gardener

technician

seasonal associate

camp leader

security officer

Toronto-Zoo

Working in guest operations could be extremely slow on the off days when nobody wants to ride the carousel or the zip line. On the other hand, you might find yourself scrambling for 8 hours as the lines never end on busy days. Be prepared to face both types of extremes. The ticket-selling system was a nightmare and only added to the stress of the workers and the wait time for the customers. On the other hand, the zoo treats its employees well in general and planned cool events for us + would sometimes provide food. The break room was a happy place and the staff were closely knit by their interest in animals. As a high schooler, there are ways to climb the ladder a bit if you stick around for a couple of seasons and show competency. And of course pretty sick to get to see animals all the time! It was a good summer job and I would recommend to a friend though the tasks themselves in guest ops could be fairly mind numbing. Also while working Tundra Air you would literally bake on top of the metal, unshaded platform. It gets hot in Toronto summer.

•	Leadership guidance for the operation of Purchasing & Supply unit
•	Planned material procurement based on statistical consumption forecast to optimize inventory levels and achieved efficient inventory management.
•	Negotiated with vendor to obtain quality materials and competitive prices in order to achieve lower costs.
•	Prepare and manage solicitation RFQs and RFPs for operating, construction, and acquisitions.
•	Conduct and co-ordinate proponent briefings, review and analysis of bids/proposals and up to recommendation of vendors.
•	Improved service delivery by providing vendor dispute resolution services.
•	Increased automation and improved/expanded statistical data collection.
•	Vendor development and management services, including performance evaluations.
•	Product / Service research and trials, analysis and recommendations, improving service quality, reducing environment impact, and/or reducing costs.   
•	Provided excellent customer services for staff, including guidance and direction for purchasing policies and instructions.

as a full time employee, your life is much better than as a seasonal, because the fulltime staff get more freedom and responsibility. As a seasonal if your just starting out, its a great opportunity to learn.. but as you gain experience, you want to be treated like an equal and not a child, but unfortunatly that doesnt happen. I still enjoyed myself and loved working there... even if it was minimum wage. I also like the seniority system thats in place. Your basically stuck as a seasonal for 3-7 years before you get in full time, but its a fair system that gives those with higher seniority the change to promote before those with less. I honestly loved working here.. but i know that not everyone will have the same positive experiences.

I worked at the Toronto Zoo as a seasonal employee for over five years. The highlight of the job was the people - my coworkers were great but management was TERRIBLE. The Zoo treats seasonal employees horribly and your supervisors will continually throw you under the bus and stab you in the back. You can bring a problem to management and be guaranteed they won't take you seriously and won't do a thing about it. Managers and supervisors consistently made staff cry through rude, hurtful, and condescending remarks. The money is absolutely not worth the negativity you will experience here.

Working at the Toronto Zoo was a very difficult experience for me as an immigrant. The environment does not feel welcoming for newcomers. Most of the staff are long-term, native workers who have very close relationships with each other, which makes it hard for new immigrants to be accepted. Unfortunately, I also experienced targeted behavior, unfair treatment, and a sense of exclusion that created a lot of stress and embarrassment.

The pressure at work is high, but instead of support and teamwork, I felt discrimination and lack of fairness. This made the job environment uncomfortable and mentally exhausting.

I would not recommend this workplace for immigrants or anyone who is looking for a supportive and respectful team culture.


Each shifts generally has a 8 - 9 hour period (with occasional breaks in between).

Retail requires setting up shop, cleaning and helping out customers.
The fellow staff are very nice. When starting in, you are trained by staff whom have experience as they go through a check-list of standard tasks. Even after training everyone is very encouraging to speak to in case you forget a procedure.

Hardest part about working at the Zoo are the occasional summer heat waves. But the best part is that you're at the Zoo!

What is the best part of working at the company?
The geographical themes, simulating places from around the world with plants, animals and exhibit designs. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Falling way behind in competitive wage for workers in skilled and specialized trades

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Way too top heavy with Management. 

Management keeps giving themselves raises but not the staff. Keep making up more Management positions but falling behind in work staff levels 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Could be monotonous or it could be all over the place constantly putting out fires

You'll definitely get your 40hrs. And if you're lucky you'll meet really great people to work with, because having friends will make all the other less than stellar management and work worth it. Comfort in solidarity. It was a good way to make money, but my last summer there, I had enough and quit early. They tried to convince me to stay, but I had some dignity. There's a lot I'm willing to put up with, but degrading and incompetent management (not to mention the CFO of the company at the time)...well, I didn't need any more money. Point is, it's find if you have some support, there were some great people in my department and there was a yearly $1 raise incentive for every summer you came back.

I volunteered at the Toronto zoo for a few weeks in the summer to get some community hours for school and I really enjoyed the time I spent there. The group I was in got to learn about the efforts the Zoo has been making/ planning to help with wildlife preservation and we also got the opportunity to educate zoo visitors about their new plans too. We also got the chance to travel to a park in Toronto where we got to learn about the ecosystem that was there and how important it is to the locations wildlife. Overall the leaders we had, level of organization and choice of volunteers made the experience really enjoyable and opened my eyes to future careers.

Fellow employees are typically high school students working over the summer. Pros include access to Ontario Reciprocal Program perks (free admission and/or other deals to attractions that apply), and a very supportive and fun environment with coworkers and plenty of team activities throughout the summer. Cons include 8-hour shifts are almost always cut short due to poor attendance at the zoo, there's barely any job advancement and there's an extreme restriction on vacation days.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Gardener 1 salary reported	$27.06 per hour
Technician 1 salary reported	$38.67 per hour
Seasonal associate 3 salaries reported	$18.27 per hour
Camp leader 2 salaries reported	$19.45 per hour
Security officer 1 salary reported	$26.00 per hour

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