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HR has emerged from the back office into the boardroom, but for Canada’s most forward-thinking organizations, the narrative doesn’t stop at HR’s elevation. The next frontier lies in recognizing that workforces are not a singular entity but a tapestry of individuals, each shaped by distinct needs, ambitions, and circumstances.
In that vein, the best HR teams are moving beyond buzzwords, designing nimble and inclusive strategies that reflect Canada’s diverse socioeconomic and regulatory landscape. From the high cost of living in Toronto and Vancouver to the language demands unique to Montreal, the terrain is anything but uniform.
Canadian job seekers and employees want comprehensive benefit packages, mental health initiatives, and flexible work models, according to Adecco.
Rachel Stewart, associate vice president, human resources research and advisory services, at McLean & Company, says, “Innovation in the Canadian HR landscape means developing solutions tailored to our unique market constraints, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all global approaches.”
Key approaches that Stewart highlights are:
leveraging generative AI to overcome challenges such as limited talent pools and cross-border competition
transforming HR data into actionable, revenue-generating insights
Canadian HR professionals face a balancing act: adapting to fast-moving technology while staying rooted in the country's nuanced legal frameworks and multicultural workforce realities.
“For CHROs, innovation means stepping beyond compliance to become strategic business partners who can directly influence organizational performance and bottom-line results,” says Stewart.
However, true innovation for the best HR teams is also about not shying away from the tough decisions. Cissy Pau of Clear HR Consulting says, “It’s about being creative – finding ways to get people to join us, keeping them interested and engaged, and wanting to work with us. And then, how to retain the right ones and detract the ones that don’t fit, because not everybody fits.”
The need to understand individuals is particularly pertinent when it comes to compensation and rewards. “It’s really understanding each staff member and what is important to them and then finding strategies to deliver rewards or recognition or engagement practices that meet that,” adds Pau. “You have to meet employees where they’re at and find out what’s important to them.”
Increasingly, this understanding is powered by data, as AI-driven platforms are enabling real-time insights into what’s working – and what isn’t.
“AI-powered platforms are central to this shift – analyzing large data sets to deliver personalized recognition while also enabling real-time evaluation of program effectiveness, identifying what drives engagement, and allowing for continuous improvement based on evolving workforce preferences,” says Stewart.
According to McLean & Company’s HR Trends Report 2025, 43 percent of respondents are increasing their use of advanced technologies such as generative AI and automation to better adapt to external changes.
Another major area where innovation is playing a role is in recruitment, balancing metrics like quality of hire and efficiency while ensuring a strong candidate experience. Tech has enabled movements including:
applicant tracking system (ATS) to customer relationship management (CRM) and marketplace platforms: improvements in recruitment technology empower recruiters to streamline workflows and offer personalized, targeted candidate experiences using ATS and CRM tools.
generative AI tools: even organizations without large tech budgets are leveraging tools like ChatGPT to revolutionize recruitment. These tools enable recruiters to quickly personalize candidate communications, eliminating the “resume black hole,” and to craft stronger job ads, making the process less time-consuming and more cost-effective.
talent marketplaces and online community platforms: these platforms help recruiters to quickly source the right skill sets for their roles, tapping into a broader talent pool and ensuring a better match for organizational needs.
What must not be lost is HR’s dual role in both embracing technology within the people function and helping the organization as it moves through digital transformation. Partnering with IT, supporting change communications, facilitating training, and nurturing a culture of innovation are all essential to making this shift successful.
Stewart adds, “There is no doubt, technology is reshaping the way HR delivers value. The future of HR lies in its ability to merge technology with a human-centric approach – empowering people, not just processes.”
Embodying these values and qualities are Canadian HR Reporter’s Leading HR Teams 2025, which were carefully selected from a list of nominated organizations and recognized for their success in areas such as talent management, diversity and inclusion, health and wellness, and HR technology.
HQ: Toronto, ON
Founded: 1985
Employees: 500+
The provider of bespoke mobility and home accessibility solutions has launched an ambitious leadership development series designed to equip its people leaders with the tools and temperament required in today’s workplace.
The program, comprised of seven distinct workshops, offers a blend of practical skill-building and cultural insight, targeting the specific needs of managers across the country:
coaching for success: performance management guidelines, importance of coaching and feedback, and how to have difficult conversations
total rewards: overview of benefits/perks/group discounts and walkthrough of our compensation strategy
talent acquisition: overview of talent strategy, our applicant tracking system, and best practices
onboarding: review of best practices for ensuring a quality onboarding experience, tips and tricks for working better together interdepartmentally
claims management: what is a leave of absence, what health and safety incidents need to be reported, how to manage time off, an overview of return-to-work programs, and providing recommendations and best practices
mental health 911: how to tell if an employee might be in crisis and what to do, overview of best practices for creating psychological safety at work
managing diverse teams: overview of what makes a team diverse, why it’s important to celebrate and discuss diversity, and best practices on how to lead employees
“We built it internally and tried to identify the things that our leaders really needed assistance with,” says Stephanie Le, senior director of people and culture.
To encourage the sharing of perspectives, leaders from different parts of the country were paired together. This sparked conversations between leaders who didn’t talk regularly and increased engagement.
Mental health is something Motion takes particular pride in addressing and has designed a workshop around it.
“We have a lot of managers who are from an older generation who have never really had to speak about mental health until the recent years, and that was something that was requested, and we hope that has cascaded down to the employee base,” says Le. “Not only that, our client base and the individuals that we serve have mental health, and we need to understand how we interact with them.”
As part of its broader innovation agenda, Motion has introduced Motion Assist, an internal AI platform that supports HR functions by responding to routine queries around topics such as sick leave, vacation entitlements, and policies. The AI does not scrape the web for answers; instead, it draws exclusively from internal documents and resources, ensuring both accuracy and relevance.
Le says, “We want to embrace it, and we are trying to use it to assist us in different ways, and so far we’ve found success with it.”
There are ambitions to expand the platform’s scope, adding video and transcriptions for instructional content for cases such as changing the batteries on a chair. “We’re slowly trying to move it forward and how we stretch it across the organization and beyond just the HR realm,” adds Le.
In addition, Motion’s Women in Leadership (WIL) program was initially launched in 2023. Any interested employee who identifies as a woman is given a mentor for a year. They are provided with ideas and suggestions about topics to discuss and also asked to give ongoing feedback on the program. In 2024, the WIL program had its first industry conference, inviting women from across the organization to hear industry leaders speak.
Le explains how the mentors take on a supportive role too, affording their mentee a profile across the firm.
“For the mentors, it’s about being a sponsor and advocating for the other person in calls or meetings and pushing them to the forefront,” she says. “It means the women in the program get the recognition and the growth they need.”
HQ: Montreal, QC
Founded: 1970
Employees: 500+
MSC unveiled a comprehensive overhaul of its compensation framework, setting a new benchmark for employee remuneration. By embracing a holistic and transparent approach to pay, the international shipping carrier reinforced its commitment to valuing its people.
“I firmly believe that when employees better understand how compensation works – from salary bands to benefits and equity – they are more engaged, empowered, and loyal to the organization,” says Giancarlo De Lisi, chief people officer. “That belief served as the catalyst for this entire initiative.”
MSC began by auditing existing pay practices and introducing a tiered, grade-based compensation structure aligned to defined job families and progression paths. Its benchmark data was sourced from trusted external providers like Mercer and WTW to ensure competitiveness with both Canadian and global markets.
The company paired this framework with Power BI dashboards to provide real-time, visual analytics to assess internal equity, identify compression risks, and model pay adjustment scenarios across business units.
De Lisi says, “These tools allowed us to be clinical and transparent in how we approached compensation planning. They also enabled us to run predictive analytics, projecting future pay pressures and ensuring pay-for-performance alignment.”
The entire process has delivered results including:
over 95 percent of employees now positioned within their appropriate grade range, with targeted adjustments made for those previously below minimums
notable increase in employee understanding and engagement with their compensation, driven by personalized total rewards statements and transparent communication from managers
managers now have the tools and training to confidently speak to compensation, tying pay to performance and progression, which has strengthened trust across the organization
“From a retention and culture perspective, early indicators show a drop in regrettable turnover, especially in key roles that were previously undervalued or misaligned to market benchmarks. Furthermore, compensation conversations have shifted from reactive to strategic, centred around growth, contribution, and internal mobility,” adds De Lisi.
MSC has also introduced Leader Compensation dashboards for its managers to support informed, equitable, and forward-looking compensation decisions.
Unlike traditional HRIS platforms, which typically provide only base compensation and salary history, the leadership dashboard offers deep analytics and context. Every manager is provided with a precise visualization of the criticality of compensation within their team including:
grade-level visibility, showing each employee’s current grade, the percentage of salary range utilization, and how that compares to others in the same grade
insights into the salary range for that grade and whether the individual is below, at, or above midpoint
scoring criteria that evaluate the “person versus the position,” helping leaders understand both employee impact and role value
De Lisi says, “Ultimately, the dashboard moves compensation out of a transactional space and into a strategic, leadership-level conversation. It helps us not only pay our people appropriately but also retain, motivate, and develop them in a way that’s aligned with both individual contributions and organizational goals.”
Boosting financial literacy and giving employees a clear view of their compensation has also been part of the overhaul, with the introduction of total compensation statements. Created with a combination of Power BI visualizations and exportable PDFs tailored to each employee’s data, drawn from MSC’s HRIS and benefits platform, these outline:
base salary
bonus or incentive eligibility
benefits value (including employer-paid health, dental, and insurance premiums)
retirement contributions
personal spending account allocations
HQ: Edmonton, AB
Founded: 1968
Employees: 1–299
Until last year, annual reviews at BGE Indoor Air Quality Solutions involved handwritten forms, passed physically between employees and their managers. Follow-up was minimal, and the process, by today’s standards, felt increasingly out of sync with a connected, agile workforce. That changed with the implementation of the performance management system.
It allows employees to log into their profiles, complete reviews, and seamlessly notify leaders once the forms are submitted.
“The thinking was, ‘What is the simpler way we can do this, and how can we make it better for everyone?’” says Carrie Beckett, director of people and culture. “Now they can go on their phone because there’s an app, or they can go to their email, and the employees know the process. They type in their answers, and they know it’s done.”
As everything can now be tracked by the HR team, it has led to significant outcomes:
employee growth: actionable feedback, driving development, and engagement
leadership accountability: actively engaging in meaningful conversations, focusing on growth opportunities for their teams
progress tracking: P&C team gained visibility into the process, ensuring follow-ups and tracking progress across the organization
BGE chose Dayforce because it was already used in other parts of the business. Beckett says, “It was just using that muscle and figuring it out, and then getting people used to using a digital tool versus a paper tool.”
The decision to go digital has also allowed BGE to increase the frequency of its engagement surveys, from once to twice per year, yielding more relevant and timely feedback.
“We made the change for 2025 and ensured that people understand the purpose, making sure that we build that process into it to make it easier. Now people don’t see this as another thing to do but more of a great opportunity to give feedback,” says Beckett.
Other accomplishments by the HR team at BGE include:
empowered recruitment process: moving from P&C managing resumes to managers actively logging into the ATS to vet candidates themselves. With training and support, this shift has been a major step forward.
enhanced onboarding: addressing gaps in data and engagement during onboarding, the team introduced an interactive onboarding session on Day 2 or 3. This session complements initial paperwork, focusing on company history, values, and culture.
critical checkpoints: recognizing the importance of early engagement, 45-day check-ins were implemented for all new hires. This initiative has reduced first-year turnover by 6 percent and strengthened the onboarding experience. Additionally, an exit interview process was launched, ensuring departing employees feel valued and leave with a positive impression of their contributions to the organization.
learning and development initiatives: ESL training was coordinated during work hours for 24 employees. Balancing scheduling for participants, instructors, and grant requirements was a challenge, but the program has been a resounding success.
With seven sites nationwide, there is a demand for the HR team to instill change and culture in all of them. Beckett says, “Our focus is to get as many tools and as much information into our leaders’ hands and give them the capabilities and skills so they can do the right thing because they’re the ones talking to the employees daily.”
The HR team ensures it engages with leaders and provides support for any issues that may arise. “I can’t be in Fort McMurray, Saskatoon, and Vancouver at the same time, but I am checking in with those at the leader levels, as is my team,” says Beckett. “It can be about, for example, a meeting about compensation. I say to them, ‘How did that go with your team? Tell me about the questions, and here are some guidelines of what you can talk about, and then come back to me’.”
BGE’s training model is also evolving to suit a multigenerational workforce. Aware that younger employees prefer learning in digestible, actionable formats, Beckett’s team is adapting accordingly.
“Without it making an ageist thing, I think everyone learns differently, but the newer generations are so used to getting information quickly and being able to search things out,” says Beckett. “Our job for the next few years is ‘How do we create tangible learning experiences for everyone that are tailored to them and the newer generations who don’t want to sit in front of a spreadsheet looking at data?’”
HQ: Toronto, ON
Founded: 1975
Employees: 500+
Delivering meaningful cultural change is never a simple task, especially in an environment as complex and multifaceted as a zoo. But Toronto Zoo’s initiative, the 1TZ Cares Wellness Program, is a compelling example of how a thoughtful, tailored approach to employee well-being can reshape organizational culture and morale.
1TZ is modelled on the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s 13 risk factors of psychological health and safety in the workplace and focuses on:
promoting a psychologically healthy workplace: to foster a safe and supportive environment aligned with the National Standard for Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace, addressing the unique challenges faced by staff.
supporting staff in high-stress roles: many employees face emotionally demanding roles, including working in high-stress environments or coping with animal care-related challenges. The program provides tools and resources to build resilience and manage workplace stress effectively.
enhancing organizational performance: a focus on wellness strengthens engagement, collaboration, and productivity, helping Toronto Zoo achieve its goals while supporting its diverse and dedicated workforce.
fostering a culture of care: to ensure employees feel seen, heard, and valued, the program was developed to support their physical, mental, and emotional well-being, reinforcing the Zoo’s commitment to its people.
Valerie Peticca, chief human resources officer, says, “We are a unique environment, dealing with people, plants, and animals. We call ourselves a city within a city. Any position that you can think of, we have here, so taking care of our people holistically is really important to us.”
The reaction to 1TZ has been satisfying for the HR team. “It’s rewarding to see the changes that it’s been making, in terms of people feeling like they can reach out and know that somebody is there,” adds Peticca.
The specialized attention extends to a social worker who is an expert in working with people who care for animals. While visitors enjoy the zoo, there is a lot happening behind the scenes, such as a full Wildlife Health and Science Centre (including an animal hospital where guests can watch medical procedures), an education team, and a conservation science program.
Peticca says, “We want everyone to feel supported, no matter whether they’re a scientist, an electrician, or if they’re taking care of animals.”
The HR team has also invested in staff training to enhance guest experiences for visitors with diverse sensory needs, a move made even more timely by the zoo’s collaboration with PaRx, Canada’s national nature prescription program. As part of this initiative, Ontario-based healthcare professionals can now formally prescribe visits to the zoo.
With such a wide remit and dynamic environment, the HR team relies on a range of data to inform them of their own performance and what needs more attention.
“We look at workplace accommodations, employee engagement scores, and also claims related to mental health services,” says Peticca. “The comments are that people do feel more supported than they have been in the past. We’re still building the program, but there has been a positive response around the services available to staff and that they feel comfortable utilizing them.”
HQ: Toronto, OT
Founded: 2020
Employees: 1–299
It’s been a remarkable rise for the real estate investment company, which only established its HR function back in 2023 when director Janet Bray took on the role. Pier 4’s philosophy is to consider the interrelationship between employee engagement, customer sentiment, and investor returns.
Collectively, corporate goals were established, and HR strategies and initiatives were incepted that aligned with and championed the success of these goals:
grow the business: organizational design and strategy and talent acquisition
increase awareness: employer brand, LinkedIn strategy, and website
execute with excellence: leadership training and HRIS
create operational efficiencies: HRIS and employee handbook
build culture: employee surveys, performance management, compensation and benefits, corporate social responsibility, and student/intern programs
Over the last 12 months, the firm implemented Bamboo as its HRIS. The decision was driven by the platform’s functionality and flexibility in the Applicant Tracking module, covering onboarding to employee information and recordkeeping.
This has been reinforced by leadership training based on industry best practices and the premise that everyone in the company is a leader.
Bray says, “We bring the team together – it is an in-person experience to encourage interaction and integration among teams.”
Another of Pier 4’s initiatives includes performance management and each employee has a plan, along with meeting their manager once a month. This can be informal over a coffee or a more formal sit-down in the office.
“One of the very real challenges of a growing business is a singular focus on growth while human resources, infrastructure, and technology take a back seat,” explains Bray. “These monthly meetings are intended to avoid this pitfall. The hope is that they do not create pressure or worry but that they eliminate same – it is a forum dedicated to the needs of the individual – we want them to know they are being heard.”
The rationale is that it provides an avenue for the employee and employer to exchange feedback, gain insights, and ensure employees feel valued by voicing their thoughts.
Bray adds, “Our overriding focus every day is employee engagement and well-being.”
Outstanding results rarely happen in isolation. They are the outcome of HR teams united by a shared vision – working not in silos, but as a collective with common goals and a clear sense of purpose. CHRR’s Leading HR Teams 2025 reveal how their spirit of collaboration is driving meaningful change, reshaping cultures, and delivering impact.
Motion’s Le says, “I do not micromanage. I know they are going to work, so all I ask is that they go to a location at least once or twice a week to connect with people. That’s all my mandate is; I want us to get our projects done and be collaborative.”
The HR team typically hosts meetings virtually, but this doesn’t diminish their ability to share ideas and knowledge.
“We really try to push each other; no one is afraid to say, ‘I need help with this’. Someone will always raise their hand and say that they will help,” says Le. “We pride ourselves on listening to our employees, so our team will go into our locations and bring that back to the group. From there, we ask ourselves, ‘What are we going to do in response?’”
BGE is a small team of Beckett and two HR business partners, but this enables them to be deeply involved in the day to day and to impact change. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s exciting to always keep on moving and growing,” Beckett says. “I’m proud of our team and our organization for getting an award like this. To me, it’s an award that matters.”
And she adds, “We have really great people who care and are engaged. Now, my job is to say, ‘Here are some new things that we can do, and here’s how we get there’.”
Dedication is a foundational attribute within MSC’s team. This is supported by president and CEO, Sokat Shaikh, whose focus is on ensuring entrepreneurial and fully engaged people are at the centre of the firm’s strategy.
“Our way of working is defined by trust, agility, collaboration, and accountability,” De Lisi says. “Above all, we view ourselves as stewards of MSC’s culture and catalysts for business success. Our work isn’t just about HR – it’s about creating a company where people feel valued, empowered, and inspired to build an extraordinary future together.”
Openness, collaboration, and transparency are the fundamentals at Toronto Zoo. “We are a team that just really loves brainstorming. Sometimes we use the ‘safe to try with guardrails’ approach. We like to be extremely innovative while ensuring that we are legislatively compliant,” says Peticca.
The team administers engagement surveys but also does pulse surveys to get regular feedback and understand what’s happening. “Moving the needle on employee engagement is really important to us because that speaks to a wide range of things, not only HR,” explains Peticca.
Canadian HR Reporter’s Leading HR Teams report (previously Innovative HR Teams) recognizes firms that are breaking boundaries to move the HR profession forward, whether it’s by taking a progressive approach to recruitment, introducing new technology, or rolling out a groundbreaking reward and recognition strategy.
Readers were invited to submit entries showcasing HR teams that have agile, bold, and forward-thinking people strategies. Nominations focused on areas including talent management, diversity and inclusion, health and wellness, and HR technology. Initiatives introduced and results achieved in 2024 were highlighted.
The CHRR team objectively assessed each entry for detailed information, true innovation, and proven success, along with benchmarking against the other entries, to determine the 30 winners.
