Canada’s unemployment rate has been inching upward over the past several months, from 5% at the end of April 2023 to 5.8% in the beginning of 2024. But there are many open jobs on the market for a variety of reasons including employee turnover, company expansions and newly-created positions. In fact, nearly half of Canadian companies plan to increase their head counts in the first half of 2024, according to a survey commissioned by Express Employment Professionals.
To help job seekers assess their options and give companies a peek at what their peers are offering employees, Forbes is ranking Canada’s Best Employers 2024, and will reveal the list on January 23.
The annual ranking, which is done in partnership with market research firm Statista, is based on a survey of more than 40,000 people working for companies and institutions in Canada that have at least 500 employees. Participants were asked to evaluate their employer based on a wide range of criteria such as opportunities for promotion, gender pay equity and how supervisors manage their direct reports. Survey respondents were also asked if they would recommend their employer to others, and were given the chance to rate other employers in their respective industries.
The survey analysis included data from this year along with the previous three years, with a heavier weight given to more recent data. The responses were also divided into two categories: those given by current employees, and those given by people who know the company through friends, family or industry connections. The evaluations from current employees were weighted more heavily than the others.
All of the responses were then tallied so that each company was given a score, and the 300 organizations with the highest scores made the final list.
Check back here on January 23 when Forbes will unveil our newest ranking.
As with all Forbes lists, companies do not pay any fee to be considered. For questions about this list, please email listdesk (at) forbes.com.