Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 142
142
( 2025 )
SPONSOR CONTENT
Employees find every day is unique at TRCA
B
rynn Coey never imagined she would stay at
her very first job out
of university, but with
so many opportunities
for growth in her seven and a half
years with Toronto and Region
Conservation Authority (TRCA),
she has had no reason to look
elsewhere.
“Every single day is different,”
says Coey, supervisor, aquatic
monitoring and management.
“It keeps things exciting and
engaging!”
Coey started in a 12-month
internship position. She had
recently moved to Toronto from
Muskoka and was unsure what
work in a conservation authority
in such an urban setting would
be like. “I was amazed at the
natural areas found within TRCA’s
jurisdiction and the wide variety
of projects I was able to be part
of,” she says.
TRCA owns and manages thousands of hectares of greenspace.
While one of its main roles is
protecting communities from the
effects of natural hazards and
flooding, the organization also collects scientific data to understand
the changes affecting natural
areas and watercourses, and to
assess the ecological health of
specific regions or environmental
features. Its mission is to protect,
conserve and restore natural
resources, and develop resilient
communities through education, the application of science,
community engagement, service
excellence and collaboration with
its partners.
CEO John MacKenzie spends
time in the field appreciating
the greenspace, shorelines and
watercourses in the conservation
authority portfolio, but it’s the
people who make his day. “We
deeply believe our employees are
our most valuable asset,” he says.
“We look for ways to reward our
people.”
In 2020, TRCA began an
employee engagement journey to
really listen to what employees
want and need. The result has
been a total rewards approach that
optimizes opportunities for staff.
One thing the conservation
authority has implemented is a
Employees at TRCA run a number of fun outdoor engagement activities, like the Learn to Bike summer day
camp.
robust learning and development
program. There is career development training and, in addition,
TRCA offers an annual day of
learning. Teams from various
divisions are given an opportunity
to come together for a day of
team-building, development and
learning. MacKenzie sees employees learning something new about
TRCA and meeting new people on
this day.
“We deeply believe our
employees are our most
valuable asset. We look for
ways to reward our people.”
— John MacKenzie
CEO
Engagement surveys show
that employees feel passionate
about the work of TRCA, so the
conservation authority has also
implemented a paid volunteer day.
It supports staff being involved in
work underway in other parts of
the organization with such diverse
volunteer opportunities as banding birds in Tommy Thompson
Park, or working with Indigenous
partners in the medicine garden at
Heart Lake Conservation Park in
Brampton.
“It’s wonderful to see people
who work in the office doing
something as different as electrofishing, where fish communities
are surveyed to help track aquatic
health and the success of restoration projects,” says MacKenzie.
Coey was studying environmental management when she
started her internship with TRCA.
She worked in the field collecting
