Canada's Top Small & Medium Employers (2026) Magazine - Magazine - Page 20
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CANADA’S TOP SMALL & MEDIUM EMPLOYERS (2026)
At Caltrax, employees keep the organization on track
A
fter working in
customer service
for 10 years, Dakota
Meggitt decided a
major career change
was in order. She entered a
program that trains women in
various trades with the thought
that she might like to be an
electrician. By the end of the
program in 2024, she’d opted to
become a welder and landed a job
with Caltrax Inc.
Based in Calgary and the only
independent firm of its kind in
Western Canada, Caltrax offers a
full scope of independent repair
service for all types of railcars.
Over the last four years, Caltrax
— along with its 165 employees
— has been undergoing its own
major transformation.
“We told ourselves that we don’t
want to just be an organization
focused on dollars, and that the
best way for us to be successful is
through our people,” says Adam
De Groot, vice-president of freight
operations. De Groot was hired in
January 2022 with the mandate to
turn around the then-financially
struggling company.
“The priority was the safety
of our people,” De Groot says.
“It wasn’t easy. We’re in the rail
industry; we do rough, hard
work. But we made some very
difficult decisions. We held a hard
standard on expectations around
workplace security and safety,
harassment, and drug and alcohol
use.”
Caltrax introduced a
dramatically improved pay scale
and created a bonus structure
that shares corporate profits.
Compensation was expanded
from simply rewarding the
traditional elements of time and
experience to also providing
incentives to pursue training and
development opportunities. In
addition, sick pay, referral benefits
and other perks were introduced.
“We try to give everyone a fair
opportunity to make sure that
they have good work-life balance,”
De Groot says. “A big factor to
our success is our workforce. Our
workforce is here not just because
they want a job. They are here for
their career.”
He adds that Caltrax wants
hired staff to stay until retirement.
“We don’t hire and fire. We would
rather run a lean team and offer
people overtime if we need to,”
he says. “We are dedicated to
proactive sales and operational
planning to ensure steady and
consistent workflow for our
workforce.”
Meggitt, identified by her
employer as an “up and comer,”
recently took advantage of
Caltrax’s development incentives
to take the first-year welding
apprenticeship program at
Southern Alberta Institute of
Technology. The program was
fully paid by Caltrax and — upon
completion of the program —
Meggitt received full top-up pay.
Currently, she is being trained
in-house to become a tank car
qualifier. Depending on the
availability of the courses and her
fulfilling the required hours, this
work can be completed in one to
two years.
They see something in me, and they want me to
succeed. Having that support here at Caltrax makes
me feel good about my work and about my career. It’s
been an incredible experience.
— Dakota Meggitt
First-Year Welder Apprentice
A member of the leadership team at Caltrax presents to students at a local school.
