Earlier this year, Forbes Magazine set out to identify the top employers in Canada, as rated by their employees. A survey was conducted of more than 8,000 workers, who were contacted anonymously without the involvement of their employer. Respondents, who were chosen carefully to be representative of the Canadian workforce by gender, age, region, education, and ethnicity, were asked how likely they were to recommend their employers and how they felt about other employers in their industry.

250 employers were rated across 25 industries. Overall, the list includes a good mix of Canadian and local businesses, with a range of large corporations to medium sized and non profits. The results revealed that many of highest rated companies are Canadian, including BC Hydro, the University of Guelph, and the publicly funded Toronto-based Metrolinx. Some of the highly rated multinationals included Costco and Google, companies which appear to frequently appear on listings of best employers.

To help job seekers find employers in their sector, Forbes sorted the companies by industry:

Increasingly in north America, the labour market is one where skilled employees are in high demand, and where company loyalty cannot be taken for granted. As a result, employers are beginning to appreciate the importance of ensuring that they have a reputation for keeping their employees happy, and surveys such as this are taken seriously by employers, job seekers and even investors.

For job seekers, it is clear that there are some excellent employers from a wide range of industries who are strongly committed to employee satisfaction. This list, as well as reviews from sites such as Glassdoor Canada, should be a helpful tool to direct candidates toward employers who treat their employees well.