We’re always proud to tell our unique story — and being named one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for 2026 gave us the perfect opportunity to do just that. The Globe and Mail featured Medavie among this year’s honourees, marking our fifth consecutive year receiving this national recognition. The award celebrates organizations that set the standard for “exceptional workplaces” and “represent the most dynamic and progressive employers across the country.”
Terry Boettcher was a little nervous when the company he worked for was sold to Medavie in 2012. The small emergency medical services (EMS) company, operating in rural northeastern Alberta, where Boettcher had spent 13 years, felt like family to him, and he was afraid of losing that feeling.
He needn’t have worried. Even though Medavie is the largest contracted provider of emergency medical services in Canada, as well as providing other major health services, the company’s values aligned perfectly with what he had come to expect from his employer, Boettcher says. “Those values make it possible to maintain that mom-and-pop feeling that our company always had ― that feeling of belonging and being connected to the community.”
Boettcher was always passionate about his career. He had decided on paramedicine in Grade 9 while training to be a lifeguard. “I really found myself drawn to the first aid training,” he recalls. He couldn’t wait to register for EMS training as soon as he graduated from high school in 1999. “I didn’t even take that summer off.”
Today, Boettcher is general manager with Medavie Health Services, overseeing the same territory that he once covered as a young paramedic. He says being under Medavie’s vast health-care umbrella has made operations smoother and more efficient.
“Medavie is such a large organization with so much talent. We’re able to find best-practice solutions and apply them across the country, in ways that are very difficult for small operations to do.”
- Terry Boettcher, General Manager, Medavie Health Services, Alberta -
Andrea Elliott is executive director of the Medavie Foundation, a registered charity founded by Medavie that supports organizations in three key health categories: healthy living, youth mental health and post-traumatic stress treatment. She says being part of a company that provides health-care support attracts a certain kind of individual ― one connected to the community with a strong sense of responsibility toward others.
“The thing that always strikes me is that everyone who works for Medavie is very kind. Without exception. We have a population of people who feel a responsibility to Canadians.”
- Andrea Elliott, Executive Director, Medavie Foundation -
Taking care of those people is of primary importance ― one of the reasons why the Medavie Foundation focuses on PTS treatment. “We have people on the front lines doing really heroic jobs,” says Elliott.
“Dealing with trauma can be very isolating, particularly when it’s part of your job and you might not want to tell your employer. We invest in PTS research and networks and in helping individuals and families understand how to deal with post-traumatic injury.”
Along with charitable investments, Medavie looks for innovative programs to support its workforce more directly. One of those programs is a pilot project that reintegrates EMS staff who have been off work due to physical or mental injury. The program provides very tailored and specific supports and experiences to ensure employees have the coping tools in place to help them achieve success.
That can be recreating scenarios in a controlled environment or having them ride along with a crew trained in reintegration, where they can attend a call but not have to be hands-on.
“We really think this is an important new approach in helping people navigate the challenge of coming back to front-line service.”
- Terry Boettcher, General Manager, Medavie Health Services, Alberta -
Other support includes a flexible spending account that employees can access for things like wellness or education. Boettcher has used it to complete a bachelor of public administration degree. He says it’s one more example of how Medavie cares about employees. “They show me every day that they place value in me, and that matters a lot. I’m proud of our culture of helping here at Medavie.”
Key Facts:
$4,000 mental health practitioner benefit
8 paid sick days
5,000 staff volunteer hours last year
130 charities helped last year
