Canada's Top Employers for Young People (2025) Magazine - Flipbook - Page 54
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CANADA’S TOP EMPLOYERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE (2025)
Labatt’s unique approach to young talent brews leaders
F
or Labatt Breweries
of Canada, choosing
among applicants to its
Graduate Management
Trainee (GMT) program
has always been more a matter
of looking for a mindset than a
skillset, an attitude shared with
many of those accepted, says vice
president of sales Rob Legate. “We
are okay with generalists,” says
Legate. “We're actually looking for
generalists.”
He should know. A finance
major at McGill in 2010, Legate
applied to GMT for the sake of
practice interviews to help him
with the upcoming interviews
with financial-sector employers.
He received offers from an investment bank – and one from Labatt.
“Everyone, from my mentors to
my parents, strongly recommended investment banking,” recalls
Legate.
There was something
pulling me toward
Labatt, as I came to
believe in its people
and its culture through
the interview process.
— Rob Legate
Vice President of Sales
“But my gut feeling was urging
me in the other direction,” he
continues. “There was something
pulling me toward Labatt as I
came to believe in its people and
its culture through the interview
process. And 14 years later, I have
never once regretted my decision.”
Taniya Spolia, category manager (left), with a colleague at Labatt Breweries of Canada.
Category manager Taniya
Spolia, a member of the 2021
GMT cohort, began university in
a medical-science program before
pivoting into social sciences and
psychology. “Not having followed
the quintessential business studies
path had a positive weight on
my application,” she says. “The
interviewers were excited to have
someone with new ideas and a
fresh pair of eyes to consider.”
Since its 2004 launch, the
GMT program has offered more
than 100 participants immersive
onboarding, exposure to senior
leadership, and in-depth
experience. Participants rotate
through business functions within
the Toronto-based company
(supply, marketing, logistics and
sales), as well as experiencing
varied locations across Canada,
and sometimes further afield.
Legate had stints in Montréal,
Edmonton, Calgary and St. Louis,
while Spolia went to London,
Ont., and Saskatchewan.
“The GMT is far from a
linear program,” says Legate,
who remains involved in the
program. “We weigh the skillset
and ambitions of the individual,
as well as considering our
needs and where opportunities
and challenges sit at a given
point in time. There are always
possibilities, because we prioritize
promoting, developing and getting
the most out of our people.”
Legate and Spolia have vivid
memories of their opening GMT
postings in Labatt breweries,
and for the same reason.
“Culture shock is not quite the
right phrase,” says Spolia. “But
seeing what is actually a small
community of people who are so
