TORONTO (March 7, 2023) — On Tuesday, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) was named as one of Canada’s Best Workplaces™ for Women 2023 by the Great Place to Work® Institute Canada.

This year’s title follows a collection of distinctions that the COC has earned since 2019, when the organization was first certified as a Great Place to Work®. In 2020 and 2021, the COC was ranked among the Top 50 Best Workplaces in Canada for its size and named one of Canada’s Best Workplaces™ for Women in 2021.

According to the COC’s optional self-identification survey conducted in November 2022, 61 per cent of the organization’s employees, along with the Canadian Olympic Foundation, identify as women.

“We take great pride in seeing the inclusive and equitable environment we’ve worked to create recognized with this distinction,”  said COC CEO and Secretary General David Shoemaker. “This honour is reflective of our gender-diverse workplace – from my 50% female Senior Leadership Team to 60% of our organization identifying as women. We will continue to implement further initiatives and programs to ensure gender equity remains a top priority at the COC.”

The Best Workplace™ for Women honour stems from results of the COC’s Trust Index© annual survey and an independent analysis undertaken by the Great Place to Work® Institute Canada. The survey revealed that in 2022, 95 per cent of COC employees believed that staff are treated fairly regardless of their gender, scoring above the Best Workplace™ 2023 average. The list is based on direct feedback from employees of the hundreds of organizations that were surveyed.

For over 35 years, four-time Olympian and Olympic silver medallist in rowing Tricia Smith has been a pioneer for women in leadership roles in sport. She has held her current role as President of the COC since 2015 and has been an elected member of the International Olympic Committee since 2016.

“Our commitment to making sport safe, inclusive, and barrier-free, is an ongoing journey and naturally includes our own organization. I am so proud of the progress we have made at the COC. This honour is a reminder that the commitment truly makes a difference, internally and externally, and inspires us to keep it going,” said Smith.

The COC prides itself on offering a fun, dynamic and inclusive environment while continuously investing in programs to optimize employee performance and engagement.

About Great Place to Work®: 

Great Place to Work is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. A global research and consulting firm, Great Place to Work® provides the benchmarks and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. In Canada, Great Place to Work® produces both industry and demographic specific Best Workplace™ lists, and represents the voices of 500,000 employees across industry. This is part of the world’s largest annual workplace study, recognizing the world’s Best Workplaces in a series of national lists including those published by The Globe & Mail (Canada) and Fortune magazine (USA). Visit us at www.greatplacetowork.ca 

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COC MEDIA CONTACTS:

Koteki Inaba, Program Manager, Public Relations
Canadian Olympic Committee
C: 438-337-6010
E: kinaba@olympic.ca

Peter​ Saltsman, Senior Manager, Public Relations
Canadian Olympic Committee
C: 647-382-6986
E: psaltsman@olympic.ca