Sturgeon County is a rural municipality that is part of the Greater Edmonton Region. They employ 225 people and pride themselves on their inclusive culture. Sturgeon openly embraces a diverse employee base including people of all races and many different ethnic origins, members of the LGBT community, people with disabilities, First Nations people and women in all jobs from Grader Operator to Senior Manager.
Sturgeon County as an employer, is a trail blazer in many areas. Before the new employment laws in Jan. 2018 for example, they already offered employees Family Responsibility leave to care for sick family members, including both children and elderly family members. They employ active retirees until such time as they are no longer able to perform their jobs.
In addition, generous sick and disability benefits and an inclusive modified work program support the employees. Professionals who are newcomers to Canada are given volunteer opportunities to gain Canadian specific experience to allow them to compete for jobs in their fields. In one case, Sturgeon employees actually picked up the volunteer to bring them to work because they did not have access to a vehicle.
Sturgeon County has also embraced the inclusion of Service Dogs for employees who suffer from PTSD and has found this to be extremely rewarding both from the organizational perspective and that of the employees who are better able to function in their jobs because of the support they are provided. The Service Dogs allow the employees to come to work on a regular basis and help the employee to be able to cope with the challenges of working and living with PTSD. When their struggles are too much to cope, the County provides ample time off and a modified work program.
