One of Canada's Best Diversity Employers for 2009
February 21, 2009 - ACU has been chosen as one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers for 2009! This annual competition recognizes employers across Canada that have developed exemplary diversity initiatives.
"ACU is very proud to work with community partners to provide meaningful employment opportunities, says Lisa Anderson, Manager of Employment and Diversity. "Our efforts include working with high school students to offer work exposure and providing paid work experience to skilled newcomers. We are very proud that our workforce is moving closer to mirroring our community, and will continue to offer fair and meaningful employment to all."
Assiniboine Credit Union provides paid work placements to Aboriginal Canadians through their Aboriginal Integration Program. Participants complete a five-week training program, followed by a three-month, full-time paid work placement. Candidates are offered permanent positions once the work placement is completed.
Assiniboine also provides work experience terms to Aboriginal students enrolled at the Urban Circle Training Centre for Aboriginal individuals, and the Ka Ni Kanichihk employment services centre. The credit union also offers job shadowing opportunities and part-time positions to Aboriginal high school students in local communities, and has hired employees at Aboriginal job fairs.
"We are all very proud of this recognition," says Al Morin, President and CEO of Assiniboine, "and sincerely thank all of our employees who are committed and dedicated to making ACU’s diversity and inclusion initiatives so successful."
Some of the reasons why Assiniboine Credit Union Limited was selected as one of Canada's Best Diversity Employers 2009:
- a representative employer where the percentage of Aboriginal, visible minority and disabled employees is near or exceeds the population averages in Winnipeg
- manages an 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
- is an employer where 50% of their executive management team are women
The winners of this year’s list of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers were selected by Mediacorp editors, based on detailed application data from the annual Canada's Top 100 Employers competition. This year, more than 2,100 employers started the application process for the 2009 competition, which was reduced to several hundred short-listed employers. Each candidate’s diversity and inclusiveness programs were reviewed to determine how these efforts compared to those of other employers in their field. The finalists represent the diversity leaders in their industry and region of Canada. Mediacorp editors were assisted in this process by specialists from the diversity consulting firm TWI Inc., which is responsible for developing The Equity Continuum – an industry-recognized diversity measurement methodology.
“These employers understand the business case for equity and have moved well beyond basic compliance issues,” says Trevor Wilson, President of TWI Inc. “They are promoting diversity and inclusiveness as core values that they expect to see not only in their own organizations, but in the ones that they deal with as well.”
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