Canada Revenue Agency, Employer of the Year
The Canada Revenue Agency, repeatedly named one of the top 100 employers in Canada and a top 100 employer for young people in 2022, serves Canadians by administering tax, benefits and related programs, and ensures compliance on behalf of governments across Canada, contributing to the ongoing economic and social well-being of Canadians.
A recent high-profile example is the CRA’s administration of COVID-19 benefits to provide temporary income support to individuals between mid-March 2020 and early May of this year.
The CRA hires about 210 Algonquin College students each year from 18 different College disciplines or programs, with CRA’s Information Technology Branch (ITB) bringing the largest number of students to their teams. Given the College’s wide-ranging programs in computer science and related fields of study, these students are a good match for the new-hire employment needs of ITB.
In a great example of a successful partnership, the College’s Business Intelligence System Infrastructure (BISI) program and the Collections and Verification Branch at CRA have since 2015 worked with the College co-op office to place students.
On the CRA side, this collaboration has been led by Hala Ibrahim, CRA’s director for the Business Intelligence, Research and Analytics Division (BIRAD), Technology and Business intelligence Directorate, and her management team. They have worked closely with the College to provide rigorous and tailored training, offering significant growth and career development opportunities for students. BIRAD establishes a vision for each student when they initially join the group, and these co-op terms often lead to their being hired full-time with the team.
This partnership focuses on three areas:
- recruiting students, who start with a 16-week co-op term;
- facilitating innovative exploratory case studies (Capstone projects); and
- offering upgraded training/accreditation opportunities to maintain and enhance BIRAD employees’ technical expertise.
“Students bring fresh, creative and innovative ideas,” says Hala Ibrahim about the value of the partnership. “They contribute significantly toward helping to improve the business outcomes of the Division, Directorate, and the Agency. We know they are the workforce of the future, and we are eager to see what else we can learn from having them as valued members of our team.”
Being a one-year specialization program, many of the students have previous experience in business intelligence (BI) and/or related fields. These skills, enhanced by an intense BISI curriculum, create good conditions for the graduates to succeed at the CRA.
BIRAD proudly chairs the Algonquin College BISI Program Advisory Committee (PAC), which allows the exchange of ideas, as well as discussions about future plans and emerging trends related to training in select subjects, tools, and software.
The CRA employs approximately 50,000 people across Canada. As part of its People First philosophy, the Agency is working to strengthen its service offerings to provide a client-centric service experience, while fostering an innovative and data-driven organization.
In 2021, for the fifth year in a row, the CRA was named one of the top 100 employers in Canada. The CRA is dedicated to creating a workplace where work-life balance, career development, employment equity, diversity, inclusion, and wellness are a priority. As part of its commitment to support people in communities across Canada, the CRA runs volunteer programs with local organizations to help people, who qualify, to file their tax returns. It is also a large contributor to the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign.
The CRA has an active Young Professionals Network (YPN) and in 2022 the Agency was named a top 100 employer for young people in a competition that recognizes the nation’s best workplaces for young people starting their careers. The YPN works to engage and foster a sense of community within the Agency and the public service, to support the professional development of employees, to demonstrate organizational values, and to contribute to its strategic plans and priorities.
The CRA is a valued employer for Algonquin College graduates, and the College is fortunate to work so closely with a multitude of teams at the Agency. Through this partnership, the College continues to enhance the students’ overall experience as they prepare to enter the workforce and transform their hopes and dreams into lifelong success.