City of Markham named one of Canada’s Best Employers for 2021

Markham.ca/news
Feb. 2, 2021

The City of Markham has been named by Forbes as one of Canada’s Best Employers for 2021 in recognition of its workplace culture and reputation. The ranking is based on how likely survey respondents, comprised of City staff and others familiar with the organization, were to recommend the City of Markham as a great place to work.

“It is with great pride that the City of Markham is recognized as the top municipal employer in Canada,” said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “This recognition is a reflection of our commitment to fostering a welcoming and inclusive workspace that prides itself on innovation and exceptional customer service. We are also proud to be joined by an impressive list of Markham-based companies, reinforcing our city’s position as a destination for attracting and retaining top talent in Canada’s most diverse city.”

The City of Markham was the highest-ranking municipal employer in all of Canada to be named to the list and 18th overall. The City is proud to be home to the many global companies also recognized as top 2021 employers including AMD, IBM, Honda, Miller Group, and Aviva which are headquartered in Markham, as well as Oracle, Nokia, TD Bank, MAC Cosmetics, General Motors, Stantec, GE and AECOM. We congratulate these employers for this recognition and contribution to our City.

Contributing to its strength as an employer, the City of Markham prioritizes its employees through its People Plan which supports the City’s strategic goal of delivering exceptional services by exceptional people.  With a focus on comprehensive onboarding, continuous learning opportunities, a variety of wellness initiatives, transparent communication, and a recognition of the strength diversity and inclusion bring to our organization, the City works hard to ensure our employees are thriving.

“It is a testament to the engagement, leadership, and commitment to innovation of City of Markham staff, that our organization is recognized for being such a great place to work, and a leading employer in Canada,” said Andy Taylor, the City of Markham’s Chief Administrative Officer. “The City of Markham is proud of our efforts, and the recruitment and retention programs we have built, that positively engage and invest in our staff. Through the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Markham remains committed to being a rewarding place to work, and supporting staff to continue to provide high-quality services to our community. Our recognition as a leading Canadian employer shines a light on the great work being done at the City, alongside other recognized leading employers based in Markham.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Markham enhanced its commitment to employee mental health and wellness and quickly evolved to offer virtual learning and staff development opportunities in place of pre-pandemic programming. In addition to implementing work from home guidelines and health and safety guidelines for staff in the field, the City developed new policies to address child care and elder care needs, sick time, and vacation time during the pandemic. Information technology support increased as did communication about the City’s response to the pandemic, supplemented by many resources on the City’s dedicated intranet site.

We believe that the City’s commitment to our people is demonstrated through our ability to deliver excellent services. Staff continue to innovate and adapt to meet the challenges presented by the evolving pandemic. Achievements include working under enhanced health and safety protocols to keep the public and staff safe, transitioning recreation, culture and library programming online, enhancing our already robust suite of over 85 online services, and being the first municipality in Canada to deploy IBM Watson Assistant for Citizens, a 24/7 web and phone-based virtual assistant that provides up-to-date information on COVID-19, affected City services, and other useful information.

Markham staff have a record of meeting and exceeding the expectations of the community. This has included exercising fiscal prudence to deliver the lowest 16-year property tax rate increase in the GTA to support residents and businesses weathering the pandemic and being recognized as a Top7 Intelligent Community worldwide for leveraging technology to build an inclusive, prosperous and healthy community.

The City of Markham is very proud to be recognized as one of Canada’s Best Employers.

Further information may be found at https://www.forbes.com/canada-best-employers/#156cf93c241f