Employers who have Reservists in their organizations actually have twice the employee. You may not even be aware that you have Reservists working for you. Reality is that the Reserve Army could not realize its role without the support of employers.

Reservists bring the valuable and unique skills they learn and practice in the Army back to their civilian workplaces. Their military training gives them an edge in many areas such as planning, organization, management of resources, leadership and supervisory skills. Reservists are highly motivated and effective employees who prove themselves daily as they balancing two jobs, two commitments.

Reservists give the Army between 30 and 45 days of service a year. Often their commitment totals even more time, as training, or upgrading of skills is a constant activity in the Army.

Reservists need unpaid time away from the workplace to complete this mandatory training. Asking a Reservist to use vacation time to complete military training would be asking a lot; after all military training is no vacation, it is hard work!

Many Canadian businesses have a human resource policy concerning time away for military service, a policy that protects the Reservist’s job without penalty. Canadian businesses voluntarily support Reservists in this way; we are unique as one of few countries who rely on cooperative agreements between businesses and employers rather that legislative ones.

Employers need to know that Reservists are volunteers. Through their service to the Canadian Army, they are a special link between the Canadian forces and the Canadian public in hundreds of communities across Canada.

The Canadian Forces Liaison Council is a group of 12 Canadian businesspersons who volunteer time and effort to promote the Reserve Force. We encourage you to visit the CFLC site for more information on why supporting Reservists is worthwhile and to find out how many other Canadian businesses have proudly declared their support to Reservists.