arborist

tree trimmer

laborer

forestry technician

integration manager

Wright Canada Holdings

Working at Spectrum entails a minimum of 10-hour shifts, including a paid lunch, with expectations to work late and participate in 10-day shifts. During the summer, employees are required to tent camp and cook independently, with minimal compensation for food expenses. The job demands a significant amount of physical and mental effort, resulting in a poor work-life balance and considerable wear and tear on both body and equipment. Unfortunately, the company demonstrates a lack of understanding and empathy towards employees' personal struggles and medical situations, often shaming those who need to leave work early.


Upper management exerts considerable pressure on employees, often disrespecting those who do not push themselves to their limits. As a consequence, employees often find themselves unable to engage in activities outside of work on their days off due to exhaustion. Communication with upper management is severely lacking, with important information often being shared only the day before a shift begins. Conversely, gossip spreads rapidly throughout the organization. The delay in processing paperwork, including benefits that take up to a year to be received despite eligibility after three months of employment, can be attributed to a lack of motivation and importance placed on these tasks by upper management.


Although the pay is better than that of fast food establishments, it is still relatively low within the industry. Furthermore, upper management's treatment of employees can sometimes border on bullying. While Spectrum may be a suitable starting point for some, I would advise against long-term employment due to the unreliable shifts, potential layoffs during slow seasons, and lack of job security. Despite the stressful nature of the job, my passion for the work itself was the primary motivator that kept me going. However, the numerous drawbacks make it challenging to recommend Spectrum as a long-term career choice.

I did Invasive plan management and really enjoyed the team environment and support. It was awesome because they paid for my certificate, and management supported me in learning/provided me with the resources and book to pass the exam. They helped me grow in so many ways in a field I had no experience in and got me passionate about weed management. The hours were long, but that was a good part of the job because it meant more money! I made good relationships with my coworkers, which is important because you are working and living with the same people. The hardest part is you can not control the weather, but you are working outside so you have to deal with what the weather decides. With any job, but especially this one, crew moral is so important. It just takes one person to be super negative and bring down a whole IPM crew! Management always found fun and creative ways to boost our moral when they could, like dinners/ treats or a planned adventure day. I actually left the job at the end of my second summer working there due to a different opportunity. I felt bad to leave my new friends and worried about just up and leaving with short notice, but they were so encouraging to me and to this day if I run into management they are so kind and supportive. I literally learnt so many random bits of knowledge and skills that have helped me in my new job, and I am so glad I worked for them at that period of my life. It was hard to work long hours, but my bank account needed it! 

I worked as a general foreman with wright for several years. I was laid off due to a work shortage caused by upper management.  This was the penultimate failure of upper management but through the years it was clear they did not know how to lead. My project manager had no understanding of what a project manager should do and failed in their job on every level. My division manager did not understand or did not know what was happening in the project area whether good or bad. The combination of these two managers meant a complete lack of support to myself and my team. I was not consulted on decisions made and this lead to worse and worse conditions. Meetings were unproductive and mostly involved my division manager complaining about other projects. Advice and solutions offered were never followed and so problems were not getting fixed. I never received any kind of goals or direction.
I can speak somewhat positive of the compensation from the company. Salary was adequate and per diem for out of town work was good. Some perks like a vehicle and phone. They have a DSU program which if working there long term is a great benefit. The company however failed to provide the proper year end bonus year after year. 
Leadership is important and for that reason I ultimately would not recommend anyone work here.


I worked in invasive species management using herbicides and it was a really great opportunity to learn about invasive species, herbicide treatments, be given a lot of responsibility and training in the field as well as  with clients. I also got to travel around BC and given a work vehicle which was nice. I gained a lot of confidence in myself leading others and in my work quality. I also had control to make good judgement calls. The job had good flexibility and was 4 days/week. 

The cons were that we were often left to problem solve ourselves and could not reach our supervisor for support, our supervisor was spread too thin.  We were usually exhausted working outside in the heat all summer (10 hr days) with heavy packs on and had to start very early to beat the heat and follow herbicide application rules which we did not expect based off the interview. Lastly, we were given wrong information from some supervisors and felt that poor judgement calls around herbicide application in other regions was occurring regarding natural resource protection.

early morning starts mean more chances in the afternoon to enjoy the summer!
great management who care about your well being, create a good working environment and want everyone to succeed in their position setting you up for success. Management likes to celebrate little victories and reward staff with bbqs, swag and events. 

Great entry level position to learn about legislation, safety, quality over production as well as gaining valuable knowledge about maintaining equipment, driving company vehicles and using GPS, ipad software and various weather equipment

hardest part of the job is waking up for those early mornings.
most enjoyable part of the job is meeting new people and exploring the country side!


Do you want to explore parts of BC you've never been to/ heard of or visited in a long time? Do you want a chance to to potentially see animals such as, black bears, lynx and other critters? Do you want to learn skills useful in the future? Do you want to travel BC on the company's dime? Do you want to work with cool people? The only other positives are staying in a camp provided by the contractor and staying in good hotels, depending on the project manager. 
People have said this company is the Walmart or Salvation Army of forestry. Communication between home base and work crew is very little to non existent. They will tell you things last minute. The Chetwnyd camp should definitely not have been lived in by anyone. If they can get more organized and have better communication, along with the pay, the turn over rate would not be as high. If you're serious about building a steady career, I would not work here. 


Work environment was not safe. Work along highways actually got shut down for this reason and when new safety protocols were put in place, management failed to communicate this with all crews. 
Almost all equipment (backpacks, ATVs, radios, etc) were broken and upper management had a very nonchalant attitude about getting things fixed. Lack of communication between management and staff was a huge issue-expectations were constantly changing. Overtime pay was a joke-they simply take your day rate (ie 200$) divided by 10 hours (standard shift length) and that was your hourly overtime pay rate. 
Encouraged to push the limits of legal herbicide application-spraying passed the wind speed limit, spraying when the temperature is too high, and spraying in a light rain.

Working for Spectrum Resource Group gave me valuable work and life experience.  A day at work would consist of waking up at 5:30am for breakfast and making lunches and leaving the camp around 6:30 to 7am to get to the planting block the crew would work on.  You would work straight for 10-12 hours taking minimal breaks in order to plant as many trees as possible.  All of my co-workers were wonderful people and reached across a broad demographic.  Management on the hole was a little loose, due to the fact that we were out in the bush and there was little communication with the actual company when we were at camp.  The bugs, rain, heat, and terrain made the job very difficult on body and mind every single day.  However, the people you work with and spend time at the camp with made it all possible.

There's a general disregard for the workers. They routinely overload trucks with water tanks too big for capacity. The trucks and logs books are passed around and the log books are usually full of mistakes.  The log books are routinely faked to cover for the long hours worked. When your pulled over by department of transport, it's ALL on you.  There's NEVER enough rubber gloves for the chemical trailers. The pesticide label stating the personal protective equipment has never been followed correctly. For example not a single worker wears the appropriate filtration mask when applying pesticides in a broadcast spray. The eye wash stations in the chemical trailer are either non existent, empty or broken. There's no proper wash station what so ever.

My time as a forestry technician at Spectrum was mostly positive. The connection among coworkers, fair compensation, and swift equipment maintenance were highlights. I appreciated the learning opportunities but found the long hours and 10 and 4 rotation challenging for work-life balance. Staying in tents, especially in colder weather is definitely a challenge, and the extended periods away tested personal relationships. Despite them, the company's commitment to employee development and supportive community made the overall experience positive, paired with decent benefits.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Arborist 23 salaries reported	$33.70 per hour
Tree trimmer 9 salaries reported	$36.67 per hour
Laborer 20 salaries reported	$22.98 per hour
Forestry technician 18 salaries reported	$272 per day
Integration manager 23 salaries reported	$22.92 per hour

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