Investing in Our People
Canfor and Canfor Pulp understand that our strength comes from our skilled and dedicated employees, and we work hard to support their ongoing professional development. Through our succession planning and training and our development programs, we offer a promote-from-within culture that gives our employees exceptional opportunities for career advancement and growth.
We provide a wide range of support to employees, including paid internships and in-house apprenticeships, mentoring, subsidies for professional accreditation, in-house and online training, and tuition subsidies for courses taken at outside institutions. Across the organization, we have more than 85 video-based e-learning modules and 250 training modules.
Canfor College, a training and development framework we launched in 2015, continues to be a valuable in-house resources that includes 33 targeted programs to meet our operational needs and support employee development. In 2017, a total of 313 employees in Canada and the United States attended at least one of our in-house leadership programs. For example, in June, we invited frontline superintendents and supervisors from across our Canadian and US operations to attend a five-day course in Mobile, AL, focusing on effective leadership. Our accelerated leaders program includes leadership training, in-house designated mentors, external coaches and involvement in project teams that tackle company initiatives. We also offer 15 on-line courses where employees can access subjects such as coaching, listening skills and performing under pressure.
Our US South operations have incorporated TPC Online Maintenance Training for all new hires and apprentices. Our customized maintenance curriculum lets new millwrights and electricians take online courses at work or on their own time from home. It has become a popular program, allowing new grads and junior technicians to increase their skills and earn additional pay as they complete courses.
We make sure employees across the company have a chance to learn through unique experiences. In May, our senior forest scientist Kari Stuart-Smith led a field trip from our Grande Prairie Division to show off some of our best management practices. In July, transportation department employees toured a breakbulk ship docked in North Vancouver that takes Canfor Pulp products to Europe. The crew helped them understand ship operations and technological developments in the marine industry. And, at the BC lumber grading championships in May, a third of the 33 entrants were from Canfor – and four were past champions.
Our commitment to lifelong learning and deliberate employee development is one of the reasons we are consistently recognized as one of BC's top employers. Canada’s top 100 Employers is an annual competition to recognize the best places to work in the country – and BC’s Top Employers identifies exceptional workplaces in British Columbia. This recognition highlights our efforts to provide our employees with exceptional career opportunities and invest in their development.
