Alberta's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 22
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ALBERTA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
Alberta Pensions Services invests in career growth
ennifer-Rae Nielsen has
always had a knack and an
enthusiasm for working with
computers. In her spare time
she was a casual tinkerer and
her friends’ informal IT support.
And now, thanks to Alberta
Pensions Services Corporation
(APS), she gets to do what she
loves every day.
Nielsen, a desktop support
analyst, started with APS four
years ago as a facilities administrator, working with vendors and
ensuring the company’s buildings
were maintained. But when she
expressed an interest in a service
desk role, her manager made it
happen: Nielsen first started in a
hybrid work arrangement, giving
her time to learn some skills for
her new position, and then was
formally transferred over to her
current role.
She’s about to start a full-stack
web development diploma so she
can grow into a web developer
or database administrator role
and is getting some help from her
employer.
“There’s such a great program
in place to provide any employee
the opportunity to grow in any
direction,” she says. “If you show a
passion, they’ll invest in you.”
APS is the Edmonton-based
pension administrator for nine
Alberta public-sector pension
plans. CEO Doug Woloshyn says
the organization’s employees are
deeply committed to serving its
clients, and their pension plan
members and employers. That
mission is something that new
employees often cite as a draw to
work for the company.
“People put a lot of personal
care and attention into providing a
great level of service,” he says, noting that the company’s five-year
strategic plan is highly focused on
collaborating with their clients to
elevate members and employers’
journey with enhanced online
tools and self-service options.
Woloshyn says the company
aims to help employees grow their
careers within the organization. In
addition to providing support for
external courses and certifications
related to their current role or
another job they’re interested in,
APS also has formal development
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At Alberta Pensions Services Corporation, Jennifer-Rae Nielsen, desktop support analyst, has had
opportunities to learn new skills and grow her career.
plans and on-site training for job
and interpersonal skill-related
topics through the company’s
education department.
There’s such a great
program in place to
provide any employee the
opportunity to grow in
any direction.
If you show a passion,
they’ll invest in you.
— Jennifer-Rae Nielsen
Desktop Support Analyst
“Folks who’ve been here a while
are very regularly not in the positions they were originally hired
for,” he says. People who start in
the company’s member services
department, for example, gain a
lot of knowledge of the organization and pension matters that can
open up roles in policy, internal
audit or other departments, he
says. “It’s important to us. It’s
something we measure and think
about when we’re recruiting and
looking at filling vacancies.”
Fifty per cent of all job postings
are now going to internal candidates, he says, and APS has a goal
to boost that to 55 per cent.
Woloshyn himself has benefited
from the company’s focus on
professional development. He
began working at APS in 2010 as a
manager in its finance department
and moved upward into vicepresident roles and the chief financial officer seat. Along the way,
APS supported him in getting his
