Manitoba's Top Employers

The family business began in the 1940s with its first hotel in Poplarfield. Since then, the Manitoba- born and bred company has expanded to include 15 facilities throughout Winnipeg, Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Grand Forks, N.D. Today, Canad Inns employs more than 3,500 people and serves nine million customers each year. As the largest food and beverage operator in the province, Canad Inns has more than 37,000 seats in its restaurants, pubs, banquet facilities and clubs. Its well-known establishments include the Radisson Winnipeg Downtown, Tavern United, The Metropolitan Entertainment Centre and many more popular destinations. "We're here to provide exceptional service to our guests, and we can't do that without our employees," says CEO Dan Lussier. "As the old saying goes, happy employees make happy guests, so we need to make sure we treat our employees fairly and well." In particular, employees take pride in the company's commitment to community involvement. "One of the things that really stands out is that we get involved in the communities that we operate in," Lussier says. "We're big supporters of those communities, and I think that makes people proud to be associated with a company that supports the communities that they live in." As an example, Canad Inns has hosted Family Fun Day on July 1 at Assiniboine Park for the past 17 years. "We're the ones that actually put everything together, so it's not just a sponsorship. We're organizing, paying for everything, running the entire day," Lussier says. "We rely on hundreds of our committed Canad Inns family members to volunteer their day for that, and we've had hundreds of thousands of people attend." In addition to its community endeavours, Canad Inns offers competitive salaries and benefits to its employees, including subsidized meals, discounted hotel stays and other incentives. "We also focus on providing opportunities for career development, so we can actually become a part of your career development plan. We can offer positions in so many different areas including management, accounting, sales and human resources," Lussier says. "We've got many employees who've got decades of experience of tenure with Canad Inns. Some of them started as dishwashers and have grown to become members of our executive team — and you can do all that without having to move, which is the nice part. You can stay right here in Manitoba." All of these efforts have earned the company a multitude of awards over the decades, including a spot on this year's Top Employers list. "We've been named one of Canada Best Managed Companies every year since 1997. In 2003, they created a different category called the Platinum Club, and we've been a member of that ever since then," Lussier says. "In addition to that, we won the Manitoba Hotel Association Impact Award in 2016. The same year, we also won the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce award for Outstanding Large Business. We're humble but we're proud of our achievements." These achievements continue to draw attention to Canad Inns from job seekers who are looking for a fabulous place to work. "We're one of those companies that people like to work for and they seek us out because we're one of the best-managed companies. That's important because it gives stability to people," Lussier says. "We're always looking for good people, so people are always encouraged to apply for positions at all levels. We're Manitoba owned, Manitoba grown and Manitoba proud — and we're very grateful to have received the Top Employers award." CANAD INNS TAKES PRIDE IN COMMUNITY COMMITMENT BY JENNIFER MCFEE As a leader in the hospitality industry, Canad Inns is an expert at making people feel extra special, including its own employees. CANAD INNS FAMILY MEMBERS PARTICIPATE IN THE ANNUAL SANTA CLAUS PARADE. SUBMITTED PHOTO canadinns.com 1.888.33.CANAD (22623) 10 Today, Canad Inns employs more than 3,500 people and serves nine million customers each year. As the largest food and beverage operator in the province, Canad Inns has more than 37,000 seats in its restaurants, pubs, banquet facilities and clubs.

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