Alberta's Top Employers (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 54
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ALBERTA’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2025)
At Mercer Peace River: one team, one goal
A
n operational quirk of a
pulp mill is that it runs
24 hours a day, seven
days a week, 365 days a
year. That, and the fact mills tend
to be deep in the woods where
their raw material comes from,
presents inherent challenges to
giving employees the freedom
and access to amenities that
many Canadian workers take for
granted.
“One of the things we’re continually striving to do better at is
making this a place where there’s
work-life balance for everybody,”
says Roger Ashfield, managing
director of Mercer Peace River
Pulp Ltd., located near the small
town of Peace River in northern
Alberta.
That's the impetus behind a
generous vacation package that
extends up to seven weeks for
long-tenured employees. Plus,
after each five years of service,
workers get additional paid weeks
they can use anytime over the next
five years.
This year, Mercer Peace River
introduced a program of up to 10
personal days off per year, too.
“We’re a little bit remote.
Actually, we’re a lot remote,”
Ashfield explains. Going to see
a doctor, for example, might
require a trip to Grande Prairie or
Edmonton. “People were stressing
over being able to take a day with
no notice.”
The personal days enable
people to do that without using
up vacation days that could end
up compromising a family trip.
Whether workers have a sick child
or a broken furnace to attend to,
they can do it.
There’s a four-day, 10-hour work
schedule for most employees,
with multiple schedule options
available (a smaller group of
core operators and maintenance
technicians does shift work). That
has long made Mercer a go-to employer in the area, says stores lead
technician Scott Pearson. Having
a three-day weekend “allows us
to take advantage of our short
summers here,” he says. “You’re
able to find a really good work-life
balance.”
You’re able to find a
really good work-life
balance here.
— Scott Pearson
Stores Lead Technician
Scott Pearson, stores lead technician, at Mercer Peace River Pulp.
What Pearson didn’t appreciate
until after he’d been hired as a
parts technician five years ago
was the opportunity for career
advancement. Mercer put him
through trade school, continuing
to pay him during six weeks of
full-time coursework every year,
as well as covering his tuition and
other costs.
“I was the only one in my
class, over three years, who was
fortunate enough not to have to
go on EI or anything like that,”
Pearson says. After obtaining his
journeyperson certificate, he was
promoted to his current role, a
supervisory position.
Other perks he likes include an
RRSP matching program on top
of the company pension, along
with full dental, massage and
physiotherapy coverage.
“We work our bodies every day,
so it’s nice to know we have access
to these health benefits,” Pearson
says.
