Proud to be the largest 100% Canadian owned and operated workforce management solutions provider
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With over 600 employees all across this great country, we understand what it takes to build and grow a business and find, onboard and pay employees right here at home. From the Rocky Mountains to the Bay of Fundy, Payworks supports companies and charitable organizations of all sizes.
Our story
Just like you, we’re a local business and proud of it! In 2000, entrepreneur Barb Gamey co-founded Payworks in Winnipeg. We grew out of the heart of Canada and have been proudly 100% Canadian owned and operated ever since.
“The vision for starting Payworks was creating an alternative to the providers already in the space,” says Gamey. “At that point, I’d spent 15 years in the industry and saw the market consolidation taking place and the outdated technology being used. I could start with a clean slate, both in terms of our product and our level of customer support. Our service philosophy was then and remains very different than what’s generally available in the market.”
Payworks’ third foundational pillar: paying it forward in the communities where our staff live and work. We support almost 300 community organizations coast to coast, and in 2020, Payworks celebrated 20 years of business with $2.2 million in community support.
“We’ve always felt that giving back to our communities, supporting local initiatives, and engaging our staff in the process was very important,” says Barb. “ We knew that Payworks’ reason for being was more than simply doing payroll. Ten years ago, we set about talking to our employees about why they felt Payworks was here. It didn’t take long before our purpose statement of ‘doing right by people’ surfaced.”
Since then, “doing right by people” has been our guidepost and mirror when making decisions – big and small, internal and external, client-facing and community-facing.
While we’ve grown from humble beginnings into a thriving organization that serves more than 40,000 businesses, many aspects of Payworks have remained the same:
- We offer modern payroll, human resources, time and attendance, and analytics solutions to businesses of all sizes and industries in Canada.
- We’re 100% Canadian owned and operated, and have two Canadian data centres keeping data within our borders.
- Each one of our clients is assigned a knowledgeable Client Service Representative and has the peace of mind knowing they’re backed by expert support.
- Our team of sales, service and implementation experts are local to our clients.
- Payworks’ National Service Centre remains located in Winnipeg, and we have 11 additional locations across the country: Calgary, Cambridge, Dartmouth, Edmonton, Kelowna, Montréal, Regina, Saskatoon, Toronto, Vancouver, and Victoria.
Our partners & friends
Our partners are our neighbours (yes, spelled with a “u”!). They’re innovators in their fields and together, we offer a network of Canadian business support from Halifax to Victoria.
We work closely with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), the National Payroll Institute (NPI), Arcora, the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA), and the Certified Professional Bookkeepers (CPB) of Canada.
We’re also proud to be members of Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade across Canada, and have teamed up with many local accounting and bookkeeping firms.
Our commitment to community
Simply put, we’re community players. Giving back is at Payworks’ core and we’re here to take care of not just you and your team, but our shared communities as well. Company-wide, we invest our time, talent, and dollars into the communities of our clients – because they’re our communities too!
Payworks supports Canadian businesses and their communities through partnerships and collaborations with Tim Hortons Foundation Camps, Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada, United Way Canada, and Bullfrog Power. We also know the significant impact that supporting local can make, and proudly support hundreds of organizations through local sponsorship, volunteering, and employee-initiated giving. As of 2025, our employees have clocked 6,600+ hours of giving back through our Pay it Forward Day program.
“I’m proud of how much we’ve given back to the community and the impact that has – on both a national scale and grassroots level,” says Michael Penman, President at Payworks. “I love when I’m out with my family or friends, and I come across the Payworks logo at a local community event. I know many of our employees feel the same way.”
As a fellow Canadian business invested in people, community, and neighbourhoods, we know that “high tides raise all ships.” So, when you call, we answer!
Our accolades
Payworks is proud to have been one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies since 2012, maintaining Platinum Club status since 2019. It’s an honour to be among best-in-class Canadian owned and managed companies, and to be continually recognized for overall business performance and sustained growth with this prestigious designation.
One of the many ways Payworks commits to our purpose of “doing right by people” is by supporting the evolution of our clients, colleagues, and communities. That’s just one of the many reasons why we’re honoured to be a three-time designee as one of Canada’s Top Small & Medium Employers and as one of HRD Canada’s 5-Star HR Software and Technology Providers, and a four-time designee as one of Manitoba’s Top Employers.
“All across Canada, our employees continually inspire the folks around them with their innovative thinking and collaborative spirit,” says Vice President of Human Resources Jenn Johnston. “As an organization, we’re thrilled to find ourselves in such excellent company each and every day we come to work!”
Want to learn more about Payworks (and other Canadian companies)?
Shopping local? You can find Payworks listed in the following online directories:
- Capterra: https://www.capterra.ca/software/1017911/payworks.
- National Post’s Product of Canada: https://www.innovatingcanada.ca/campaign/industry-and-business/product-of-canada/.
- National Payroll Institute: https://payroll.ca/product-service-directory/payworks.
- CFIB: https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/member-savings-and-discounts.
If you’re ready to meet your local payroll support team (we really know our loonies and toonies, eh?), visit: https://www.payworks.ca/landing-pages/campaigns/book-a-demo.
