Toronto, November 14, 2006

Nine diverse companies from across Canada are this year’s recipients of a Best Employers Award for 50-Plus Canadians™. The awards, sponsored by the Workplace Institute, were presented today during the second annual Summit on the Mature Workforce in Toronto.

"For several years, leading voices in demographics and economics have been sounding the alarm about the looming talent shortage due to not enough skilled younger workers available to fill the shoes of millions of retiring baby boomers," says Barbara Jaworski, founder of the awards and head of the Workforce Institute. "These nine companies have heard the alarm bells and are taking action. Indeed, they are on the vanguard of a workplace revolution to overturn outdated, discriminatory hiring and retention policies aimed at workers over 50."

This year's winners are:

• Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto
• Direct Energy, Toronto, Ontario
• Excell Services, Penticton, British Columbia
• Flexo Products, Niagara Falls, Ontario
• Merck Frosst, Montreal, Quebec
• Metasoft Systems Inc., Vancouver, B.C.
• Seven Oaks General Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
• Toronto Auto Auctions, Milton, Ontario

The Best Employers Award for 50-Plus Canadians™ are open to all Canadian companies with more than 20 employees. Criteria for the awards are excellence in the areas of hiring, training, career development, health care, employee and family benefits, retirement policy, pensions and pre- and post-retirement support systems.

The awards are designed to recognize and reward innovative and effective programs or initiatives within organizations that lead the way in best practices concerning older workers while achieving organizational goals. Nominees are asked to demonstrate how their organization has introduced or tried new ideas or programs with mature employees and the rewards they have reaped from doing so.

For more information contact:

Barbara Jaworski,
Workplace Institute
Tel: 416 704-3517
Fax: 416-762-7265

Winners of the 2007 Best Employers Award for the 50 Plus

Catholic Children's Aid Society of Toronto, Ontario.
The CCAS has 600 staff, many of who are over the age of 50. They have worked at developing a workplace culture that is supportive of staff, promotes learning and recognition leading to one of the highest retention rates (in a very stressful business) among Children's Aid Societies. In addition, CCAS has implemented some of the most progressive benefits programs available including one for cataclysmic drug costs usually applied for the most expensive drugs that are generally more associated with those over the age of 50.

Direct Energy, Toronto, Ontario
Direct Energy is using its flexible internal environment and employee benefits to attract and retain fifty plus employees. Direct Energy has looked closely at their demographics and discovered that parts of their business can become measurably more productive with a focus on the mature employee. Apprenticeships are being offered to 50-plus Employees who are interested in retraining.

Excell Services, Penticton, British Columbia.
Excell Services is a call centre that opened in 2001 in the heart of a retirement community. They employ over 600 employees and are the largest employer in Penticton. Seventy percent of jobs are full time with 30% part-time and all employees can take advantage of flexible work hours. There are no retirement policies and promotion of those over 50 is commonplace. Retirees are also able to top up their retirement funds.

Flexo Products, Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Flexo Products supplies cleaning products and equipment of every kind to institutions, hotels and schools. After many years hiring younger employees and experiencing high turnover rates, Flexo discovered that hiring mature workers is a great investment because they have lower turnover rates, better safety records and higher productivity. The company has no mandatory retirement.

Merck Frosst, Montreal, Quebec.
Merck Frosst is a great example of an extremely competitive business that respects and values its long serving employees. The company believes that excellence has a restless quality so it’s usual for people to rotate through numerous jobs during their career at Merck Frosst and career opportunities and promotions are based on performance, not age.  The company does many things right but just one innovative initiative is an additional savings plan they developed with Revenue Canada's assistance, that mimics an RRSP in that it offers further opportunities to employees to save for their retirement.

Metasoft Systems Inc., Vancouver, B.C.
Metasoft's fundraising division provides an online, searchable database of corporate, foundation and government grant-making information to thousands of non-profits worldwide. The average age of all staff is around 40. Metasoft has found that mature people stay with the company longer, care about their clients and develop relationships that allow them to become successful salespeople (More than half of the staff is in sales.) Metasoft has introduced several initiatives to not only support their existing mature workforce, but to attract and retain new talent from the 50 plus demographic.

Seven Oaks General Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
This accredited, 275-bed acute care facility won this award because of their recruitment, retention, workplace culture and management practices. Due to the aging workforce and an increase in chronic disease, chronic injuries and work-life integration issues, Seven Oaks, like other healthcare institutions, has struggled to attract and retain qualified medical personnel, particularly nurses. For the last five years, the facility has used a comprehensive health and wellness strategy and targeted interventions based on their employees' needs. As a result, their employee health risks have been reduced as have their organizational benefit expenses ratios and WCB rates compared to other health care facilities.

Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
It is crucial for Statistics Canada to have a workforce that has transferable knowledge, skills and experience so that employees can be redeployed when program priorities change.  By encouraging long-term career employment, the agency is able to reap the rewards of their investment in training and development and optimize their employees. Statistics Canada has implemented a number of innovative policies, practices, and mechanisms that have evolved into a holistic Human Resources Management Strategy that engenders long-term career employment and enables Statistics Canada to leverage the talents of mature workers.

Toronto Auto Auctions, Milton, Ontario
This wholesale vehicle dealer auction brings vehicle buyers and vehicle sellers together for an average of three auctions per week. Their drivers operate well over 5000 vehicle weekly. Toronto Auto Auctions have won an award for their recruitment of retired workers from all walks of life who wish to continue working part time. They offer flexible schedules that are customized to the mature worker and in return get reliable, responsible workers.