Toronto, January 08, 2008 – The Best Employers Award for 50 Plus Canadians™ is open to all Canadian companies that have been in business for three or more years and have 10 or more employees. The awards recognize organizations for innovative and effective initiatives that lead the way to best practices for 50-plus workers while achieving organizational goals.

Applicants will be evaluated by an expert panel of judges from across the country.  Application forms and entry details for the 2008 Best Employers Award for 50 Plus Canadians™ are available online from the Workplace Institute.  Written submissions will be followed by in-depth interviews with the applicants.

The deadline for applications is July 31, 2008. This year's awards will be presented at the fourth annual Summit on the Mature Workforce to be held in Calgary, Alberta, on November 5, 2008.

2007 winners include HSBC Bank Canada, Merck Frosst, EDS Canada, Wal-Mart Canada, Home Instead Senior Care, Metasoft Systems Inc., Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto and the Youth Emergency Shelter of Edmonton.

“We’ve learned a lot from these awards,” says Barbara Jaworski, author of KAA-BOOM! How to Engage the 50-Plus Worker and Beat the Workforce Crisis. In the four years since their inception, the awards have significantly raised employer awareness of the coming labour crisis as baby boomers, fully one-third of the workforce, approach retirement age. Jaworski warns that there will be fierce competition for the best and brightest, and notes that the war for talent is already on in such sectors as healthcare, construction and energy. The Best Employers Award for 50 Plus Canadians™ provides examples of how forward-thinking companies have met these challenges and establishes best practices and Canadian benchmarks. The results can help businesses in every sector capitalize on a valuable resource and avoid the coming talent crunch--whether they are award winners or not.

About the Workplace Institute:

The Workplace Institute provides strategic planning, policy development, consulting, training, education and research relating to the mature workforce. Ventures include the Best Employers Award for 50 Plus Canadians™ and the annual Summit on the Mature Workforce.

For further information contact:

Barbara Jaworski
President
Workplace Institute
Tel: 416-704-3517
E-mail:

5th Annual Best Employers Awards For 50 Plus Canadians, nine companies win 2008 Best Employers Award for 50 Plus Canadians