Which Canadian companies have the best retention?

Survey looks at average tenure of employees at top 100 companies

BY John Dujay 16 Aug. 2023

When it comes to employee retention, some employers are having a tough time keeping workers onboard these days.

But who is succeeding at this game? Great-West employees stay the longest (10.8 years), while on the other hand workers at TELUS stick around for the shortest amount of time (1.5 years), according to a new study by Resume.io.

The company analyzed the LinkedIn pages of the top 100 companies by market cap in Canada, U.S., U.K. and Australia and ranked each business based on average tenure. The data was collected in June.

HR leadership cited for retention

The Winnipeg-based insurance company Great-West was the highest rated, according to the study, followed by both Cameco and CCL at 9.8 years each.

Part of its success in this could be attributed to Grace Palombo, executive vice-president and CHRO, who was recognized by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN) as one of Canada’s most powerful women in 2018.

“Grace's exceptional leadership has put in place strategies to ensure we have the right talent to meet our current and future business needs,” said Great-West’s president and CEO Paul Mahon said in a Resume.io blog. “This recognition is a true testament to our shared values of doing what's right, building trust and partnership, and putting people first in all that we do.”

After Great-West (10.8), Suncor, MEG Energy, Barrick and Emera all had employee retention years greater than nine. Thomson Reuters, Hydro One, CP, Imperial and YAMANA GOLD rounded out the top 10 employers, with workers remaining onboard for around eight years.