Alberta's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 20
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ALBERTA’S TOP EMPLOYERS
AGLC helps employees rise to the top of their game
W
hen Heather
Snodgrass was
studying for
her diploma
in police
and investigations at MacEwan
University, she had her sights
set on becoming a park ranger.
That was until she did her school
placement at Alberta Gaming,
Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC).
“And then I thought: This is a
cool job. I want to do this,” she
says.
So, for the past nine years,
Snodgrass has been working as
an inspector in AGLC’s regulatory
services and is now an acting
supervisor.
There are a lot of different tools to help you
grow into wherever you
want to go, whether it’s
exploring a different
division or stepping
into a management
position.
— Heather Snodgrass
Inspector, Regulatory Services
“I can’t imagine working
anywhere else. I really enjoy what
we do in the inspector’s role. No
two days are the same,” she says of
the job which includes licensing
new premises in the inspections
north area, which stretches from
her St. Albert office to Jasper in
the west, Fort McMurray in the
north, and Lloydminster in the
east.
Employees at Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis are encouraged to prepare for and seek out future
leadership roles within the organization.
“One part of our mandate at
AGLC is to be a regulatory body,
but there is a lot of customer
service that comes with that,” she
says. “We are business friendly.
We want to see businesses do well
because when they do well, then
we do well.”
While Snodgrass finds the job
stimulating, her next goal is to become a full-time supervisor. After
that, the sky is the limit because
“there are so many places you can
go in the organization,” she says.
And there is constant support to
help people get there.
For example, Snodgrass
has completed a three-month
Emerging Leaders program, and
there are programs for effective
career conversations and book
clubs that explore business issues.
“There are a lot of different tools
to help you grow into wherever
you want to go, whether it’s
exploring a different division
or stepping into a management
position.”
And people leaders ranging
from supervisors to executives
“are actively trying to help people
grow,” she says, which helps with
the company’s high retention of
talent.
Leanne Balanik, vice president
of liquor and cannabis at AGLC,
is proof of that. She first came to
AGLC in 2013 working in the due
diligence unit, which conducts
background investigations on
gaming and cannabis applicants
to determine eligibility to hold a
licence or registration in Alberta.
But in 2022, an opportunity
opened for a temporary acting
director position in policy and
program development. Balanik
was already a senior manager in
the due diligence unit, and she
realized she wanted to advance
her career. “So, I went for it, and I
was successful in the competition,
and it really opened my eyes,” she
says of the talented work done
elsewhere at AGLC.
When the temporary assignment was up, Balanik went after
a permanent director position
in the liquor and cannabis
division, which she says shifted
her “mindset from being very
regulatory-focused to being very
business-minded.”
Now her role is to help
stakeholders be successful at their
business. And in 2024, she was
