Winners in 23 categories named at gala event in Toronto celebrating HR excellence
HR teams and leaders from across Canada gathered in Toronto last night as the winners of the 2026 Canadian HR Awards were announced.
Winners were named in 23 categories, from talent acquisition and total rewards to employee wellbeing, HR technology and senior leadership. The event was held at Rebel on the waterfront and hosted by broadcaster Sonia Mangat.
Yoplait Liberté Canada was the only organization to win in two categories, taking both Excellence in HR Communication & Change Strategy and Excellence in HR Team Performance (Fewer Than 500 Employees).
Defining culture at Yoplait
For Yoplait Liberté, the recognition comes less than two years into its life as a standalone company. Martin Vermette, vice-president of HR and communications, said the company was spun off from General Mills in January 2025 and now employs about 420 people producing yogurt for the Canadian market.
The separation meant a string of major projects at once, Vermette said, including the carve-out itself, the implementation of a new SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and the migration of employees from General Mills to the new company.
Central to the change effort was a culture workshop that involved every employee.
"We defined the employee culture, the company values with all of the employees," he said. "So we really got the employees involved within what we need to do and who we want to be and who we want to be recognized as an employer."
Focused on growth at Agnico Eagle
Agnico Eagle Mines won Excellence in HR Team Performance (500 Employees or More). Michelle Edwards, the company's vice-president of people, said the company is in a period of growth, with multiple projects coming online in Ontario, Quebec and Western Canada.
“Being able to indicate that we have great people practices is an opportunity to help attract new talent,” she said. “We’re doing a lot of work to really increase brand recognition in the West and Northern Ontario.”
Edwards put the company’s workforce at about 17,000 globally, including contractors.
"The industry itself is struggling with workforce availability," she said, citing changes to Canada’s immigration laws.
Redberry: retention and career paths
Redberry Restaurants won Excellence in Talent Management Strategy. Kiran Benet, chief people officer, credited the HR team's “amazing” work across the organization. "I think they really need recognition just because of how hard they work."
The company has about 5,500 employees, according to Maria Kourouklis, director of human resources. She said the Ontario-based HR team supports restaurants across Canada by training and coaching restaurant leaders on recruiting and retention.
"Our turnover rates are very low for the restaurant business so we do a lot to keep our employees engaged and to retain them.”
Benet said the company launched a career progressions program this year to help restaurant teams grow in their roles and move up through the organization. The HR team said the program came out of the company's engagement survey, in which employees said they wanted opportunities to advance, and that restaurant managers are now being trained on it.
“One of the great things about Redberry is that for a lot of people, it's their first job ever. For new Canadians, it's their first job within Canada,” said Benet.
“So, the fact that they actually desire progression within us and carving out that path and showing them what you can do in order to get there, and giving the tools to the management team to be able to achieve that and give them those steps, is something we're really proud of.”
Emerging HR leadership
The ADP Canada Award for Excellence in Emerging HR Leadership went to Cylee Wagner-Gasmo of Strategic Group. Andrea Winter, vice-president of human resources at ADP Canada, said the recognition is important because it expects the next generation of HR leaders to lead the response to AI, technology and automation.
"We truly believe that the emerging HR leaders of today are going to be the ones who are going to have a profound impact on shaping that work," she said.
Winter said that earlier in her career, HR technology was mostly about automating transactional work, and that she did not foresee the tools available today.
"It's not a matter of making incremental improvements and how do we automate certain things," she said. "I think it's really about reshaping and rethinking work altogether, rethinking roles."
For Wagner-Gasmo, the recognition that she and her team are heading in the right direction. "The things that we do and the impacts that we make in the company and in the community are are working, they mean something, and we're taking the right steps, and I think that we have to be very proud of that," she said. "Not just me, but the whole company and my whole team has a lot to be proud of."
Wagner-Gasmo said that the recognition inspires her to keep focusing on their people as her organization grows and moves forward strategically.
"People are what run a company, and you can have all the strategy you want, but people are the ones who make it happen," she said.
Full list of 2026 winners
Here's the full list of the winners of the 2026 Canadian HR Awards:
- Excellence in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging: UPP
- Excellence in Employer Branding & Talent Attraction: CAE
- Excellence in Flexible & Hybrid Work Strategy: Syngenta Canada Inc.
- Excellence in HR Communication & Change Strategy: Yoplait Liberté Canada
- Excellence in HR Service Delivery & Solutions: HR4
- Excellence in HR Team Performance (500 Employees or More): Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd.
- Excellence in HR Team Performance (Fewer Than 500 Employees): Yoplait Liberté Canada
- Excellence in HR Team Performance (Finance & Insurance): Definity
- Excellence in HR Team Performance (Retail & Hospitality): MEC Mountain Equipment Company Ltd.
- Excellence in HR Technology & AI Innovation: Interac Corp.
- Excellence in Learning & Capability Development: iA Financial Group
- Excellence in Senior HR Leadership: Keri Fraser, Westland Insurance
- Excellence in Social Impact & Corporate Responsibility: Staples Canada
- Excellence in Talent Acquisition Strategy: Dentalcorp
- Excellence in Talent Management Strategy: Redberry Restaurants
- Excellence in Total Rewards & Recognition: Hyundai Auto Canada Corp.
- Excellence in Workplace Culture & Employee Experience: CIRA
- The ADP Canada Award for Excellence in Emerging HR Leadership: Cylee Wagner-Gasmo, Strategic Group
- The Medcan Award for Excellence in Employee Wellbeing Strategy: CAA Club Group of Companies (CCG)
- The O.C. Tanner Award for Lifetime Achievement in HR: Dr. Monica Belcourt, York University
- The SAP Canada Award for CEO of the Year – People First Leadership: Dr. Uwe Zachau, MTU Maintenance Canada
- The University of Waterloo Award for Excellence in Early Talent & Future Workforce Strategy: Geotab
- Woman of Distinction in HR Industry: Paloma Tonaco, Purpose Unlimited
How winners were chosen
Nominations were open to HR professionals, teams and organizations across Canada, including HR service providers, from March 30 to June 19, and were free to submit. The awards team then researched nominations, drawing on information from HRD Canada and Canadian HR Reporter, before naming excellence awardees in each category except Lifetime Achievement in July.
Submissions from excellence awardees went to an independent judging panel of industry leaders and senior representatives, which began voting in August. Judges with a conflict of interest in a category recused themselves, and the awardee with the top score under a points system was named the winner.
The Canadian HR Awards are organized by KM Business Information Canada Ltd., publisher of HRD Canada and Canadian HR Reporter.
