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In an email to PC Optimum™ customers, Galen shares his thoughts on plastic waste and how we’re tackling the problem. Here’s his message.  

Environment 

We have a plastic problem and Loblaw is part of it

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Young woman with “Miss Alberta World 2020” sash on, holding flag of Canada behind her 

Sophia de Guzman

People

It’s not every day that someone tells you the reality TV show Toddlers & Tiaras changed their life, but that’s exactly what happened to Sophia de Guzman, a front-end cashier at Joly’s Your Independent Grocer™ in Fort McMurray, Alta.  

Culture

Pageants taught Sophia to give back 

Ani Dharmarajan

Back in September, Richard Downe got a message on LinkedIn that intrigued him. It was from Ani Dharmarajan, a University of Waterloo student who works part-time at a Zehrs® location in Waterloo, Ont. He had an idea he wanted Richard’s help with. 

Technology and digital

Ani’s recipe for success 

Cameron Ross

Cameron Ross saw the post on the Globe and Mail’s Instagram: a collage of headshots of the CEOs at 223 companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It was a sea of almost entirely white, male faces.

Diversity and inclusion

Cameron wants everyone to speak up

Ian Stewart

Ian Stewart, Associate Owner of a Shoppers Drug Mart® store in Toronto, wants to increase the representation of Black students in pharmacy — and is getting a little help from Shoppers Drug Mart to do just that. 

Ian and Shoppers Drug Mart double down to support Black pharmacy students 

Kelowna container farm

The white 40-foot shipping container sits in front of École KLO Middle School in Kelowna, B.C. Peek inside and you’ll see rows upon rows of leafy greens and herbs including basil, oregano, and parsley. Bright full-spectrum lights shine down on the seedlings, while pumps circulate water through the hydroponic farm, creating a sound reminiscent of a waterfall. 

Community

Nutrition takes root with President’s Choice Children’s Charity

Devon Sheriff

Devon Sheriff, store manager/franchisee of a NOFRILLS® location in Etobicoke, Ont., describes his journey so far as “the typical immigrant story.” Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he spent much of his childhood living with his grandmother while his mother moved to Canada to seek more opportunities and a better life.  

Devon’s community connection 

Pick-to-light

Sometimes picking orders for the PC Express™ service can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Personal shoppers have to search among a sea of crackers for just the right brand and flavour, or scan a large four-foot section for the correct type of face cream. But a new system is being piloted in some of our stores to make things easier. 

Lighting it up for personal shoppers

Johnathan Day

Johnathon Day, a Bakery Department Manager at an Atlantic Superstore® location in Moncton, has always thought of himself as a “computer guy” — but he didn’t know much about coding or interpreting analytics. So, when Loblaw began offering a self-study program aimed at helping colleagues gain new skills, he jumped at the opportunity.  

Johnathon skills up

Riley Rostotski

Riley Rostotski was just 14 when he started working at a Real Canadian Superstore® location in Saskatoon. Fast forward nearly two years, and he’s happily logging 30-hour weeks while juggling Grade 11 and driving his very own car to his shifts.  

Start your career

Riley's got drive

Heba isn’t always OK — and that’s OK 

Heba Salama

“Stop complaining.” “You’re just weak.” “Why are you so negative?” “Are you crazy?” “You need to toughen up.” These are all things Shoppers Drug Mart™  Associate Owner Heba Salama was afraid of hearing if she spoke up about how she was feeling.  

Health and wellness

Andrea and Ayeman

It didn’t take long for Ayeman Bhatti, Digital Product Owner, for the PC Financial® brand, to realize product management was her “bread and jam,” as she puts it. She’d always been interested in finance, but after graduating from university, she realized she wanted to do product management in the digital space.  

Andrea and Ayeman show why Loblaw is a top employer 

Maxi Giant Steps

Being able to work in a grocery store is something some of us might take for granted, but for autistic adults, it can be life-changing. It's one of the many reasons why Loblaw has teamed up with Giant Steps Montreal, a school dedicated to the education and inclusion of autistic students, to launch the Polaris Enterprise initiative.  

Opening doors for autistic adults 

Close-up of a smiling woman on a rugby pitch

Breanne Freeman

Breanne Freeman, Senior Manager, Customer Engagement Solutions, talks about her love of rugby and how she brings what she’s learned from the sport to her role. 

Breanne’s got game 

PC Express helps town of Apsley 

Around midnight on December 4, 2020, a fire broke out, destroying the only grocery store in the village of Apsley, Ontario, in the township of North Kawartha. The nearest grocery store is about 50 kilometres away, a long haul at the best of times — and 2020 certainly hasn’t been the best of times. 

Holiday help for small community after devastating fire 

Mother (left) embracing daughter from behind 

Desiree Seymour

When a teenage Desiree Seymour landed a summer job at the Loblaws® store in her hometown of Summerside, PEI, she didn’t expect she’d build a career with the company—or that much of her family would one day work with her. 

It’s a family affair for Desiree 

Woman standing with hands on hips in front of school campus 

Sophia Wajdie

Sophia Wajdie, a Technology Adoption Analyst with Loblaw Technology, discovered her passion in high school — and entirely by accident. Her family had moved from Brampton to Woodbridge mid-year and many classes were full, so she ended up being placed in a computer engineering elective. It was not her first choice.  

Sophia wants tech to be more equitable 

Woman leaning against railing of store mezzanine with blurred store in background  

Marla Berry

Marla Berry is the kind of cashier who will try to make you smile as you pass through her checkout lane. “I just want people to leave happy,” she says. “If somebody comes through and they don’t look like they're having a good day — which, especially now, is common — I just want them to be able to get through the line quickly, and if I can help them leave in a better mood, then good.” 

Marla’s positively marvelous 

Smiling woman seated near windows with closed blinds 

Terri Anne Gibson

Terri Anne Gibson, Pharmacist at a Shoppers Drug Mart® location in Chilliwack, B.C., has always had a passion to help others. But The Shoebox Project for Women, which collects and distributes gift-filled boxes to women in shelters across Canada, means so much to her — for different, more personal reasons.  

Terri Anne thinks outside the (Shoe)box 

Gallery of animated backpacks adorned with PC Children’s Charity logos 

PC Children's Charity backpacks

Every year, Loblaw’s colleagues and employees look forward to the annual giving campaign in support of the President’s Choice Children’s Charity. In a typical year, the campaign features a variety of in-person events at locations across the country: a kick-off town hall, BBQs, bake sales — it’s a chance for the creativity and giving spirit of our colleagues to shine.  

PC Children’s Charity™ annual internal campaign gets a virtual transformation 

Waterstone Canada's most admired corporate culture logo

Waterstone, Most Admired, Story

We’ve invested a lot in our culture, and we’re proud to be named by Waterstone Human Capital as one of Canada’s Most Admired Corporate Cultures for 2020. This national award recognizes Canadian organizations for having cultures that have helped them enhance performance and sustain a competitive advantage.   

Recognition for our culture journey  

Autonomous truck in front of a Loblaws location 

Gatik truck 

Innovation

Loblaw’s partnership with Gatik, a technology company specializing in autonomous (often called “self-driving”) vehicles to help companies make short-haul deliveries, was in the works long before the pandemic. But COVID allowed that partnership to flourish. 

Future is bright with self-driving trucks 

Read the story 

Crystal standing in a distribution centre

Crystal Furey

When Crystal Furey began her career over 20 years ago, she rarely saw another female in the room. She graduated as an industrial engineer from the Technical University of Nova Scotia, where she was one of just six women in the class. Today, she’s the only female General Manager of distribution at Loblaw. She leads two of Atlantic Canada’s five Loblaw Distribution Centres: DC 21 in Halifax and DC 15 in St. John’s.  

Crystal paves the path less travelled 

Six colleagues in yellow shirts with their arms up 

Colleagues wearing promo t-shirts

Old t-shirts. We’ve all got them. But our store colleagues may have a few more than most, as t-shirts are often used for in-store campaigns. But what happens to them when the campaign is over? How about giving them a new life, a new purpose? 

Old shirts get new life 

Scott poses in uniform while on a peacekeeping mission and the two medals he earned on that tour

Scott Winkler Remembrance Day

For Scott Winkler, Remembrance Day is personal. It’s about honouring the men and women — including those he served alongside in the Canadian Military — who made the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of peace and freedom. Scott, a Transportation Reconciliation Specialist who typically works out of our Maple Grove distribution centre in Cambridge, Ont., served three years as a member of the 1st Battalion Royal Canadian Regiment in the early 1990s. 

Distribution

Scott remembers his fellow soldiers 

 Female barista standing behind counter of Starbucks kiosk

Ange-Lyne Patenaude

Earlier this summer, a manager at a Loblaws® store in Ottawa captured a short video of a heartwarming scene: 21-year-old barista Ange-Lyne Patenaude using sign language to communicate with a regular customer who is deaf and usually gives his order by typing it on his phone.  

Ange-Lyne signs in 

Reflection of a woman using the interactive mirror in a Joe Fresh fitting room

Joe Fresh mirror hero 

Joe Fresh mirror preview

At the newest Joe Fresh® store in Toronto, the fitting rooms feel like they’re from the future. The flagship, which opened in September at the historic West Block building at Bathurst and Lakeshore, has five interactive smart mirrors customers can use when trying on clothes.  

Magic mirror on the wall 

Ann standing by a wall of windows wearing a turquoise dress

Ann Nguyen

Ann Nguyen, Expert, SAP Platform, Functional Management, shares her personal story on what gratitude means to her.  

Ann expresses her eternal gratitude 

Close-up of a shopping cart in a grocery store aisle with a foodrescue.ca basket inside

Second Harvest

First, it was Toronto. Then, the rest of Ontario. And then, British Columbia. Now, Loblaw and Second Harvest are continuing their 35-year relationship by tackling food rescue and food waste reduction in the rest of the country. 

A match made in food heaven 

PC Health app 

Products and services

Focusing on one’s health and wellness is a popular theme at the best of times. And many would agree it's a goal that takes on new importance in 2020. Now, Canadians in Atlantic Canada have a new tool to help them on their health and wellness journey: The PC Health app.  

The PC® brand just got Health(ier) 

 Karen standing in a health and beauty aisle in her store 

Karin Medd

When she’s working in the health and beauty department at the Real Canadian Superstore® location in Nanaimo, B.C., Karin Medd carries a pen and paper. That way, if someone approaches her with a question, Karin can gesture to her ear to communicate that she’s deaf, then offer the pen and paper to the customer. The widespread use of masks due to COVID-19 makes lip-reading impossible, so these tools are key to her communication.  

Listen up, Karin has something to say

Claudia standing in the bulk food department 

Claudia Sinopoli

When it comes to first jobs, Claudia Sinopoli says hers was the best. A bulk part-time Clerk at a Fortinos® store in Vaughan, Ont., she cites the friendly employees and positive work environment as the biggest reasons why someone should consider working for the company—but they’re not the only things she loves about her job. 

Claudia’s best first job 

A Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacist wearing a mask, face shield and gloves 

flu shot 2020

“The flu shot really isn't just about protecting yourself; it’s about protecting our communities’ most vulnerable,” says Bhavika Lad, director of preventative care for the Shoppers Drug Mart® brand. This year, in the wake of COVID-19, getting the flu vaccine is more important than ever.  

Flu shot, why not? 

A healthcare worker holds a COVID-19 test vial. 

COVID test vial 

In June, Alberta joined other governments around the world who are expanding testing to people without symptoms to more clearly map how COVID-19 spreads. And now there’s a new place for Albertans without symptoms to get tested: Shoppers Drug Mart® and Loblaw pharmacies. 

Shoppers Drug Mart® and Loblaw pharmacies begin COVID testing 

PC Money card

Today, the PC Financial® brand introduced the new PC Money™ Account, a no monthly-fee account that works like any bank account and turns the banking Canadians do every day (like paying bills and shopping) into rewards toward free grocery, beauty and essential products at our stores. 

A whole new way to think about money 

The newly-restored West Block building that once housed the first Loblaws warehouse  

West block 

Started from the bottom now we're here. Literally. After tearing down of the historic West Block building in Toronto began in 2013, it's been built back up, brick by brick, with each stone replaced in its same original location.  

Past meets future at historic West Block in downtown Toronto

A headshot of John Rankin smiling at the camera

John Rankin

Fact: one in eight women will develop depression at some point in their lifetime; this is twice as likely as men. If that stat isn’t shocking enough, layer on a global pandemic and it’s easy to understand why people like  John Rankin, Associate Owner of a Shoppers Drug Mart® store in London, Ontario are committed to raising funds for the LOVE YOU by Shoppers Drug Mart™ program, which works together with local charities to help advance women’s health and provide support systems for women to feel their best.  

Supporting mothers, daughters and friends 

Two Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacists, a man and a woman, facing the camera 

Abed and Tanya

This summer, Abed Mitha, Pharmacy Manager at the Loblaws® store located at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, helped save a life. It was a regular day in June. Abed was at work behind the pharmacy counter when a bystander rushed into the store looking for him. The bystander told Abed that a woman had overdosed and passed out across the street.  

How our pharmacies can play a critical role in helping save lives

Illustration of various women in profile 

Period Poverty 

Socks. Old t-shirts. Fabric scraps. These are all items that 14% of Canadian women surveyed say they’ve used as alternatives to pads or tampons when faced with the impossible choice between buying a period product or an essential item on their grocery list. It’s a situation known as “period poverty.”  

Period Poverty: Food banks need pads, tampons 

Jane, standing at the front of a grocery store cash lane

Jane Copeland-Smith

When she was 15 years old, Jane Copeland Smith got a job at a Loblaws® store— not exactly of her own free will. “All my friends were applying at the mall and I wanted to work at the mall with them,” Jane recalls. “But my mom said, ‘No, get a job at the Loblaws® store.’" 

Jane’s mom knows best 

Daniel standing outside the cab of his truck 

Daniel Moreau

Daniel Moreau has been driving trucks for 51 years, and has his routine down. He alternates between driving five days on, two days off and four days on, three days off, making sure groceries get from the distribution centre in Regina to customers four hours away in Prince Albert, Sask.  

Daniel's in the driver's seat

Sukhjivan Bhullar

When Sukhjivan Bhullar first set foot in the Loblaw Freeport distribution centre (DC)  in Calgary, Alberta, he had no idea that he would one day be running the operation. As a recent business graduate and new Canadian immigrant, he was looking for a start, an opportunity that would help him further his education in Canada and lay the foundation for his future.  

Sukhjivan’s rise up the ranks 

Screen showing an online meeting with Veena and six students hired for co-op roles

Veena and campus hires

During a single week in May, Veena Makkar and the Campus Strategy team helped 127 co-op students from the University of Waterloo, Laurier University, Ryerson University and the University of Toronto begin their summer work terms. This was quite a feat, as the uncertainty of the pandemic meant the decision to proceed with hiring the students didn’t come until mid-April.  