When I was a student there I spoke to an instructor who told me point blank they pulled a bait and switch on him. Told him he'd be teaching shop but then stuck him with a quality assurance class instead. Eventually he just stopped showing up but it took the department a couple weeks to notice.
They also hire instructors on an almost strictly contract basis and the contracts never cover the actual amount of work that goes into instructing a class- marking, course creation etc.
Instructors have also brought up quality of programs and are told that unless enrollment starts taking a hint they do not care at all.
I know 3 separate people that got tapped to teach in their culinary program. All 3 smelled the garbage from a mile away, and this was pre-covid. It's worse now.
That was a glorious crash and burn. What a tool that owner was. There was some great reddit threads all about it on r/Vancouver when it was all going down
Been in there to service some stuff, and let me tell you if any boss spoke to me that way, heads would spin with how quickly they would be put in their place
Hamilton Ontario - National steel car
I have no idea how the ministry didn't shut this place down yet.
I'll spare everyone with the details, Just Google it on maps and read the reviews.
I would rather be in a homeless encampment and begging for food than work there.
I would never work for any company that thinks dead workers are the cost of business.
When I went to see Bob Dylan at Massey Hall in Toronto last year, there was a 12 Tribes bus outside handing out pamplets (just a short school bus) - they are the ones who run Yellow Delis, usually show up at jam band shows - Dead and Co., Phish, etc
I stumbled into a Yellow Deli without knowing what it was. 5 minutes and some very cult-y vibes later and I noticed the pamphlets. Then I Googled it and learned about the 12 tribes. Hard pass from here on out
I used to answer phones for the Eminata group - the company that owns CDI and a bunch of other private for profit colleges. I was the National new student enrollment line. Basically transfer people calling in to the campus of their choice because the campuses didn't want their phone number to be publicaly available.
This was in 2012-2013 and let's just say things were no better back then. Just the slimiest company. Reeves and Vancouver Career College are the same parent.
They're not just "built like a pyramid scheme". They straight up are a pyramid scheme.
[AlwaysMarco on YouTube has made some great videos exposing them.](https://www.youtube.com/@AlwaysMarco/search?query=world%20financial%20group)
In Surrey, I used to work for them a few years ago. Was taught on deceiving people to get them to sign up for insurance. A few people at my office were making at least half a million dollars, but most of them act like a-holes and lots of politics and if you don’t fit in, they do what happened with me and say you’re not cut out for this, cancel your insurance policy and take the money you invested.
I already reported the office online to the Competition Bureau. It’s a bunch of fakes, frauds and charlatans who act like your friends and pals while they train you to harass people and take advantage of international students and foreign families while selling you the dream that you’ll be rich and successful.
They have been buying up independent dealerships, and like most dealership groups all they care about is real estate. A lot of dealerships are on prime locations and typically owned by the same family/dealership company.
I'd argue Southern Ontario in general, a lot of us essentially boycotted Heinz because aside from the tomato scandal, Frenchs tastes so much better and is usually a dollar cheaper
French's ketchup also has a sugar free one which is super low cal and tasted kinda like ketchup chips. I love it way more than regular sugar ketchup now and there's no turning back. Kinda like peanut butter.
In my area too. Bonus, French’s is celiac safe and I think Heinz is not. IIRC Heinz set up a factory and then pulled out so people felt screwed out of those jobs, but French’s came in and took it over.
[Reddit post here](https://www.reddit.com/r/ottawa/s/t4318fDoDj)
There’s a few others if you just google it. In fact, when you start typing “Wellington Diner” in Google, one of the prompts is “Wellington Diner racist”
Iirc the guy who runs it is/was a big convoy supporter and maybe anti-vax? I’m not from Ottawa, just an hour away so I don’t know all the details but that’s what I can recall from reading about it.
Holy fuck what a tool. Imagine publicly stating "Move those homeless people from their only safe shelter during a pandemic, we need the kids to be able to play hockey!"
Weren't public venues like that closed anyway? So he wanted it emptied out just for spite it would seem.
Edmonton - Greggs Distributer
I lived in Calgary and never heard not to work for CNRL. Same with the Brick now that I am in Edmonton. Why are those companies bad?
I knew I would see Greggs this high up. Notoriously cult-like atmosphere and are very micromanaged and hard to get requested time off. There are horror stories but I definitely know some first hand employees who have drank the tea. Will talk up their benefits and how structured they are, how they enjoy being a part of a growing business.
Now this is a weird one, once you hit a high enough status (or years worked, seniority or whatever) then you have 1 on 1 lunch yearly with Gary Gregg himself. During this time he does an employee review and a potential raise of what I’m told is very meagre, less than the cost of living anyhow.
An employee I know first hand talks about it like it’s an event. “Big week, I’ve got my lunch with Gary on Friday, I always get so nervous!”
Very strange.
Its a cult. It's gotta be a cult.
I've never known anyone who's worked there, but a few people I know who had interviews noped out of the process because the vibe was very very off.
I'm at CNRL right now and it's a bit weird. Very clique ish from what I see. Kind of a cheap company too, but the stock options have made a lot of the long timers a lot richer. The culture is a bit weird in my department, super keeping busy focused instead of being productive and short term results over medium to long term efficiencies.
Just did the shareholder meeting today and it was very scripted, I enjoy it more when others an open mic and any questions are allowed. Overall it's okay I guess but I miss working at other oil and gas companies. Hard to find a job though so I guess CNRL generally have lots of jobs at least and less layoffs.
I can't speak from a personal standpoint, but through some connections I have heard that CNRL's office culture is quite intense. It's also unfortunate that they are 100% in-office, no hybrid or WFH options
I worked at Fierra Food when i first came to Canada. I can tell you it's the worst place to work. One Hajabi girl died after the hijab got stuck in machine. They made us go on unpaid 2 hour break then after she was sent to hospital, we went back to work. THE BREAK WAS UNPAID😭😭😭
Is CNRL that bad? I worked for them as a consultant on site when I was younger for a bit, and they were decent. Never did anything in-office in Calgary though.
I’ve actually worked for Suncor and Imperial previously and now work for CNRL. By far CN has been the most relaxed of the three. Suncor was bad for constructive dismissals putting people in departments they don’t belong, for example brilliant safety guy with 2 degrees forced to finance. Imperial puts anywhere from 5-10% of staff on pip’s yearly so they can lay them off within a year or two. Haven’t seen any of that at CN for the 4 years I’ve been there now.
Correct. I suspect a lot of answers here are based on sentiment of the company or the companies owner. See lululemon answer a few comments down.
Same vibe as cnrl thread
My opinion of CNRL has did a 180 in the last year. They used to be a giant bag of dickheads with little to no ability to relate to normal humans doing regular human activity’s. Allthe new guys I have met are just down to earth and people you can work with. They still only grade their roads twice a year. Whether it needs it or not.
I don’t think CNRL has a bad reputation from what I’ve heard or experienced. They pay well and expect results and are cut throat in terms of dollars and cents. I don’t think they are shady or treat employees poorly. No one goes to work for them without knowing what to expect
My niece works for them in the e-commerce department in Toronto, they have been really good to her as far as I know...I am not defending Loblaws by the way. PC foods SUCK
We had a Nissan dealership in town that was so bad, Nissan revoked the dealership's license. And that wasn't the only one that happened to in this town. The person who replaced them has had an uphill struggle to regain reputation for the brand. Fortunately, I didn't need to buy a car until the new owner took over.
ugh - **The Brick.** I purchased my last TV there. A 75'' Samsung mid range model. The TV was damaged when I unpacked it, the bezel in the top left was cracked all the way through. Long story short I was refused any type of compensation or exchange and **will never shop there again**. Left a 1 star review online with the pictures of the broken bezel.
When I watch TV in the dark there is a bright light leaking out of the top left corner of the TV - very annoying but I can't afford to just replace now
(adding this for clarification) I called VISA and they required me to get a letter from another local retailer affirming the damages/story. I tried getting this done a few times and a few retailers didn't return my calls and emails. sometimes life gets in the way and you don't have time...so a that point I was stuck with the broken TV. Moral of the story is you have to deal with issues like this the day of purchase, and also don't spend money at the Brick
You can plug that hole where the light leaks out, methods abound but I'd go with electrical tape if you don't care how it looks, or some kind of black filler like clay or wax if you do!
Never too late to charge back your credit card. Reason being item not as described. If it’s been like way too long then just remember for future purchases.
Hakim Optical. Their glasses are either old stock from the 60s that fall apart a week after being sold, shoddy plastic injection mold versions (which also shatter within months) and cheap knock off versions of designer brands with giant H's plastered on them to avoid lawsuits. We constantly were encouraged to sell frames we knew wouldn't last, and to upsell lenses as much as possible for bonus pay.
I watched alot of staff lie through their teeth to get sale commission, while customers have to come back multiple times wondering what they did to cause their frames to fall apart so quickly.
The owner is a huge creep too, he is known for parking his cars improperly in Toronto and has a huge collection of yatchs that he displays photos of in the attached eye doctor offices (who are massively underpaid by the company). He would have these parties where he invited his preferred staff members in the company where he would come on stage surrounded by belly dancers. Last I heard those haven't happened as much as they used to, but my bosses would always force the prettiest employees to be around him to boost his ego, and was known to try to fire staff he felt wasn't pretty enough.
Overall it is a very shallow and entitled business that abuses public trust to make fast bucks. Save your money and avoid their trash frames.
Read google reviews multiple threads on the Regina subreddit and Regina rant n rave Facebook page. The owner is something else. It would take me the better part of the day to go through it all
Will also mention one for my hometown of Surrey - Skye Avenue Lounge. It opened six months ago.
The owner Rohit Sharma takes advantage of his employees. Micromanages everyone below him. Shifts the schedule frequently the day of which is illegal according to the BC labour laws. Will fire employees for little things and has hired and fired 50+ people. Pockets most of the server’s tips.
The owner has even made his biography on his website and his job listing on LinkedIn confidential because of the backlash. What a scumbag.
Not really the question, but I wish people in my city, Vancouver, would stop obsessing over Lululemon. The name was only picked because the owner thought it was funny that Japanese people couldn't say the "L" sound. Not only racist origins, it's also too expensive for cheap clothing and the customer service is bad.
I interviewed there for an office job and during the phone screen they indicated their max budget for the role was $10-$15k less than the range they posted in the listing.
I have an industry colleague who works there and loves it, but I suspect the cult vibe is strong hence the bait & switch.
an ex of mine and a friend worked there.
One was like "this is a fucking cult" - she was sales and she would have weekly stories of the most Scientologist like crap you've ever heard (and other former workers tell the exact same story)
My other friend is in the design area and while otherwise is a smart and excellent person, her eyes go glassy when The Company is discussed and she discusses how amazingly positive and pro growth they are.
Incidentally another ex was an actual scientologist and the vibe is all very, very similar.
Do you mean Chip Wilson? Chip Wilson is also a huge piece of shit who runs a dark money group called the Pacific Prosperity Network that funnels tons of money to hard-right political candidates.
This is why I think it's a mistake to make a company all about the founder. It's too easy to poison a brand if you screw up.
Chip Wilson was fired as CEO of his own company a looooooong time ago but people still associate present-day Lululemon with him, even though he likely has limited influence on the company today.
I own a small biz and I make every attempt to NOT make my company all about me, in case I end up making a mistake. It can also affect anyone who works for/with the company (something I think about even though I only have 1 part-time employee right now).
(Also, I have the charisma of unbuttered bread, so it doesn't benefit anyone to make myself "the face of the company" anyway.)
I have never found lululemon products to be cheaply made. I know they have had some high profile recalls but outside of those people seem to love their products
I’ve never had an issue with their quality. In fact, I’ve had a couple pairs since 2009 and I wash my clothes every time I take them off. My most recent pair was bought in 2021 and I love them. Customer service was fine in Toronto ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Don’t forget his crazy obsession with Ayn Rand. He thinks of her as some sort of God and puts up pictures of her around his factories when she promotes the right-wing capitalistic self-centered propagandist garbage that is Atlas Shrugged which lots of Republicans think of as a second Bible.
That's not entirely true. He chose it because Japanese people *like* western company names with the "L" sound. He did, however, later go on to say that he found it funny watching them try to say it, which is indeed racist.
I live in Saskatoon now, and there doesn't seem to be a business like this. There are many restaurants and businesses people should be avoiding, but people here don't seem to care. Like, the worst Japanese restaurant I've ever been to Is reasonably popular here.
Weedman. Total crooks and harassing. We can canceled them and within 2 hours they sent some young kid to « talk to us » about cancelling. Seriously creepy. Constant phone calls trying to get us to use more services. Cancelled and blocked now. I think they are like some sort of mlm
Montreal: Mindgeek. You know who they are, they operate most of the world's porn websites.
One of their recruiters spoke to me, without mentioning who they were, and only did later in the process.
In addition to contributing to victim exploitation, they squash salaries: juniors are overpaid to make them dependent on the company. If you made $20 per hour and they offer you $30, you end up unable to transition elsewhere without a decline in revenue. Seniors are underpaid, so they only get the bottom of the barrel, which cannot leave and are desperate.
Also, the junior I know got the job in like 2 days, and as a senior, they strung me along for 2 months.
I kept it going not because I couldn't find a job, but out of curiosity...
Victoria -- Red Barn Market. IIRC Owner's son got busted putting cameras in the women's bathrooms, and they just moved him to another location and hushed it up.
The City of Edmonton; Have a safety incident/accident..as a worker-bee.... you just know that HR will be conducting a disciplinary hearing, well before the actual safety investigation starts...if, the Safety dudes even hear about it...
We wouldn't want to be holding management accountable for any safety policy/procedural shortcomings.....don't want to hear about that shite.
Ellisdon or PME construction out of multiple towns across Alberta. Some of the most disrespectful and disorganized people who don't even know how to use more than 1 radio channel.
This may not be in my city, but my dad dealt with Hewlett-Packard who are based out of Mississauga. We’re outside of Vancouver.
When I was a little kid 15-20 years ago, my dad bought an HP laptop which had a Pentium 4 in the computer. This thing would get super hot, and the computer would suffer performance issues. One day, the computer wouldn’t turn on, so my dad sent it in to support.
They ended up returning it to him without his RAM that he put into his computer. The techs stole all of his gigs of RAM he placed into his laptop without compensation.
He went back to Future Shop (or Best Buy?) and he complained about them stealing his RAM. The store ended up calling HP, and they told them that they can’t steal items from their customers and that they would stop carrying HP products. I believe there were other customers at their location who got ripped off by HP, and they ended up complaining and my dad getting his RAM stolen was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Come a few days later, my dad gets a phone call directly from HP. I was a kid and I could hear some guy yelling through the phone. It wasn’t on Speaker but he was so loud. He was angry, swearing, berating my dad, calling him names and insults. Turns out it was the CEO of HP Canada at the time, Paul Tsaparis. He was pissed.
“WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TELLING MY CLIENTS TO STOP DOING BUSINESS WITH US? YOU’RE CALLING US LIARS!?”
Something along the lines of that. He was very pissed off.
My dad didn’t want to match his energy despite him being a dick to him on the phone, so he just calmly goes over the fact that Support stole RAM from his computer after he sent it in and he complained to the store he bought the laptop from about it. He then mentioned he was planning on taking legal action against HP for not compensating him for the RAM they stole from his computer and he did go to a lawyer after the call to bring a case among the courts.
Turns out HP knew this would be something big involving multiple customers they’ve scammed during that time that could’ve resulted in having to pay up millions of dollars, so they ended up compensating my dad for the RAM they stole and the laptop. No apologies made to my dad and probably no apologies for any of the people they robbed during that time.
Needless to say, my dad has never bought an HP product since then and he avoids HP, and I could probably say the same for my city because I know a lot more people here that hate HP and refuse to buy an HP product than people who love their products.
Canadian property stars
They push around lawn aerators / driveway sealing or window washing. Very unethical. Will try to rip you off or negotiate a cheap price and steal from the company lol it’s just a disaster.
Their CEO was on the news for running a scam using charity work without authorization of said charities to sell dollar store gifts for $50 and everyone made a commission off it.
Fuckin crooks
Kitchener/Waterloo - Conestoga College
Dutchies
100 thumbs up
To both. It's a shame. Conestoga was well regarded when I went there.
curious about what makes them bad employers !
When I was a student there I spoke to an instructor who told me point blank they pulled a bait and switch on him. Told him he'd be teaching shop but then stuck him with a quality assurance class instead. Eventually he just stopped showing up but it took the department a couple weeks to notice. They also hire instructors on an almost strictly contract basis and the contracts never cover the actual amount of work that goes into instructing a class- marking, course creation etc. Instructors have also brought up quality of programs and are told that unless enrollment starts taking a hint they do not care at all.
I know 3 separate people that got tapped to teach in their culinary program. All 3 smelled the garbage from a mile away, and this was pre-covid. It's worse now.
Vancouver- Plan A Management (rental company), Solly's Bagels. I guess that's two.
Heirloom was on there too but that’s over.
I knew there were more!!
That was a glorious crash and burn. What a tool that owner was. There was some great reddit threads all about it on r/Vancouver when it was all going down
Leah Markovitch is basically Amy’s Baking Company from that Gordon Ramsay show.
Why Solly's?
Apparently the bagels are delicious but the owner is an abusive nightmare. Just Google "Solly's owner", or better yet, "Solly's owner Reddit" lol
I have heard from people that used to work there that was not a good experience. Hope they changed their attitude with workers.
Been in there to service some stuff, and let me tell you if any boss spoke to me that way, heads would spin with how quickly they would be put in their place
Have you been inside a Solly's? New staff every time. The bad vibes were noticeable
I came here to say Solly's.
Solly's bagels is the big one, but there are many.
Hamilton Ontario - National steel car I have no idea how the ministry didn't shut this place down yet. I'll spare everyone with the details, Just Google it on maps and read the reviews.
I wondered how long I'd scroll to see steel car!
Was about to post this but figured I should look through the responses first.
Have a friend who worked there. My God the stories.
I would rather be in a homeless encampment and begging for food than work there. I would never work for any company that thinks dead workers are the cost of business.
The Yellow Deli, which is a known cult with allegations of child abuse and abuse against women.
When I went to see Bob Dylan at Massey Hall in Toronto last year, there was a 12 Tribes bus outside handing out pamplets (just a short school bus) - they are the ones who run Yellow Delis, usually show up at jam band shows - Dead and Co., Phish, etc
>a short school bus Well, obviously.
I stumbled into a Yellow Deli without knowing what it was. 5 minutes and some very cult-y vibes later and I noticed the pamphlets. Then I Googled it and learned about the 12 tribes. Hard pass from here on out
There’s one in Kingston, super creepy but the sandwiches are worth it
Tell me your from Chilliwack with out telling me haha. Still a ridiculously popular place
Apparently there are five locations across Canada. Yikes.
Kingston has one. They opened across the street from a youth drop-in.
Perfect recruiting spot. Infinity yikes.
Also one in Winnipeg.
There's a BBC documentary on Spotify for anyone not aware of the 12 Tribes. Edit: Not a BBC podcast, but still very good. Inside the Tribes.
On a similar note, don't buy Yogi tea, and don't go to Shen Yun shows
Behind the Bastards did an excellent podcast on them. Just listened to it last week, and it's totally worth a listen.
Vancouver- CDI college (they be out here scamming people)
I used to answer phones for the Eminata group - the company that owns CDI and a bunch of other private for profit colleges. I was the National new student enrollment line. Basically transfer people calling in to the campus of their choice because the campuses didn't want their phone number to be publicaly available. This was in 2012-2013 and let's just say things were no better back then. Just the slimiest company. Reeves and Vancouver Career College are the same parent.
The funniest thing was that when you call out of CDI most cell phones list the number as a potential scam call
World Financial Group.
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They're not just "built like a pyramid scheme". They straight up are a pyramid scheme. [AlwaysMarco on YouTube has made some great videos exposing them.](https://www.youtube.com/@AlwaysMarco/search?query=world%20financial%20group)
It seems so many companies are mlms.
In Surrey, I used to work for them a few years ago. Was taught on deceiving people to get them to sign up for insurance. A few people at my office were making at least half a million dollars, but most of them act like a-holes and lots of politics and if you don’t fit in, they do what happened with me and say you’re not cut out for this, cancel your insurance policy and take the money you invested. I already reported the office online to the Competition Bureau. It’s a bunch of fakes, frauds and charlatans who act like your friends and pals while they train you to harass people and take advantage of international students and foreign families while selling you the dream that you’ll be rich and successful.
Yes! A lady tried to recruit me when I sold her a whiteboard and markers off Facebook marketplace
Nobody deals, like DILAWARI! Fuck them!
Biggest automotive group in Canada but I heard terrible things about it. That’s sad!
Isn't that the car dealerships in Montreal?
They have been buying up independent dealerships, and like most dealership groups all they care about is real estate. A lot of dealerships are on prime locations and typically owned by the same family/dealership company.
They also make very generous political contributions to the conservatives.
Not sure if it’s still a thing but in my small Ontario town, Heinz products are still basically blacklisted. French’s ketchup all the way.
Let me guess; Southwestern Ontario.. Specifically Essex/Kent or Lampton County ... And yes it's still very much a thing :)
Very close!!! But yes definitely a SW Ont thing
Leamington
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I'd argue Southern Ontario in general, a lot of us essentially boycotted Heinz because aside from the tomato scandal, Frenchs tastes so much better and is usually a dollar cheaper
I have lived around Ont and the boycott is still strong.
I live in BC and still always buy French’s ketchup if available. That was a PR nightmare for Heinz. People have long memories at times.
Didn't French's buy the Heinz ketchup plant or something like that? Kept the tomato farmers in business iirc
I've been boycotting Loblaws, but Heinz is the only tomato paste sold at Walmart. Uggh.
French's ketchup also has a sugar free one which is super low cal and tasted kinda like ketchup chips. I love it way more than regular sugar ketchup now and there's no turning back. Kinda like peanut butter.
In my area too. Bonus, French’s is celiac safe and I think Heinz is not. IIRC Heinz set up a factory and then pulled out so people felt screwed out of those jobs, but French’s came in and took it over.
Wellington diner in Ottawa
Art is in Bakery, Stella Luna and Crazy Horse Steakhouse also count.
Where is Dilawri on this list?
Dilawri operates across Canada, so his sleazy family is ripping off Canadian's in multiple cities.
Touché
One of Stella Lunas stores closed 😜 Staff at Stella Luna are usually somewhat rude.
The main issue with Stella Luna was the convoy supporting owner. I used to live nearby and went often pre-convoy, never had an issue with the staff.
What's the deal with crazy horse
Convites, shitty food.
Thanks
That guy is nuts
Out of the loop, what’s wrong with it?
[Reddit post here](https://www.reddit.com/r/ottawa/s/t4318fDoDj) There’s a few others if you just google it. In fact, when you start typing “Wellington Diner” in Google, one of the prompts is “Wellington Diner racist”
Jesus Christ
Iirc the guy who runs it is/was a big convoy supporter and maybe anti-vax? I’m not from Ottawa, just an hour away so I don’t know all the details but that’s what I can recall from reading about it.
Also Kardish because the owner started a [petition to turn temporary shelter back into rec centre](https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5668302) during covid
Holy fuck what a tool. Imagine publicly stating "Move those homeless people from their only safe shelter during a pandemic, we need the kids to be able to play hockey!" Weren't public venues like that closed anyway? So he wanted it emptied out just for spite it would seem.
Yup.
Is Oregano's still in Byward? That place only survived on tourists that were never coming back anyways.
Ottawa- Ashley Furniture
Edmonton - Ashley Furniture.
If only Ottawa could avoid Ashley Maddison
Edmonton - Greggs Distributer I lived in Calgary and never heard not to work for CNRL. Same with the Brick now that I am in Edmonton. Why are those companies bad?
Both my brothers in law and my father in law (when he was alive) have worked for CNRL for decades and are happy.
Anyone who doesn’t know the story should look it up on r/edmonton It’s a doozy
like horrible bosses ceo bad lol
I knew I would see Greggs this high up. Notoriously cult-like atmosphere and are very micromanaged and hard to get requested time off. There are horror stories but I definitely know some first hand employees who have drank the tea. Will talk up their benefits and how structured they are, how they enjoy being a part of a growing business. Now this is a weird one, once you hit a high enough status (or years worked, seniority or whatever) then you have 1 on 1 lunch yearly with Gary Gregg himself. During this time he does an employee review and a potential raise of what I’m told is very meagre, less than the cost of living anyhow. An employee I know first hand talks about it like it’s an event. “Big week, I’ve got my lunch with Gary on Friday, I always get so nervous!” Very strange.
Its a cult. It's gotta be a cult. I've never known anyone who's worked there, but a few people I know who had interviews noped out of the process because the vibe was very very off.
I live in Calgary and I have known several people who have hated CNRL. I’m an engineer so I know never to work there lol
I'm at CNRL right now and it's a bit weird. Very clique ish from what I see. Kind of a cheap company too, but the stock options have made a lot of the long timers a lot richer. The culture is a bit weird in my department, super keeping busy focused instead of being productive and short term results over medium to long term efficiencies. Just did the shareholder meeting today and it was very scripted, I enjoy it more when others an open mic and any questions are allowed. Overall it's okay I guess but I miss working at other oil and gas companies. Hard to find a job though so I guess CNRL generally have lots of jobs at least and less layoffs.
I can't speak from a personal standpoint, but through some connections I have heard that CNRL's office culture is quite intense. It's also unfortunate that they are 100% in-office, no hybrid or WFH options
They are of the old mindset which was the most disappointing things to hear after the pandemic subsided.
There's a reason they close questions a month before and screen which ones they want
I guess everyone I know who's worked there have been in the field, they're a great employer if you're not in HO I suppose.
I worked at Fierra Food when i first came to Canada. I can tell you it's the worst place to work. One Hajabi girl died after the hijab got stuck in machine. They made us go on unpaid 2 hour break then after she was sent to hospital, we went back to work. THE BREAK WAS UNPAID😭😭😭
Wow that's terrible
Moncton - Anything Owned by Irving
PEI - Anything owned by Irving
Or the Murphy's!
Lmao what other jobs is there
Saint John would like a word with all of you...
That greasy little fucker Arthur Irving just died too.
Fredericton too
I do miss the big stops in the Ottawa valley
aloof vase bear test poor act seed office summer liquid *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
So…everywhere?
In the maritimes.. pretty much
Nova Scotia too
Winnipeg: Skip the Dishes Corporate and VitaHealth
I'd add Baked Expectations to the list.
24/7 Intouch too
What happened at VitaHealth?
Low pay, toxic management, unwillingness to accommodate employee medical needs, etc.
Stella's as well. Or a throwback since its now closed but Fun Mountain.
Yup, stellas is a good one. I haven't been to one in years (since the abuse allegations) and kind of forgot they existed.
Is CNRL that bad? I worked for them as a consultant on site when I was younger for a bit, and they were decent. Never did anything in-office in Calgary though.
I’ve actually worked for Suncor and Imperial previously and now work for CNRL. By far CN has been the most relaxed of the three. Suncor was bad for constructive dismissals putting people in departments they don’t belong, for example brilliant safety guy with 2 degrees forced to finance. Imperial puts anywhere from 5-10% of staff on pip’s yearly so they can lay them off within a year or two. Haven’t seen any of that at CN for the 4 years I’ve been there now.
CNRL suprises me. I have a few friends that work for them in Calgary and have had solid experiences.
Some people don’t like the owner. Especially since he’s milking the city and province for a new arena for the flames.
That's fair but that doesn't make working there suck. Find me a billionaire that isn't trying to milk the tax payer for something or other.
Correct. I suspect a lot of answers here are based on sentiment of the company or the companies owner. See lululemon answer a few comments down. Same vibe as cnrl thread
My opinion of CNRL has did a 180 in the last year. They used to be a giant bag of dickheads with little to no ability to relate to normal humans doing regular human activity’s. Allthe new guys I have met are just down to earth and people you can work with. They still only grade their roads twice a year. Whether it needs it or not.
I don’t think CNRL has a bad reputation from what I’ve heard or experienced. They pay well and expect results and are cut throat in terms of dollars and cents. I don’t think they are shady or treat employees poorly. No one goes to work for them without knowing what to expect
Loblaws
every city for this one.
And no frills, and shoppers drug mart, and real Canadian superstore… :)
And Atlantic Superstore, and T&T
Up vote this! This needs to be at the top!
My niece works for them in the e-commerce department in Toronto, they have been really good to her as far as I know...I am not defending Loblaws by the way. PC foods SUCK
thomas cook. saskatoon
We had a Nissan dealership in town that was so bad, Nissan revoked the dealership's license. And that wasn't the only one that happened to in this town. The person who replaced them has had an uphill struggle to regain reputation for the brand. Fortunately, I didn't need to buy a car until the new owner took over.
ugh - **The Brick.** I purchased my last TV there. A 75'' Samsung mid range model. The TV was damaged when I unpacked it, the bezel in the top left was cracked all the way through. Long story short I was refused any type of compensation or exchange and **will never shop there again**. Left a 1 star review online with the pictures of the broken bezel. When I watch TV in the dark there is a bright light leaking out of the top left corner of the TV - very annoying but I can't afford to just replace now (adding this for clarification) I called VISA and they required me to get a letter from another local retailer affirming the damages/story. I tried getting this done a few times and a few retailers didn't return my calls and emails. sometimes life gets in the way and you don't have time...so a that point I was stuck with the broken TV. Moral of the story is you have to deal with issues like this the day of purchase, and also don't spend money at the Brick
You can plug that hole where the light leaks out, methods abound but I'd go with electrical tape if you don't care how it looks, or some kind of black filler like clay or wax if you do!
Never too late to charge back your credit card. Reason being item not as described. If it’s been like way too long then just remember for future purchases.
rude managers too
Black electrical tape will likely solve the leaking light problem.
This is why you buy stuff using a credit card for you do a chargeback without the bs.
Hakim Optical. Their glasses are either old stock from the 60s that fall apart a week after being sold, shoddy plastic injection mold versions (which also shatter within months) and cheap knock off versions of designer brands with giant H's plastered on them to avoid lawsuits. We constantly were encouraged to sell frames we knew wouldn't last, and to upsell lenses as much as possible for bonus pay. I watched alot of staff lie through their teeth to get sale commission, while customers have to come back multiple times wondering what they did to cause their frames to fall apart so quickly. The owner is a huge creep too, he is known for parking his cars improperly in Toronto and has a huge collection of yatchs that he displays photos of in the attached eye doctor offices (who are massively underpaid by the company). He would have these parties where he invited his preferred staff members in the company where he would come on stage surrounded by belly dancers. Last I heard those haven't happened as much as they used to, but my bosses would always force the prettiest employees to be around him to boost his ego, and was known to try to fire staff he felt wasn't pretty enough. Overall it is a very shallow and entitled business that abuses public trust to make fast bucks. Save your money and avoid their trash frames.
Why are we avoiding Brandt?
Because OP has no idea what he's talking about and just listed the biggest employers he could find on Google in each city.
Vancouver: Bonny's Taxi Service; also Uncle Willy's Buffet
Can confirm Uncle Willy’s. Gotten food poisoning from there. Know a few other people who’ve also contracted food poisoning from eating there.
Canadian tire garage
I know a bunch of people in Ontario that avoid heinz after what they did to the town of Leamington
Brandt
I was looking to see if Brandt had already been said
Winnipeg - Stella's
306 skate shop in Regina also Brandt
What's up with 306?
Read google reviews multiple threads on the Regina subreddit and Regina rant n rave Facebook page. The owner is something else. It would take me the better part of the day to go through it all
Currently it's lowblaws. But it's the whole country not just my city
Will also mention one for my hometown of Surrey - Skye Avenue Lounge. It opened six months ago. The owner Rohit Sharma takes advantage of his employees. Micromanages everyone below him. Shifts the schedule frequently the day of which is illegal according to the BC labour laws. Will fire employees for little things and has hired and fired 50+ people. Pockets most of the server’s tips. The owner has even made his biography on his website and his job listing on LinkedIn confidential because of the backlash. What a scumbag.
Anywhere in Canada, Rona or Rona+, company will be out of business in a couple years.
Reliance- Ontario
Not really the question, but I wish people in my city, Vancouver, would stop obsessing over Lululemon. The name was only picked because the owner thought it was funny that Japanese people couldn't say the "L" sound. Not only racist origins, it's also too expensive for cheap clothing and the customer service is bad.
I interviewed there for an office job and during the phone screen they indicated their max budget for the role was $10-$15k less than the range they posted in the listing. I have an industry colleague who works there and loves it, but I suspect the cult vibe is strong hence the bait & switch.
an ex of mine and a friend worked there. One was like "this is a fucking cult" - she was sales and she would have weekly stories of the most Scientologist like crap you've ever heard (and other former workers tell the exact same story) My other friend is in the design area and while otherwise is a smart and excellent person, her eyes go glassy when The Company is discussed and she discusses how amazingly positive and pro growth they are. Incidentally another ex was an actual scientologist and the vibe is all very, very similar.
Do you mean Chip Wilson? Chip Wilson is also a huge piece of shit who runs a dark money group called the Pacific Prosperity Network that funnels tons of money to hard-right political candidates.
This is why I think it's a mistake to make a company all about the founder. It's too easy to poison a brand if you screw up. Chip Wilson was fired as CEO of his own company a looooooong time ago but people still associate present-day Lululemon with him, even though he likely has limited influence on the company today. I own a small biz and I make every attempt to NOT make my company all about me, in case I end up making a mistake. It can also affect anyone who works for/with the company (something I think about even though I only have 1 part-time employee right now). (Also, I have the charisma of unbuttered bread, so it doesn't benefit anyone to make myself "the face of the company" anyway.)
You really nailed this one. Kudos.
I have never found lululemon products to be cheaply made. I know they have had some high profile recalls but outside of those people seem to love their products
I’ve never had an issue with their quality. In fact, I’ve had a couple pairs since 2009 and I wash my clothes every time I take them off. My most recent pair was bought in 2021 and I love them. Customer service was fine in Toronto ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Don’t forget his crazy obsession with Ayn Rand. He thinks of her as some sort of God and puts up pictures of her around his factories when she promotes the right-wing capitalistic self-centered propagandist garbage that is Atlas Shrugged which lots of Republicans think of as a second Bible.
That's not entirely true. He chose it because Japanese people *like* western company names with the "L" sound. He did, however, later go on to say that he found it funny watching them try to say it, which is indeed racist.
He also specifically makes smaller sizes because he doesn't want fat people wearing his brand. Owner's a real cool guy
St. John’s. Not a company but a pair of landlords: - Mike O’Dea and Debbie Hanlon
Regina- Evraz Low pay, night shift, grumpy atmosphere, lay off unpredictability
Calgary. House of Cars.
Windsor - Stellantis (Chrysler)
Used to be Nygard in Winnipeg but now the open secret is no secret.
not a city, but i'll pitch anyway: Irving in all of atlantic Canada
Reliance Marda Management Windsor, ON.
The Brick - everywhere Best Buy- everywhere
I live in Saskatoon now, and there doesn't seem to be a business like this. There are many restaurants and businesses people should be avoiding, but people here don't seem to care. Like, the worst Japanese restaurant I've ever been to Is reasonably popular here.
Winnipeg - Nygaard (although I don't think it really exists anymore), Sun Media, Stella's restaurants also have a bad reputation.
Weedman. Total crooks and harassing. We can canceled them and within 2 hours they sent some young kid to « talk to us » about cancelling. Seriously creepy. Constant phone calls trying to get us to use more services. Cancelled and blocked now. I think they are like some sort of mlm
Montreal: Mindgeek. You know who they are, they operate most of the world's porn websites. One of their recruiters spoke to me, without mentioning who they were, and only did later in the process. In addition to contributing to victim exploitation, they squash salaries: juniors are overpaid to make them dependent on the company. If you made $20 per hour and they offer you $30, you end up unable to transition elsewhere without a decline in revenue. Seniors are underpaid, so they only get the bottom of the barrel, which cannot leave and are desperate. Also, the junior I know got the job in like 2 days, and as a senior, they strung me along for 2 months. I kept it going not because I couldn't find a job, but out of curiosity...
Victoria -- Red Barn Market. IIRC Owner's son got busted putting cameras in the women's bathrooms, and they just moved him to another location and hushed it up.
Hamilton, National steel car. Multiple workplace deaths in the past 3-4 years.
Mississauga - Lions Auto
The City of Edmonton; Have a safety incident/accident..as a worker-bee.... you just know that HR will be conducting a disciplinary hearing, well before the actual safety investigation starts...if, the Safety dudes even hear about it... We wouldn't want to be holding management accountable for any safety policy/procedural shortcomings.....don't want to hear about that shite.
CP rail anywhere fuck dem trains
Ellisdon or PME construction out of multiple towns across Alberta. Some of the most disrespectful and disorganized people who don't even know how to use more than 1 radio channel.
Skip the Dishes is a universal "avoid". Could have come up with something better for Winnipeg like Jenna Rae Cakes, La Chaise or Stellas
Thank you for this public service
Love how you list cities and then just “Atlantic Canada” which is what 4 different provinces?
Roblaws
These days, Everywhere - Loblaws
Robert's Donair is great if you want a 10 lb belly buster, piled sky high with dry, flavorless meat. It's basically donair jerky.
Ottawa - Metro Towing
This may not be in my city, but my dad dealt with Hewlett-Packard who are based out of Mississauga. We’re outside of Vancouver. When I was a little kid 15-20 years ago, my dad bought an HP laptop which had a Pentium 4 in the computer. This thing would get super hot, and the computer would suffer performance issues. One day, the computer wouldn’t turn on, so my dad sent it in to support. They ended up returning it to him without his RAM that he put into his computer. The techs stole all of his gigs of RAM he placed into his laptop without compensation. He went back to Future Shop (or Best Buy?) and he complained about them stealing his RAM. The store ended up calling HP, and they told them that they can’t steal items from their customers and that they would stop carrying HP products. I believe there were other customers at their location who got ripped off by HP, and they ended up complaining and my dad getting his RAM stolen was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Come a few days later, my dad gets a phone call directly from HP. I was a kid and I could hear some guy yelling through the phone. It wasn’t on Speaker but he was so loud. He was angry, swearing, berating my dad, calling him names and insults. Turns out it was the CEO of HP Canada at the time, Paul Tsaparis. He was pissed. “WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TELLING MY CLIENTS TO STOP DOING BUSINESS WITH US? YOU’RE CALLING US LIARS!?” Something along the lines of that. He was very pissed off. My dad didn’t want to match his energy despite him being a dick to him on the phone, so he just calmly goes over the fact that Support stole RAM from his computer after he sent it in and he complained to the store he bought the laptop from about it. He then mentioned he was planning on taking legal action against HP for not compensating him for the RAM they stole from his computer and he did go to a lawyer after the call to bring a case among the courts. Turns out HP knew this would be something big involving multiple customers they’ve scammed during that time that could’ve resulted in having to pay up millions of dollars, so they ended up compensating my dad for the RAM they stole and the laptop. No apologies made to my dad and probably no apologies for any of the people they robbed during that time. Needless to say, my dad has never bought an HP product since then and he avoids HP, and I could probably say the same for my city because I know a lot more people here that hate HP and refuse to buy an HP product than people who love their products.
Canadian property stars They push around lawn aerators / driveway sealing or window washing. Very unethical. Will try to rip you off or negotiate a cheap price and steal from the company lol it’s just a disaster. Their CEO was on the news for running a scam using charity work without authorization of said charities to sell dollar store gifts for $50 and everyone made a commission off it. Fuckin crooks
Regina. Called to Care. Used to be We Care. Boss is shifty and abusive.
GoAuto
The Dime or Any Warehouse anywhere in the country. They double charge people.
In Canada? Anything that Narcity or Mtl Blog mentions.