Jump to winners | Jump to methodology
Mortgage professionals are delivering in a particularly challenging environment as rising interest rates cause significant disruption. They are also weathering the storm as consumers and battling the increased cost of living outside of their professional lives.
This gives an added certification to Canadian Mortgage Professional’s Top Mortgage Employers for 2023, as industry experts agree that employee satisfaction has never been more crucial.
“We have to be thoughtful of how we create an effortless experience for our employees, so that it is easier to do good work and add value back to the organization,” says Dean Koeller, chair of the CAMLA Board. “The easier it is for employees, the more they can focus on providing good service for our clients.”
The Top Mortgage Employers 2023 are prioritizing their employees’ overall well-being with strategies such as:
“We’re community-oriented, and that client outreach is such a rewarding experience for employees”
Sherry Dondo, HomeEquity Bank
Three-time Top Mortgage Employer HomeEquity Bank is embracing a culture of flexibility and offering its employees:
The country’s leading reverse mortgage provider enables its more than 300 employees to achieve work-life balance with a permanent hybrid work policy. A new corporate headquarters slated to open in summer 2023 in the heart of Toronto’s financial district will feature a modern “resimercial” design that marries the comforts of home with a commercial space.
“Our employees are going to have this beautiful, functional workspace that offers a variety of ways in which they can work and collaborate,” says SVP and chief human resources officer Sherry Dondo.
HomeEquity Bank’s award-winning corporate culture celebrates its employees’ passion and commitment to its purpose of helping Canadians aged 55 and older stay in the homes they love. Employees regularly reach out to check on clients’ welfare in times of crisis, such as when flooding or ice storms occur.
“We’re community-oriented, and that client outreach is such a rewarding experience for employees,” she adds. “Our purpose differentiates us, and it’s really quite special.”
The Top Mortgage Employer credits its engaged workforce for surpassing the $1 billion mark in reverse mortgage originations for two years running. That represents 30% year-over-year growth, and it is fuelling a focus on recruiting top talent.
Founder and CEO Raj Babber had a goal when he started Oppono Lending Company: to cultivate an office culture where people not only come to work but also genuinely enjoy being there.
The broker-focused business was awarded a gold medal as one of this year’s Top Mortgage Employers in the lender with 10–100 employees category. The company achieved the highest overall employee satisfaction rating of 98.28%, with 100% satisfaction in the reputation and innovation categories.
“It just comes down to empowering your team to constantly do better, ensuring they feel important and can accomplish things, and that everyone’s opinion matters,” says Babber. “Everyone’s happiness comes first.”
Oppono Lending Company offers its employees:
Employees are regarded as team members at the growing company, and inclusion is celebrated, with a majority of the frontline and management teams reflecting the diversity of their local community. Its low turnover rate hovers near 0%, which is a source of company pride.
President Faheem Tejani says their team members’ input and ideas are key to innovating new and better ways of serving their customers.
“We encourage our team members to do better, and we always try to innovate every year to try and make that experience better because, when you look at the mortgage market, there’s still a lot of room for innovation, and we want to try and be at the forefront of that,” he says.
“Our employees ... want to work for a company that’s continuing to grow”
Heather Baker, MCAP
MCAP’s laser-like customer focus on brokers, homeowners, and its employees resulted in the organization once again being named one of the Top Mortgage Employers 2023.
A commitment to adopting policies and programs that reflect all stakeholders led to achieving a milestone of $150 billion in assets under management in 2022, and its employees have been instrumental in driving Canada’s largest independent mortgage finance company to grow and evolve.
“Our employees see that, and they want to work for a company that’s continuing to grow,” says EVP of corporate services Heather Baker. “We are really proud to win this award, and we want to continue listening to our employees, including through our annual engagement surveys, so that we can continue to act on their feedback.”
The Top Mortgage Employer has implemented a new way of working that combines in-office, hybrid, and remote options customized to employee roles within the organization. Management thoughtfully considered employee feedback about their need for flexibility, along with what leaders need to manage, and a variety of configurations in which people can work and be productive have been rolled out with success.
MCAP also offers its employees:
Working at Top Mortgage Employer MCAN Financial Group means being part of a community. Monthly virtual town halls highlight employees’ unique stories, cultures, and achievements, and a largely remote and supported work environment provides for an authentic work-life balance.
A commitment to DE&I informs its policies and practices, as does an intentional effort among management to get to know each employee and their career goals with annual manager-once-removed meetings.
More than 70% of its multi-generational workforce identifies as diverse, and over 45% of its executive team is female. The Top Mortgage Employer prioritizes promoting from within and has a team that boasts one of the lowest employee turnover rates in the industry. That team has also voted MCAN a Great Place to Work in multiple categories two years in a row.
MCAN Financial Group also offers its employees:
“What differentiates us is that we view the relationship holistically between our stakeholders and we highlight their unique stories, including our team, brokers, clients, and the communities in which we work,” explains Avish Buck, SVP and COO at MCAN Financial Group and president of MCAN Home.
Employees receive competitive compensation and total rewards packages aligned with those at the executive level, along with extra paid days off tacked on to long summer weekends. Wellness days are inclusive and can be leveraged for time off around religious holidays.
“We’re excited about putting in place a program that highlights our hybrid structure and ways we can continue to engage team members around our culture of wellness, inclusivity, flexibility, and collaboration,” VP of HR Michelle Liotta says. “It’s important to empower team members with the ability to balance work with having fun at work, developing bonds, and building that trust and those social relationships.”
A big part of working at MCAN is the opportunity to experience its value-driven vision of living your best life outside of work, Buck says.
“Happy team members equal exceptional service, quality of work, and output to our partners and customers,” he adds. “We take the time to talk to our team and fully invest in their career development, which shows them that we care about their success.”
“We’re excited about putting in place a program that highlights our hybrid structure and ways we can continue to engage team members around our culture of wellness, inclusivity, flexibility, and collaboration”
Michelle Liotta, MCAN Financial Group
As this year’s awardees demonstrate, when employees are empowered and valued, Top Mortgage Employers thrive.
“We are in a learning phase in our sector and starting to recognize the change in the balance of power,” says Koeller. “For so long, it has been the employer who has held much of the power. What is amazing is that once you realize the power of empowering your employees and giving them purpose, resources, and tools, they will be better contributors.”
“It just comes down to empowering your team to constantly do better, ensuring they feel important and can accomplish things, and that everyone’s opinion matters”
Raj Babber, Oppono Lending Company
To help recognize and narrow down the nominations for the Top Mortgage Employers 2023 in Canada, CMP invited organizations to fill out an employer form highlighting their various offerings and practices. Employees of the 110 nominated companies were then asked to take an anonymous survey evaluating their workplace based on eight key factors: compensation; benefits; reputation; culture; advancement; innovation; sustainable programs; and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
To qualify, each nominee had to meet a minimum number of employee responses based on the overall size of the organization: employers with 10–100 employees must provide a minimum of 10 responses; employers with 101–500 employees must provide a minimum of 20 responses; and employers with 500+ employees must provide a minimum of 50 responses.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals are awarded to the top three companies in each category based on overall employee satisfaction.