Best Workplaces, Employee Engagement , Employee Recognition, Start-ups
Key Takeaways:
- 92% of employees at Canada’s 2026 provincial Best Workplaces feel trusted to do their job without being micromanaged.
- 90% willingly give extra to get the job done, and 92% say customers would rate their service as excellent.
- 88% see new and better ways of working celebrated, and 91% know honest mistakes are part of getting the job done.
- 87% are kept informed about important changes, and 82% feel involved in decisions that affect their work.
- 375 Best Workplaces and 117,696 employees across Alberta, BC, Ontario and Quebec show that high-trust, high-productivity cultures already exist in Canada.
Canada’s labour productivity fell two quarters in a row before rebounding 1.0% in the second quarter of 2026, and the national debate keeps circling back to investment, technology and regulation. The 2026 Best Workplaces™ by Province point to the piece that debate leaves out: trust. At these 375 organizations in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, 90% of employees willingly give extra to get the job done, 92% say customers would rate their service as excellent, and 88% see new and better ways of working celebrated.
The unfortunate reality is, Canada’s productivity is lagging. We hear it on the news and our big banks, think-tanks and the big four consulting firms regularly release reports about it. Data from Statistics Canada confirms it: our national productivity growth has been sliding for decades with actual productivity being essentially unchanged from where it was seven years ago. The Productivity Blueprint released by the C.D. Howe Institute finds that output per hour worked rose roughly half as fast in Canada as in the U.S. over three decades and was second last among the nine economies compared.
Canada’s productivity: two quarters down, then a rebound
Business sector labour productivity, % change from the previous quarter
Source: Statistics Canada, labour productivity releases for the first and second quarters of 2026.
So why then are some organizations thriving?
Canadian workplace culture makes all the difference. The organizations that are bucking this productivity trend make employee trust and engagement a priority. While everyone else is focussed on the macroeconomics of the issue with the typical productivity culprits (capital investment, technology adoption and regulatory reform) taking priority, the Best Workplaces™ by Region are looking internally and recognizing productivity as an organizational trust issue. They understand that people, not technology, hold the key to long term organizational success. Indeed, when we asked their people whether they feel they make a difference around their organization, 91% said yes.
How trust shows up at Canada’s 2026 provincial Best Workplaces™
% of employees who agree
Source: Great Place To Work Canada, The Trust Dividend, 2026 (375 organizations, 117,696 employee responses).
What Moves the Productivity Needle?
What moves the productivity needle: 91% of employees at the provincial Best Workplaces feel they make a difference
Does AI adoption improve productivity on its own?
Not on its own. Statistics Canada found that AI adoption alone did not lift productivity significantly. The real gains depend on skill development, responsible deployment and employees who trust their leaders enough to put new tools to work.
Artificial Intelligence is often touted as the key to making a difference in Canada’s productivity problem. Statistics Canada, however, has actually found that AI adoption alone, despite its usage rates steadily increasing, did not contribute to significant productivity increases. Turns out, the real economic gains depend heavily on a supportive ecosystem that includes investing in skill development and responsible, inclusive deployment. This aligns perfectly with our insights on Canadian workplace culture that show time and again that employee trust and engagement are crucial for organizational productivity and success. People don’t do their best work just because they got a faster computer or an AI assistant. They perform best, and actually put their new tools to work more effectively when they feel trusted, are kept in the loop, and believe the rewards are shared fairly.
The encouraging part is that organizations don’t need to wait for policy changes or major investments to make progress. Culture is something leaders can influence immediately. You can start now by improving how well your culture encourages employee trust and engagement.
Productivity Game Changer: Trust
Productivity game changer, trust: 88% of employees see new and better ways of working celebrated
Why is employee trust important for productivity?
When people feel trusted, they challenge the status quo, experiment and lean into new technology instead of protecting themselves. At Canada’s Best Workplaces, 90% of employees willingly give extra to get the job done.
Employee trust is the foundation of a great workplace culture. It’s what encourages people to optimize outcomes over self-preservation. If an organization lacks trust, people think about themselves first; potentially limiting their ability to think creatively to solve problems, and they shy away from experimenting with new ideas or technology for fear of making a mistake. Conversely, when people feel trusted, they challenge the status quo looking for ways to improve and they lean into new technology knowing that their efforts are appreciated.
This is The Trust Dividend which shows how trust turns culture into performance and profit in the Age of AI, and how Great Place To Work can get you there. Featuring the Best Workplaces™ by Region it demonstrates that a key way to build trust, is to focus on employee outcome. Give people the tools and autonomy they need to do their best work, and productivity will follow. Instead of using AI tools to get more and more out of your people, use it to unlock their creative potential and get better solutions to your problems. This subtle shift in thinking will help improve employee trust and engagement and productivity.
At the Best Workplaces™ 90% of employees are willing to give extra to get the job done, 88% see new and better ways of working being celebrated, and 91% know that honest mistakes are part of getting the job done. Ultimately the Best Workplaces empower people to help meet business challenges, and make space for employees naturally to take ownership of their output and find faster, smarter ways to execute.
Productivity Game Plan: Participative Decision-Making
Participative decision-making: 82% of employees feel involved in decisions that impact their work
How does inclusion improve employee engagement?
Including employees in decisions about change lowers resistance and builds ownership. When people understand the why behind a new tool or investment, they see it as a way to improve their work rather than a threat to their job.
When people feel included in decision making, employee trust and engagement soar. Rethinking how you introduce key productivity tools like AI and other capital investments can exponentially improve their adoption and success. People are not naturally inclined to accept change. It’s disruptive, it creates anxiety, and often causes people to go into self-protection mode. When employees worry that a new tool is going to replace them, they will quietly resist it, downplay its capabilities, or simply refuse to invest the mental energy needed to make it work.
To combat this, keep employees in the loop about your technology and productivity improvement plans and include your people in the decision-making process. Share the “why” behind an investment and help people see how the change will make their work less tedious, more engaging, or more high-value. Inclusion leads to less resistance and clears the path for real productivity improvements. Of course this means being really honest as well. If these changes will impact labour requirements, plan to support your people through the change, whether that means reskilling or retraining or at the last resort a layoff.
In the Trust Dividend we outline the importance of giving people a voice in change and how at the Best Workplaces™ 87% of employees say they are kept informed of important changes, 82% feel they are involved in decisions that impact their work, and 87% believe that layoffs would be used as a last resort. Within these high trust cultures, teams view technology as a means for improving their work rather than a threat to their livelihood.
Productivity MVP: Sharing the Success
Sharing the success: 88% of employees feel management appreciates their efforts
What are the latest workplace culture trends in Canada?
Open communication about finances is a defining trend in 2026. Leaders are sharing financial goals and how rewards are decided, so employees can see they share in the organization’s success through recognition, bonuses or profit sharing.
Open communication around finances is in, in 2026. It’s undeniably challenging but it also has the potential to be the most trust-inducing. And in terms of productivity, sharing the rewards is obvious because at the end of the day employees are economically motivated. If employees think that the push for increased productivity only leads to higher executive bonuses or increased corporate reserves, employees will resist. Instead, if you talk about financial goals and share profitability stats, this helps people understand where the money is going and how, and why, it is being spent.
You don’t have to completely overhaul your compensation structure and you don’t have to share highly sensitive financial information. You just need to engage honestly with your people and recognize that when the organization does well, employees should share in that success. That can be anything from meaningful recognition to bonuses to profit sharing or whatever incentive resonates with your people.
At the Best Workplaces 88% of employees feel management appreciates their efforts and 87% feel everyone has an opportunity for special recognition. In the Trust Dividend we show that people are 60% more likely to adopt AI when profits are shared fairly. By treating people as partners in growth rather than line-item expenses, you create a direct line between their efforts and your productivity.
Productivity: The Ball is in Your Court
Productivity, the ball is in your court: 90% of employees at the Best Workplaces willingly give extra to get the job done
What are the benefits of building a high-trust workplace?
High-trust workplaces get more discretionary effort, faster adoption of new tools and people who are willing to innovate and take risks. Leaders can start building that trust now, without waiting for policy changes or major investments.
While people around you debate what is causing the productivity slump, choose to focus on the things within your culture that you can control and that will lead to more employee trust and engagement. Choose autonomy over tracking output. Choose inclusion over top-down decisions. Choose sharing information over confidentiality. Choose to trust and watch your people perform, innovate and take risks. From there the productivity will take care of itself.
The 2026 Best Workplaces™ in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec are the proof that high-trust, high-productivity cultures already exist across Canada. Explore the complete lists, then download The Trust Dividend for the full provincial data behind them.
Is low trust slowing your productivity? Certification as a Best Workplace™ can show you where trust is lifting performance in your organization, and where it is falling short.
2026 Best Workplaces™ by Province
Across Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, 375 organizations earned their place on the 2026 lists through the voices of their own people, with 117,696 employees sharing their experience through the Trust Index™ Survey. These employees feel trusted, kept in the loop and fairly rewarded, and it shows in the results: nine in 10 give extra effort, would recommend their employer and say customers rate their service as excellent.
Tools & Resources
- Employee Survey: Measure the same trust signals behind this article, from autonomy to involvement in decisions, and benchmark them against the Best Workplaces in your province.
- Culture Consulting: Turn your survey results into a plan for building trust around new tools and investments, so productivity gains don’t stall at adoption.
- Employee Engagement: Find practical ways to keep people informed, involved and recognized, the behaviours that drive discretionary effort at Canada’s Best Workplaces.
- 2026 Best Workplaces™ by Province: See the 375 organizations in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec proving that high-trust, high-productivity cultures already exist across Canada.
Feedback
How is your organization connecting trust to productivity? We’d love to hear what’s working for your teams, and which workplace culture topics you’d like us to explore next. Have feedback? Fill out this form by clicking here.
Get Certified 
Productivity gains start with knowing how much your people trust you. Certification gives you validated employee feedback on trust, inclusion and fairness, benchmarked against the Best Workplaces in your province. Get Certified today, then find out whether your organization belongs on the Best Workplaces™ list for your province.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What factors make a workplace a great place to work in Canada?
Trust is the common thread. At Canada’s Best Workplaces, employees feel trusted to do their work, believe their leaders are honest with them and feel they are treated fairly. In 2026, 92.5% of employees at the provincial Best Workplaces said their workplace is a great place to work.
Why does Canada have a productivity problem?
Canada’s labour productivity fell two quarters in a row before rebounding 1.0% in the second quarter of 2026. The usual explanations are low capital investment, slow technology adoption and regulatory barriers. Those matter, but they leave out the people side: new tools only raise productivity when employees trust leadership enough to adopt them and put in extra effort.
How can companies measure employee engagement and belonging?
A validated employee survey such as the Trust Index™ Survey asks people about their actual experience of leadership, fairness, pride and camaraderie. It then breaks results down by team, manager, location and demographic group, so leaders can see where trust is strong and where it is not.
How do you get employees to adopt AI tools?
Explain why the tool is being introduced and what it means for people’s roles. Involve teams in choosing and testing it, and pair it with training. At Canada’s provincial Best Workplaces, employees who feel they have a voice in decisions that affect them are twice as likely to lean into change.
Does sharing profits improve productivity?
It helps. When employees believe they share in the organization’s success, the push for productivity feels like a shared goal rather than something that only benefits executives. At Canada’s provincial Best Workplaces, a fair share of profits was the fastest-rising employee experience from 2025 to 2026.
What is The Trust Dividend report?
The Trust Dividend is Great Place To Work Canada’s 2026 provincial insights report. It draws on 117,696 employee survey responses at 375 Best Workplaces in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec to show how trust turns culture into performance in the age of AI.
