Februaray 19, 2009

Assiniboine Credit Union and Vancity are on the list of 35 companies honoured as Canada’s Best Diversity Employers 2009.

The competition is organized by Mediacorp Canada. It examines a range of diversity initiatives covering five major employee groups – women; visible minorities; disabled individuals, aboriginal Canadians; gay and lesbian individuals along with transgendered and bisexual employees – and is an adjunct to the Canada's Top 100 Employers list, also published by Mediacorp.
To determine the 2009 winners of the Canada's Best Diversity Employers competition, Mediacorp editors reviewed the applications of employers that applied for the 2009 Canada's Top 100 Employers project.
More than 2,100 employers across Canada started the application process for this year's competition were then shortlisted to approximately 200 employers that had developed various diversity initiatives.

Assiniboine Credit Union of Winnipeg was recognized because it:
• Employs a percentage of Aboriginal, visible minority and disabled employees is near or exceeds the population averages in Winnipeg
• Manages a  dedicated employment experience program that provides 12-week paid work terms for Aboriginal candidates
•  Attends recruitment fairs hosted by organizations that represent disabled individuals.
• Posts job openings at Connect Employment Services, an organization that provides employment assistance to adults with intellectual disabilities
•  50 per cent of its executive management team are women

Vancity was recognized because:
• Nearly two-thirds of its management employees are women, including the Board Chair and CEO
• It is a leading sponsor of Vancouver's annual Pride Parade, which includes sponsorship of an entertainment venue and employee volunteers who actively participate in the parade.
• It launched a recruitment advertising campaign to organizations supporting disabled people, immigrant settlement agencies, Aboriginal groups and ethnic newspapers
• It trains recruiters to recognize how job candidates from other cultures may answer interview questions differently
• It launched a targeted recruitment advertising campaign to jobseekers from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community in 2002

Any employer, private or public, with its head office or principal place of business in Canada may apply for this competition.
Each applicant must have an exceptional initiative in at least one of the five diversity groups covered by the competition.
More information about the competition is available here.