Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 58
58
( 2026)
SPONSOR CONTENT
Ford revs up the experience for early-career workers
I
n the spring of 2025, just
after graduating from Wilfrid
Laurier University, Madeline
Turgeon was hired into a
full-time role by Ford Motor
Company of Canada Ltd. Yet even
on the first day, she felt she was in
familiar territory. That’s because
she had worked the two previous
summers as a Ford of Canada
intern — and she credits those
summer jobs in 2023 and 2024 as
key to landing the full-time one.
“I worked very hard over the
summers to try and make a big
impact,” says Turgeon. “That was
important to me because my goal
was to find employment postgraduation with Ford.”
The more people grow
and learn, and the better they get at their job,
the happier they are
at the company. That's
where you build loyalty.
— Madeline Turgeon
Human Resources Associate
Today, Turgeon’s job as a
human resources associate
includes working to enhance the
experience of being an intern.
She remembers well what that
is like: “It’s really daunting. For
interns, it can be extremely scary,”
she says. “You’re just entering the
workforce. You don’t know what to
expect.”
Ford of Canada makes a
deliberate effort to put those
young people at ease and to make
them feel welcome. Its internship
Employees at Ford Motor Company of Canada are encouraged to explore multiple potential career paths
within the company in order to find the best fit.
program is a major investment,
providing valuable development
opportunities for people at the
start of their careers. It also helps
cultivate an important source of
recruits for full-time positions.
Since its debut in 2017, the
program has grown significantly to
now bring in about 300 interns per
year to work within the areas of
product development, marketing,
sales, service and finance.
“It’s important to develop a
sense of engagement early on,”
says Brendan Webb, brand
manager for Ford trucks in the
marketing division. “When you’re
an intern, you go right into a
session with our leadership team,
and they talk about the different
businesses and different roles
in the organization,” says Webb,
who himself served as an intern
before being hired full time. He’s
since held nine full-time roles in
11 years.
Ford of Canada advises new
employees to explore multiple
potential career paths at the
company to help further their
understanding of the overall
business. “The company
encourages you to get out of your
comfort zone and try something
that might be different,” Webb
says, adding that many people end
up staying their entire careers at
Ford of Canada. “That's the secret
sauce for keeping people around,
and it happens from day one. It
keeps things fresh.”
Early-career employees are
encouraged to network with
colleagues at all levels and across
functions and departments
to learn about opportunities
within the company. Ford
supports this work with a formal
mentoring program, networking
opportunities and informal social
events.
Its NextGen employee resource
group (ERG), one of nine ERGs, is
designed to connect new, current
and future employees with a focus
on networking, career growth and
community engagement. Part of
