electrician

laborer

equipment operator

construction laborer

apprentice electrician

Can-Traffic Services Ltd.

The Good:
- Can-Traffic Services Ltd. is a leader in the very specialized traffic signal and roadway lighting industry in western Canada. 
- They have the most knowledgable people and many opportunities for anyone who wants to work in traffic lights and forward their career. 
 - They also offer positions for anyone who wants to break into the construction industry and learn how to do a little bit of everything and learn skills that are very transferable to other positions and industries. 
- Their employees are their greatest asset. They help make the work enjoyable and the day go by.
- Easy to get a day off if needed.
- Can-Traffic is a family owned company that has changed signifigantly in my tenure and have made some improvements.

The Bad:
- There is very little regimented training, no competency checks and few resources to learn from or referance for how the job should be done. The documents that do exist are often not complete, disorganized or followed to strictly. Each crew does something different than another and errors are able to be made.
- reactive, not proactive.
- Often the nature of the industry, the work days can be very unpredicable and ever changing, this can be a good things as it's never boring but does open up some frustration for a lack of consistancy. 
- Some days are slow, others are full bore. Sometimes it is a lot of out of town work other times just in Edmonton area.
- Equipment break downs do happen more frequently then you'd expect. 

The Ugly:
- Company culture suffers as a whole. Turn over is excessively high, many employees don't feel their efforts are valued or set up to succeed and are frustrated by that. That frustration leads to them not feeling a desire to care about or invest their time and energy into the company, and is an outcome for many of Can-Traffic's issues. Most stick around only until something better comes along. This problem causes a perpetual feedback loop.
- Safety is done to a bare minimum. Given the type or work that is done there are always some inherient risks to workers and the public, but if the company isn't being forced to do it, they won't. Any and all corners are cut as often as possible, and the leadership only expect safe work when it's easy, convenient or they are open to risk after the fact. The company has a high rate of incidents, WCB claims and time loss injuries for it's size.
- The leadership is very experienced in the signals field and most have been at the company for 10+ years. Because the workload has grown so much so fast and is speciality it has forced people to be moved up into positions where they might not otherwise have been trained for. The expectation is that they'll be able do that role well off the hop without a path forward. This leads to them not being set up for success, and is a trickle down effect for the rest of the company. The impacts of this lead the feeling of an "old boys club", a lack of transparency, disorganization, poor performance and other issues listed above.

Let me start by saying I really enjoyed my time working for Can-Traffic and would definitely go back. Upper management really puts in the effort to build a close family culture, not only in the day to day interactions but also doing group activities outside of the job too. I also liked the fact that they offer matching uniforms, you are not required to purchase them but they do cover part of the cost and it also contributes to the team mentality and culture of the company. It was wonderful to have a constant work and a schedule so a person can make plans ahead of time and have a life out side of work. There are also some really solid people that work there in many different positions from construction, street lighting, maintenance as well as throughout the office, they are really building a great company from top to bottom and I hope they continue to thrive and grow as they have over the past few years.

The hardest part of the job I felt was that the compensation for work was not where it should have been for the position. I felt more exhausted after working 7 days straight there (constantly being on my phone, dealing with idiot drives and avoiding getting run over) then I did before working 24 days in a row at other jobs. If the pay and benefits were improved this company would be the ideal fit for anyone who wants to be home every night, has at least half a brain and/ or a good work ethic. 

A typical day would consist of gathering materials for the job, doing our equipment checks and heading out to the jobsite where we would have a toolbox/safety meeting and begin work. I learned very little electrical and how to operate some small pieces of equipment which I was never really trained to use or certified on. Management has organization issues, always short/missing materials, unrealistic time frames, cutting corners and putting production over the safety of employees. Pay-rate is as low as they can possibly get for the positions, they will indenture you as an electrician but you may never do any electrical work or work under a journeyman. After almost a year I didn't receive any safety tickets, didn't receive a raise, health benefits consist of a 900$ spending account that you get access to after 6 months of employment. The co-workers are great very easy to get along with and for the most part hardworking individuals. The hardest part of the job is dealing with the short cummings of the management team. The most enjoyable part of the job is the crew-level co-workers, all are great individuals willing to share they're experience and patient enough to help u learn

Do not work for or with them. This company is not as effective as some of its competitors. Vendor relationships have been damaged by consistent and ongoing payment issues. Despite a 30-year history, their operations are chaotic and consistently reactive. They fail to follow regulatory underground electrical code requirements, amongst other safety concerns, placing employees at risk. They ignore responding to their emergency line, rendering it ineffective. Working with them exposes you to unnecessary liability. Severe mismanagement is evident throughout the company organizational structure. Scope creep is a routine practice, with advanced skill sets exploited rather than appropriately rewarded. Praise is frequent, compensation is capped, and “exceptional” performance ratings appear unattainable. Promises are made repeatedly without meaningful recognition. While the company cries poverty to vendors and staff but finds the budget to reward high-level “leadership”. Frankly, it is astonishing that the company remains in business, given its inability to operate effectively.  Never worked for such an unprofessional company.

Owners are completely disrespectful of employees (management are fine). They don't show any appreciation for the good work the employees do and expect them to make more sacrifices.

Employees are expected to finance company's expense (materials, rentals, etc.) only to pay them back 1-3 weeks later - they treat employees as a free bank. Almost every supplier has froze their accounts, which says everything.

The company is extremely disorganized and they have a strong track record of high turn-overs. This breeds plenty of inexperience and inexperience breeds mistakes. The mistakes breeds wasted time, which then breeds loss of profits. Loss of profits breeds penny pinching and that breeds more disorganization. The disorganization breeds mistakes and frustrations which then breeds high turn-overs.

Other than that, there is a lot of variety in the work, which makes it fun and interesting. Plenty of traveling and work-life balance is manageable.

This is a company that has advanced leaps and bounds over the last several years. If you were to return after having left then it would be hard to recognize the place. Growth comes with growing pains, but I can say that during my time here things have always been improving gradually in all aspects. The pay is fair (If you are a journeyman) and the hours are somewhat flexible depending on what division of the company you work in. Also some of the most approachable management I have ever worked for.

That being said I believe there are several key areas that this company could improve in. The company culture could use some work, as team building and socialization events happen only every 3-6 months. You will likely work with the same handful of people for weeks or months at a time. This can be great if you get along..

The safety culture here also needs work, but has been on the up and up as of late.

I may be an outlier but have had a pretty pleasant experience with Can Traffic and am happy to work here

Good place for a journeyman electrician to come for decent enough pay in town. Overtime is a free for all and not expected, you have autonomy and are not watched all day like some places. I like a lot of my co workers and the management that I associate care about me as an employee.

CONS: disorganization. No matter how organized you are it can fall apart when management can’t get their stuff together.

Safety. Safety is more reactive than proactive. A lot of box checking and not a lot of logic put into some of the policies

Owners are cheap and you really have to have leverage to get anything to happen if it involves capital.

Construction and shop workers don’t last too long here. Maintenance is an overall healthier work environment.


would I recommend can traffic? Overall yes. 

One of the worst places I've ever work. You'll love it if you're fine with these points;
-Being screamed at by management over nothing 
-12-17 hour days whether you're working in town or not 
-'Safety' committee for looks but they don't do anything. Told me we don't need Fall Arrest for the bucket trucks (you do)
-Poor pay and even poorer training
-If you start working there Sept-Dec you'll have 2 involuntary weeks off at Christmas, unpaid, and won't have time to have enough vacation days. So be prepared for that. 
-The clothes are expensive. Winter suit alone was $300-350. They'll do a 'payment' plan for everything and it'll take months to pay off if you are tight on money. The pants are made out of cheap garbage and will take off your leg hair. 
-The turnover rate is pretty bad for laborers because they're treated the worst. 

If you do decided to apply good luck. 

The work is fairly straightforward depending on your position, and you get to learn a lot of skills beyond just electrical work. The company culture is great, with excellent company events and HR management—they even send out monthly newsletters with fun activities to promote a healthy work-life balance.

​The challenging part of the job might include driving large commercial vehicles and occasionally working around live wires, but you get used to it after a while. Health and safety are highly emphasized here; however, following the protocols ultimately comes down to personal responsibility. Overall, my boss is very nice, and I am happy to work here.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Usually there is no discrepancy in payroll 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Most Foreman, supervisors and superintendents would rather run to senior management with every little issue rather than deal with it in the field 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
If you are a member of the clique you are essentially permitted to perform duties in your own way.  If you find yourself outside of the clique consider yourself to have a target on your back 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Usually you get 8 hrs. Lots of opportunities for overtime

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Electrician 3 salaries reported	$39.76 per hour
Laborer 3 salaries reported	$22.49 per hour
Equipment operator 2 salaries reported	$25.39 per hour
Construction laborer 3 salaries reported	$22.90 per hour
Apprentice electrician 1 salary reported	$24.85 per hour

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