Montreal's Top Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 36
MONTRÉAL’S TOP EMPLOYERS (2026)
36
UAP empowers teams with communication and trust
W
hen Gabrielle
Boisvert
returned to
Montréal after
travelling and
learning English in Australia,
it took time to find the right fit
for work. “The thing I think is
special about UAP Inc. is that
although it’s a national company
with more than 5,800 employees,
it feels small,” says Boisvert,
project coordinator. “It’s an open
environment where people get to
know each other.”
Employees find their
colleagues genuinely
care and want to
collaborate. It’s the
foundation of our
success.
— Caroline Tremblay
Senior Vice-President,
People and Culture and
Communications
Headquartered in Montréal,
UAP is Canada's leading
distributor and merchandiser of
automotive parts and replacement
accessories for cars and heavy
vehicles. It is also a subsidiary
of Genuine Parts Company, the
largest vehicle parts distribution
network in North America.
“There are many times when
new people will tell me how
nice everyone is,” says Caroline
Tremblay, senior vice-president,
people and culture and communications. “Leaders are accessible
here. At head office, they sit with
Team members at UAP take advantage of the organization’s modern office space to collaborate.
their teams. People feel empowered to give input.”
Tremblay says communication is
key to UAP’s culture, whether informally in the cafeteria or during
the quarterly national call with
the president and senior vice-presidents. Employees not only hear
new information but also ask
questions and give feedback. In
addition, the company conducts a
bi-yearly engagement survey and
reports back with an action plan
to address employee issues.
One way the leaders at UAP
have responded to employee
feedback was by creating the
role of a career coach to assist
people in finding a career path
within the company. They offer
job shadowing through the A
Day in My Life program where
employees are invited to go and
sit in someone else’s chair or
department to find out what
happens there. Employees
can also join environmental,
social and governance crossdepartmental committees to gain
a broader perspective on the
organization.
Boisvert joined the Energy
Committee on employee engagement and well-being — physical,
mental and financial. Members
include others from head office,
as well as store and warehouse
managers from across the country.
They have organized events such
as a challenge for employees to
record their local steps as they
collectively walked, ran and biked
enough kilometres to reach all
UAP sites across Canada from east
to west — culminating in a UAP
donation to a charity when they
reached their goal.
The committee also held a
day to promote mental health
awareness, publishing tips and
resources on recognizing and
reducing stress. “At UAP, we evolve
and adapt what we do based
on input from employees,” says
Boisvert. “It’s a strength.”
Cross-departmental activities
have helped Boisvert in her work
with her team. As one of two project coordinators on a five-person
group, she finds her colleague
brings experience in monitoring
and reporting while she brings expertise in how work flows between
departments.
Boisvert has taken the
opportunity to do an online
