workstations, private phone booth, nap room, religious observance room, self-serve lunchroom, outdoor patio, outdoor barbecue |
Employee lounge amenities | comfortable seating, music, television, video games, foosball table, board games, table tennis, indoor go-kart track, band room, puzzle areas, art gallery in the lobby and original and custom artwork throughout |
Snacks available | fresh fruit, trail mix, yogurt, protein bars, snack bars, ramen, chips, chocolate, candy |
Onsite cafeteria | healthy menus, special diet menus, free meals daily, take-home meals, daily breakfasts |
Onsite fitness facility | free membership, instructor-led classes (flow yoga, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, acroyoga; weekly classes), shower facilities, Ottawa Public Library, Jack Purcell Community Centre, Parliament Hill, Rideau Centre |
Work Atmosphere & Communications Rating: B
Past social events | numerous traditional events moved to virtual versions, including the annual employee conference, weekly town hall gatherings, the "Shopify Together" series (includes live-streamed activities such as musical performances, workshops and keynote speakers), weekly trivia Slack channel (over 300 employees get together for 15 to 20-minute trivia breaks during the workday), birthday gift program (employees can expense a birthday gift, preferably from a Shopify merchant) |
Cultural aspects | casual dress (e.g. jeans) daily, employee sports teams |
Employee communications | intranet site, company newsletter, internal social media |
Other in-house communications | town halls with AMAs (with senior executives), "Digital by Default" work updates, "Real Talk" sessions (addressing serious pandemic-related topics), regular company emails from senior personnel addressing wellness and mental health resources, caregiver options and more |
Financial Benefits & Compensation Rating: B+
Outside salary surveys | participates in outside salary surveys every 12 months |
Employee salary reviews | individual salaries are reviewed every 12 months |
Long-term planning | life & disability insurance |
Referral bonuses (max) | new employee referral bonuses (up to $3,000) for some positions |
Signing bonuses | available for some positions |
Additional financial benefits | as part of Shopify's basic health plan, permanent full-time employees receive $5,000 with employees having the flexibility to choose how much they allocate to retirement savings, upon hiring, employees receive restricted stock units (RSUs) and may have the opportunity to receive additional equity grants depending on their performance |
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 | 24 hours per week |
Waiting period | there is no waiting period for coverage |
Family coverage option | yes |
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 $2,500 each year |
Additional health plan information | as part of Shopify's basic health plan, permanent full-time employees receive $5,000 which employees choose how best to allocate as they desire, including health and dental, extended health coverage, wellness coverage (including fitness club memberships, fertility treatments, transit, family care and support, starting a business and product for the home), retirement savings, and charitable giving |
Maternity top-up (mothers) | up to 85% of salary for 16 weeks |
Parental top-up (mothers) | up to 85% of salary for 18 weeks |
Parental top-up (fathers) | up to 85% of salary for 18 weeks |
Adoption top-up | up to 85% of salary for 18 weeks |
Additional family-friendly benefits | extended parental leave to unpaid leave |
Flexible work options | flexible work hours, telecommuting |
Vacation & Personal Time-Off Rating: A+
Unlimited vacation allowance | offers a no-limit vacation policy |
Paid holiday shutdown | during the Christmas to New Year's holiday break, employees receive an additional 3 days off |
Unpaid leave maximum | 12 months |
Employee Engagement & Performance Rating: A+
Employee performance reviews | employees receive individual performance reviews every 12 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 | online recognition platform, peer-to-peer recognition awards, long-service awards, Equity Awards to recognize employee impact, performance and promotions, Internal Bug Bounty for employees who identify security issues within the company's core applications |
In-house survey period | in-house surveys are conducted every 6 months |
Training & Skills Development Rating: A+
Career planning | in-house career planning services, online employee skills inventory |
In-house training initiatives | mentoring, in-house training, online training, leadership training, paid internships, subsidies for professional accreditation |
Tuition subsidies (related to job) | yes |
Tuition subsidies (unrelated to job) | yes |
Unique training & development programs | formal leadership development program, unique Hack Days (3 full days annually where employees are encouraged to "step out of their day jobs and tackle a new problem"), unique peer-to-peer learning platform (called PlusPlus) that encourages employees to advertise and share their skills, developer degree program in partnership with Carleton University and York University |
Community Involvement Rating: B+
Scope of charitable involvement | local, national, international |
Employee charitable involvement | employees are involved in selection of charities |
Total number of charities supported last year | approximately 14 charitable and community organizations were supported last year |
Some of the community organizations supported | Boys and Girls Club Canada, Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa, Virtual Ventures, hEr VOLUTION, Indspire, SciXchange (Ryerson University), University of Waterloo’s Engineering Outreach Techsploration, University of Ottawa’s Engineering Outreach, Pathways to Education, UpstartED, Tech Spark, Technovation Global, Technovation Canada |
Community highlight | Shopify focuses its charitable efforts on computing education and entrepreneurship, supporting educational programs and partnerships, and working to remove barriers for entrepreneurs in underrepresented communities, providing financial contributions, educational workshops, mentoring and access to the company's platform. |
Pandemic-related community initiatives | Shopify donated laptops to two area hospitals to help families and patients stay connected during the pandemic lockdowns and ongoing restrictions. |
The Career Directory
Shopify Inc. has been selected for The Career Directory, our guide to entry-level recruitment for recent college and university graduates.

Shopify employee takes a break while working from home
Highlights for New Grads
Industry | Multi-channel commerce platform |
Full-time employees in Canada | 5,001 to 10,000 |
Major Canadian hiring locations | Vancouver BC, Toronto ON, Montréal QC, Ottawa ON, Waterloo 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, leadership training |
Other info for new grads | Knowledge of Ruby on Rails may be considered an asset for Software Developers. |
Typical new grad positions | Software Developer, Software Engineer, UX Designer, UX Researcher, Data Scientist, Support Advisor |
Work benefits | health benefits for new employees, flexible work hours, telecommuting, transit subsidies |
Unlimited vacation allowance | offers a no-limit vacation policy |
Academic fields recruited
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Bachelor of Engineering
- Computer Engineering
-
Bachelor of Science
- Computer Science
- Mathematics
- Physics
-
Doctorate (Science)
- Mathematics
-
Master of Engineering
- Computer Engineering
Recruits at these schools
- Algonquin College
- Carleton University
- Concordia University
- École de technologie supérieure
- McGill University
- Polytechnique Montréal
- Queen's University
- Simon Fraser University
- University of Alberta
- University of British Columbia
- University of Guelph
- University of Manitoba
- University of Ottawa
- University of Toronto
- University of Waterloo
- Wilfrid Laurier University
- York University