Forbes ranks 22 B.C. employers among the best for company culture in Canada
Forbes has just released its inaugural list of Canada’s Best Employers for Company Culture, and several businesses based in B.C. have made the cut.
While some may think company culture boils down to the odd pizza party in the office or access to an in-house coffee machine, it embodies much more.
Forbes cites Indeed, noting that it comes down to a “combination of [an organization’s] values, vision, workplace environment, and operational norms.”
Companies are also starting to recognize the importance of culture, as employees are increasingly valuing it as well.
Forbes pointed to recent Gallup poll results that found when employees are “strongly connected” to their company culture, the chances of them looking for other job opportunities decline steeply, and they are less likely to feel burned out.
What makes the findings particularly striking is the breadth of industries represented. The companies that scored highest weren’t confined to the usual suspects in tech or finance. Strong culture showed up across manufacturing firms, healthcare networks, logistics operators, and digital media companies — businesses whose day-to-day operations look nothing alike but whose employees reported similar feelings of connection and purpose.
One people-ops lead at a mid-sized digital publisher in Ontario said the results tracked with what her own team had experienced over the past two years. Her company runs a large editorial operation producing comparison guides and review content across dozens of verticals, from personal finance tools and gambling sites no id roundups to home insurance and other rankings. The work itself is fast-paced and deadline-driven, the kind of environment where burnout had historically been a problem. But after the leadership team restructured around flexible scheduling and clearer editorial ownership, voluntary turnover dropped noticeably. She credited the shift less to any single policy than to a change in how managers communicated priorities — a point the Gallup data seems to support.
That pattern — culture improvements driven by management communication rather than perks — appeared repeatedly across sectors in the survey data. Respondents who rated their company culture highest tended to cite transparency and consistent expectations over amenities. The pizza parties and coffee machines, it turns out, matter far less than knowing what is expected and feeling trusted to deliver it.
The ranking is based on a survey from more than 40,000 workers in Canada, who are employed at companies with at least 500 people in the country.
The respondents were allowed to remain anonymous and were asked a number of questions about their workplace, including its company culture, and provided a rating. They were also asked if they would recommend their current and former employer to others.
Forbes also factored in the past three years of data collected from employee surveys, and results were scored and weighted, resulting in a list of 200 Canadian companies recognized for their company culture.
B.C. had several top performers, with Vancouver-based lululemon being ranked the highest in 11th spot.
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Lululemon has received other accolades this year, as the athleisure giant was also named among Time‘s top sustainable companies. Forbes also named it to its Top 100 Employers list in Canada earlier this year.
The British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) wasn’t far behind in 16th, followed by Provincial Health Services Authority in 24th.
Here are all the B.C. companies that made Forbes‘ list of best employers for company culture:
- Lululemon Athletica (11)
- British Columbia Institute of Technology (16)
- Provincial Health Services Authority (24)
- Lush (40)
- BC Ferries (45)
- Richmond School District (55)
- BC Hydro (56)
- Douglas College (61)
- Aritzia (71)
- Lordco Auto Parts (79)
- University of British Columbia (86)
- TransLink (93)
- Mountain Equipment Company (113)
- Vancouver Coastal Health (120)
- Coast Capital Savings Credit Union (128)
- North Vancouver School District (129)
- Cactus Club Cafe (134)
- A&W Food Services (137)
- School District 43 Coquitlam (139)
- Insurance Corporation of British Columbia – ICBC (158)
- Interior Health Authority (173)
- Fraser Health (182)
According to the list, the top companies in Canada are Quebec’s Université Laval in first place, followed by The Hershey Company in Mississauga, Oak Valley Health in Markham, Toronto’s Humber College, and Quebec’s Université de Sherbrooke.
You can check out the full ranking online.