UL in Canada Named to 2021 List of Best Workplaces for Women

April 13, 2021

UL, the global safety science leader, announced that UL in Canada has been named on the 2021 list of Best Workplaces™ for Women by the Great Place to Work® Institute Canada, a global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures.

According to Nancy Fonseca, senior vice president of Great Place to Work Canada, with women representing close to 50% of the Canadian workforce. “Creating great workplaces for women isn’t political or trendy, and it’s not a women’s issue. It’s a business issue. Our research shows that when women have a great experience at work, their male colleagues are more likely to have a great experience, too. And trust seems to be the insulating factor,” said Fonseca.

The list is based on direct feedback from employees of the hundreds of organizations that were surveyed by Great Place to Work. The data has a 90% confidence interval and a plus or minus 5% margin of error. To be eligible for this list, organizations must be Great Place to Work- Certified™ in the past year, headquartered in Canada and have a minimum of 15 female employees, and at least 90% of employees must agree that people are treated fairly, regardless of their gender. Great Place to Work determined the best based on the overall Trust Index score from female employees. 

UL’s female workforce in Canada, including scientists, laboratory technicians, engineers, corporate staff, field inspectors, managers and leadership, provided high marks for UL’s culture in diversity and inclusion in the Trust Index survey, making UL in Canada a top workplace for women. 

Haya Soghrati, UL’s engineering leader in Toronto agrees with the recognition. Soghrati, providing testing and inspection services for the construction and building envelope industry, has been with UL in Canada for the past two years and feels that UL offers a great opportunity for women in a science and engineering-based industry.  “UL provides the support and guidance to women that enables us to grow and succeed.  In my case, I was given the opportunity to be part of an innovative team, use my experience to help develop and grow a new business unit, and contribute as a thought leader to the building and construction industry,” said Soghrati.

“We are honored to receive this amazing recognition as we continue to seek to achieve gender parity and create an equitable environment for our women colleagues within UL,” said Joe Hosey, vice president and general manager of UL in Canada. “This recognition also helps build momentum around our recently released diversity, equity and inclusion commitments to increase gender representation within leadership and throughout UL by 2025.”

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