Guysborough Antigonish Strait Health Authority

Location: Antigonish, N.S.
Number of employees: 1,251
Who are they: provider of healthcare services to residents in Antigonish, Guysborough, the Strait area, Richmond and southern Inverness County.
What makes them great: onsite head office amenities include a fitness facility with subsidized membership, employee lounge, quiet room for meditation and religious observance and onsite cafeteria (with healthy and special diet menus); subsidies for professional accreditation, a range of in-house and online training programs, apprenticeship opportunities and a formal mentoring program; new mothers receive maternity leave top-up payments (to 93 per cent of salary for 15 weeks) and parental top-ups provided for new fathers and adoptive parents (to 93 per cent of salary for 15 weeks); retirement planning assistance, generous contributions to a defined benefit pension plan and health benefits coverage that extends to retirees.

High Liner Foods Inc.

Location: Lunenburg, N.S.
Number of employees: 535
Who are they: processor and marketer of value-added frozen seafood products, including the High Liner, Fisher Boy, Mirabel, Sea Cuisine, Royal Sea, FPI and Viking brands.
What makes them great: contributions to a defined contribution pension plan, retirement planning workshops and phased-in work options that allow employees to gradually leave the workforce; subsidies for tuition and professional accreditation, in-house and online training programs, and in-house apprenticeship and skilled trades opportunities; academic scholarship award program for children of employees who pursue post-secondary education (six annual scholaships to $2,400); maternity and parental leave top-up payments to employees who are new mothers, fathers, or adoptive parents (to 95 per cent of salary for 12 weeks); alternative work arrangements including flexible hours, telecommuting and reduced summer hours.

IMP Group Limited

Location: Halifax, N.S.
Number of employees: 3,501
Who are they: privately-owned group of companies operating in the aerospace, aviation, airline, healthcare, industrial marine, information technology, hospitality and property development industries.
What makes them great: alternative work arrangements including flexible hours, telecommuting and shortened and compressed work week options; tuition subsidies for courses taken at outside institutions and subsidies for professional accreditation; academic scholarship program for children of employees who pursue postsecondary education (to $1,500 per child); help employees save for retirement through a defined contribution pension plan, with matching employer contributions of up to five per cent of salary.

Jazz Aviation LP

Location: Enfield, N.S.
Number of employees: 4,880
Who are they: regional airline serving over 80 destinations across Canada and in the United States.
What makes them great: variety of onsite amenities including a fully-equipped fitness facility with subsidized membership, employee lounge, cafeteria (with healthy and special diet menus) and nap room; profit-sharing and share purchase plans available to all employees; tuition subsidies for job-related courses, in-house apprenticeship opportunities, in-house and online training programs and subsidies for professional accreditation; academic scholarship program for children of employees who pursue postsecondary education (to $1,000 per child); alternative work arrangements including flexible hours, telecommuting, a formal earned days-off program and shortened and compressed work week options.

Johnson Inc.

Location: St. John’s, N.L.
Number of employees: 1,273
Who are they: one of Canada’s leading insurance and benefits providers, serving over 900,000 members from over 65 branches nationwide.
What makes them great: new employees receive paid time off during the holiday season, personal days off and three weeks of paid vacation allowance; matching RSP contributions, retirement planning workshops and phased-in work options; subsidies for tuition and professional accreditation, generous financial bonuses for some course completion, a variety of in-house and online training programs, and mentoring and career planning services; academic scholarship program for children of employees who attend postsecondary institutions (to $1,500 per child); new parents (including adoptive parents) receive maternity and parental leave top-up payments (to 100 per cent of salary for 17 weeks), as well as extended health benefit coverage during their leave; depending on the position, the company offers a variety of flexible work options, including a 35-hour work week (with full pay), telecommuting and a shortened work week option.