Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 22
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CANADA’S TOP EMPLOYERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE (2026)
ATCO empowers young talent to learn and thrive
W
hen Billy
Wolff joined
the credit
risk team at
ATCO Ltd. as
a summer student in 2022, he was
immediately handed an important
project.
The Calgary-headquartered
utility has a model that tracks its
exposure to all the entities it has
a working relationship with. The
model is highly important to the
company but wasn’t as modern
and up to date as it needed to be.
Wolff was asked to work with
colleagues to improve it. Three
years later, the model he worked
on is being used “every day, all
day long,” and is referenced by
senior-level executives.
Because I know they
have my back, it makes
me want to try harder
in school and learn
lots so I can bring it to
work.
— Billy Wolff
Analyst,
Pension Investments
“From being a summer student
to where I am now, no matter
what level I was at, there was an
opportunity to do real work,” says
Wolff, who is now a pension investment analyst at ATCO. “Even
when you’re a summer student,
you’re a valued employee. And
that translated all the way through
to being a full-time employee
now. I talk to vice-presidents and
directors, I voice my opinion and
it’s very much encouraged.”
Before joining the organization
in his current role in July, Wolff
ATCO provides learning and development support and opportunities for all team members, encouraging
continual growth within the organization.
had worked for ATCO in summer
student positions since 2021. He
says the company’s human resources team made sure summer
students got to learn about all the
different teams at ATCO through
lunch and learn events and
also paired them with mentors,
encouraging them to have coffee
meetings.
“They were very, very big on
networking, and those were
invaluable connections,” he says.
Meghan Stuart, director of
human resources at ATCO Energy
Systems, says the company
is also striving to bring more
young people into the trades. In
addition to sending recruitment
staff to universities and colleges
around the province, the company
sends employees to Alberta high
schools to talk to students about
a career in the trades in an effort
to address the large gap in skilled
tradespeople.
Apprentice powerline technicians, in particular can also apply
to complete their apprenticeship
education at ATCO’s in-house
school, she says. The program
has a combination of classroom
education and hands-on learning
opportunities at a training facility
in Leduc, Alta., as well as regular
check-ins with competency
assessors.
She says that the utility’s
purpose resonates strongly with
young people, as does the ability
to grow in their careers and try out
new roles within different parts of
the organization.
“This is a place where you can
give back to the community. It’s a
place where you can demonstrate
you care,” Stuart says.
The opportunity for internal
mobility and to explore his
curiosity within the organization
was something that Wolff says he
