Greater Toronto's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 70
70
( 2026)
SPONSOR CONTENT
Learning takes a holistic approach at HIROC
W
orking on
the financial
side of the
entertainment
business,
Monique Grenville grew tired of
the unpredictability, with constant
layoffs making job stability a
distant dream. Still, she was
skeptical about taking a job at
Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal
of Canada (HIROC), thinking it
might be boring. The interviews
changed everything.
“We were laughing and having
so much fun that it just felt like
the best move,” recalls Grenville,
senior accounting analyst.
“When I learned about HIROC’s
education program, I took it as a
sign. I had wanted to do my
chartered professional accountant
(CPA) qualification when I was at
other companies but never had
the support. Here, HIROC pays
100 per cent of the cost and is
incredibly accommodating with
whatever you need.”
The recognition that
your job is important
enough that your
employer wants you
to have all the tools is
a huge aspect of job
satisfaction.
— Catherine Gaulton
CEO
Starting in accounts payable,
Grenville soon moved to the
reporting team where she had
greater challenges. Currently, she’s
Catherine Gaulton, CEO, with Philip De Souza, assistant vice president, communications and marketing, at
Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada.
pursuing her CPA supported by
HIROC.
“The team saw I had more to
offer and encouraged me to push
myself,” says Grenville. “Everyone
is so supportive. A lot of them are
CPAs, so they’re mentoring me
and purposely assigning tasks that
will help with my CPA.”
CEO Catherine Gaulton says
mentoring is a fundamental part
of HIROC’s organizational culture,
where learning and teaching are
seen as everyone's responsibility.
The company is a Canadian
non-profit providing insurance
(including malpractice) for health
care organizations and advising
on risk.
“There’s a recognition that
everyone here is a learner and
a teacher,” says Gaulton. “The
culture is about mentorship —
about valuing formal learning and
informal learning, throughout the
cadence of the whole organization.
“I meet with everybody new
that joins the organization — all
of them, even the students — for
a half hour each, so that I can be
very clear about the responsibility
of each person to maintain that
aspect of the culture.”
HIROC invests in learning
opportunities through several
strategic approaches, including
a dedicated learning budget
for each employee, funding for
professional designations, paying
for conference attendance and
supporting governance and
leadership programs.
Additionally, there are HIROC
U Talks: monthly all-staff learning
sessions on a broad variety of
topics — from AI to the claims
process to diversity and inclusion
— often with guest speakers.
Gaulton says the sessions are
“massively attended” and are a
key part of HIROC’s continuous
learning culture, providing
opportunities for employees to
learn from both internal and
external experts.
Then there’s HIROCafé, an
annual all-staff offsite with a
keynote speaker and interactive,
creative learning activities for
employees that go beyond
traditional meeting formats —
all part of a broader approach
to making the workplace more
engaging and collaborative.
“People are proud and
competitive — the buzz in the
room is phenomenal,” says
Gaulton. “You start with a problem
statement, think through what the
options are, and visualize it so that
you can show it in a representative
way.
