Most diverse company in Canada is in Mississauga: Forbes study
Published July 11, 2024 at 4:00 pm
A Mississauga company has been named the most diverse in Canada in rankings released this week by a renowned U.S.-based business publication.
The Hershey Company, located on Explorer Drive, topped the list of 200 companies from coast to coast named by Forbes as Canada’s Best Employers For Diversity 2024.
The food and beverage business operates under the umbrella of its parent company in Hershey, Pennsylvania and serves as Canadian headquarters for the international firm. It employs 20,505 people, according to Forbes.
The Mississauga Hershey location, one of six Mississauga companies to make the Forbes 2024 top 100, was not on the list in 2023.
Rounding out the top 10 on the 2024 list are:
- Microsoft (Toronto, 221,000 employees)
- Adidas (Woodbridge, 59,030)
- Google (Toronto, 190,711)
- Apple (Toronto, 161,000)
- Indeed (Toronto, 13,000)
- Lululemon Athletica (Vancouver, 34,000)
- BC Hydro (Vancouver, 7,700)
- Nike (Toronto, 83,700)
- Brock University (St. Catharines, 6,000)
Other Mississauga companies in the top 100 are:
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- No. 30 — FedEx (536,000 employees)
- No. 31 — Marriott Hotels Canada (41,000)
- No. 38 — Ericsson (electronics company, 99,952 employees)
- No. 65 — TJX Companies (retail and wholesale company, 329,000 employees)
- No. 68 — Samsung Electronics (20,000)
Waste Management, in Brampton, is No. 15 on this year’s list. It employs 44,600 people and is the lone business from that city to make the cut in 2024.
In producing its third annual list, which was released on Tuesday, Forbes noted Canada’s labour force is among the most diverse in the world, according to Statistics Canada.
The publication said its compiles the diversity list to help employers stay current with best practices “and to give workers a sense of where employers stand in this realm.”
Forbes said it teamed up with market research firm Statista to survey some 40,000 Canadian workers at companies with at least 500 employees. It noted the government services sector was not included in its study.
Participants in the survey anonymously rated their companies on diversity-related issues, Forbes noted, including age, gender, ethnicity, disability and LGBTQ+ equality.
“Survey respondents were also asked to evaluate companies they knew through industry experience or through family and friends who worked there,” Forbes said, adding responses from the past three years were considered.
Additionally, each company’s diversity-related practices were analyzed and incorporated into the rankings.
Key performance indicators included:
- the presence of employee resource groups
- hiring programs geared toward Indigenous people
- the publication of diversity data
- the creation of an accessible workplace for people with disabilities
- the percentage of women in board and executive positions
- external practices such as supplier diversity