Work perk: Guelph engineering firm helps employees buy a home
These days, getting into the real estate market is no easy feat. But what if your employer could help?
Crozier: Consulting Engineers, which recently opened an office in Guelph, is offering employees up to $20,000 towards a down payment on their first home.
While the work perk is helping attract and retain talent, it's also helping employees get into the housing market.
The first-time home buyers' assistance program works in conjunction with the federal government's home buyers' plan. In the case of Crozier, as long as an employee has worked there for over a year, the company will deposit $10,000 plus 10 per cent of their base salary into the employee's RRSP account tax-free as a gift.
"Anybody making $100,000 will get the full $20,000 benefit and that's where it caps out," says company president Nick Mocan. "On a home that's $650,000, the down payment is $40,000. So our benefit essentially cuts that in half."
He says the program was created after noticing the troubling trend of employees being priced out of towns or cities where company offices are located.
"The housing market was just running away from them," said Mocan. "The common issue is the down payment. Coming up with the cold, hard cash."
That was the case for Brendan Walton, who works as a project manager at Crozier. He was priced out of Milton, where Crozier has an office. But thanks to the company and federal government, Walton was able to get a boost and buy a home located just a short walk from Crozier's new downtown Guelph location.
"I didn't really believe it I guess," Walton told CTV News.
After a government-imposed 90-day waiting period, first time home buyers at the company, like Walton, have access to the money in full that's put into their RRSP account, minus CPP and EI deductions.
"That kind of really elevated our buying power from one category to the next," says Walton.
With an emphasis on retention of staff, the company does require those who benefit from the program to make a commitment of their own.
"So all we ask is folks that have received the benefit, stick around for at least three years," Mocan says.
It’s a no-brainer for people like Walton who say they'd still be saving for a home if it weren't for this incentive.
"Pretty proud to be here and now we're about to start raising our family we're expecting in May," says Walton. "So it's nice to know we have a home we can have our daughter in."
It seems staff agree the investment goes far beyond work walls – it's one that's not only helping the company grow, but families too.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.