What makes a great place to work? It’s not an easy question to answer, and it’s not a simple thing to create. Technology changes, societal norms shift, and human expectations of work are always evolving.
“Human resources touches all of us in some way,” said OBJ editor in chief Anne Howland. “There are issues such as return to work, diversity and inclusion, and shifting trends in the labour market. This year, we delved into how our top 20 are using AI and the effect it’s having on their workplaces.”
Best Places to Work is an annual program organized by the Ottawa Business Journal. Participants in the program are ranked according to the results of in-depth employer questionnaires and employee engagement surveys conducted by U.S.-based Workforce Research Group.
Employees are asked to rate the performance of their workplace in categories such as leadership and planning, corporate culture, job satisfaction, training, and pay and benefits. Employers fill out an extensive questionnaire that determines what types of benefits they provide to employees and assesses how their workplaces address issues ranging from work-life balance to diversity.
This year, we’re presenting the top 20 overall, and also their ranking by size of company — small, medium and large, based on employee headcount.
Top 20 overall
- Relax Massage Group
- LiveWorkPlay / VivreTravaillerJouer
- Jennings Real Estate Corp.
- Snowed In Studios
- Bushbalm
- Numbercrunch
- Stoneworks Technologies
- Ottawa Tourism
- Entuitive
- Kongsberg Geospatial
- Trellis Corp.
- Dilfo Mechanical Ltd.
- Knak
- McCay Duff LLP
- Arup
- Mann Lawyers LLP
- TPH Plumbing and Heating
- Pomerleau Inc.
- J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd.
- Amsted Design-Build
Small employers (15-49 employees)
- Relax Massage Group
- LiveWorkPlay / VivreTravaillerJouer
- Jennings Real Estate Corp.
- Numbercrunch
- Stoneworks Technologies
- Trellis Corp.
- McCay Duff LLP
- Amsted Design-Build
Medium employers (50-249 employees)
- Snowed In Studios
- Bushbalm
- Ottawa Tourism
- Kongsberg Geospatial
- Knak
- Mann Lawyers LLP
- TPH Plumbing and Heating
Large employers (250+ employees)
- Entuitive
- Dilfo Mechanical Ltd.
- Arup
- Pomerleau Inc.
- J.L. Richards & Associates Ltd.
Joint event with DisruptHR
OBJ is once again partnering with DisruptHR to produce an event that celebrates the 2026 recipients and includes a fast-paced lineup of 5-minute talks on the future of work. The event happens on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at Algonquin College Commons Theatre.
For more information on the event, click here.
