Home is Where the Office Is – Benefits and Drawbacks of Working From Home

It’s been said that “home is where the heart is”. For an increasing number of people, it’s where the office is as well. Developments in communication technology, coupled with changing attitudes, have allowed for a greater number of people to do part, or even all, of their work from home. A 2017 Gallup survey found […]

Corporate Social Responsibility: Benefits and Trends

  Recently Robert F. Smith, founder and CEO of Vista Equity Partners, was addressing the almost 400 students who made up the graduating class at Morehouse College in Atlanta, when he made a stunning announcement; he would be paying off each of the grad students’ debts. Once reality set in the students responded with an […]

Trade Balance Update (Canadian International Merchandise Trade) March 2019

What were the results of today’s trade balance update from Statistics Canada, and what industries are most affected? Canada’s trade deficit for March, 2019 was $3.2 billion, a narrowing of February’s $3.4 billion deficit. Both total exports and imports were up, with exports rising 3.2% to $49 billion, while imports were up 2.5% to $52.3 billion. […]

Thinking of Hiring a Recruiter? Evaluation and Reward

In a competitive job market, making the move to go with a recruiter for your executive search needs can be a make-or-break decision in maintaining your own firm’s competitiveness. Whether hiring an independent agent to take over on recruitment goals, or aligning your team(s) with a larger recruitment agency, the focus that specialized agents can […]

A Dress Code Guide for Finance Professionals

Gone are the days of the standard suit and tie dress codes. Finance teams once routinely ironed button-up shirts and wore stiff fabrics every day. But now, that’s changed. What we used to know as casual Friday attire has been taken to a new level in many workplaces. Finance office dress codes can be confusing. […]

The Burnout Generation: Unique Challenges Facing Millennials

No longer teenagers, millennials are now a major force in the workplace; a group who bring much to the table including education, innovation and a passion for finding solutions to problems both old and new. They are also a group that face a number of challenges, not the least of which being a propensity to […]

Visa Finagling: Why US Based Foreign Workers are Choosing Canada

Certainty is something that we are all naturally attracted to. For foreign workers in the US, and their families, the process of renewing visas is stressful, time consuming and fraught with uncertainty. It’s little surprise then that many companies are now supporting their workers in a move to Canada, where the path to citizenship is […]

Unpaid Internships: The Good, the Bad and the Legally Murky

The moon, the stars, the flowers in spring. According to Frank Sinatra the best things in life are free. But does this apply to labour? Internships, especially unpaid internships, can be a hot-button issue. Some regard them as a great opportunity for young career-minded individuals, while others see them as an exploitative practice. What are […]

USMCA – What Does It Mean for Canadian Firms and Professionals?

Canadians seeking non-immigrant working visas, and renewal of such visas, should be aware of potential changes to existing agreements when the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) takes effect in early 2019. An Overview of USMCA, or CUSMA The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was finalised on September 30, 2018, and is expected to take effect around January […]

The Parental Leave Extension: New Rules, New Costs?

It has been nearly one year since the federal government’s changes to maternity and parental leave went into effect, which immediately impacted many workplaces across Canada. While these effects were primarily felt in federally-regulated sectors, many observers in the human resource field speculated that the changes would eventually impact all workplaces. If, as claimed this […]