park attendant

maintenance person

grounds crew

bookkeeper

Granary Road

When I first heard about Granary Road, I was excited about what this place had to offer. I was amazed at how big the park and the market were and I pictured it as a place that would be extremely successful one day. I was hired to work in the Gift Shop and in the Park as a Granary Road Guide. This consisted of selling admission and various gift shop and park cleaning duties. We also lead field trips and one or two of the guides would run day camps during July and August. This sounded absolutely great as I wanted to gain more experience working with children, to work on my public speaking and customer service skills.

The first day of work I was told that at Granary Road “we work together and help each other when needed.” It was promoted to me as a place that valued community and building meaningful relationships with staff and our customers. I was all for this as I am a very teamwork oriented person. Additionally, we were promised 30-40 hours a week with a variety of shift types.

Unfortunately, Granary Road does not value community and they lack integrity. For four months I had to work in an environment that thrives on gossip and micromanaging the affairs of others. I believe that all of this stems from how the owner treats their employees. They did not acknowledge our existence unless they were looking for a cheap way to use our labour instead of paying professionals to do the work. They did not once say hello or how are you to me and I believe those two sentences can make a difference in any environment. What is most disturbing is that they watched us on the Gift Shop cameras which are live streamed to their phone on a regular basis. I understand the importance of having your employees on task but the fact that they were watching us regularly but never bothered building a relationship with us made me feel uncomfortable. 

We never ended up getting the hours that we were promised as they regularly sent us home early or canceled our shifts without 24 hours notice. People would be on the way to work and would get a call telling them not to come in by someone who wasn’t even a manager or the owner. There were many times throughout the summer where we were understaffed because they sent people home or canceled their shifts, which placed additional stress on our staff. There were complaints by upper management that things were not getting done in the park or market BUT they had been the ones to cut our shifts.  There were times where we had field trips booked but didn’t have staff to run the field trip. Most days the park was left unsupervised which is unacceptable due to the vast space of the park. If there was an emergency, there would be no staff members nearby to alert. Another problem was that the managers liked to micromanage each other and the staff, so there was an extreme amount of confusion about who you should listen to, making it extra hard to complete tasks. 

On top of all of the issues with upper management, our park director left two months into the summer. After they left, we were expected to do the park directors job without a question. This includes booking field trips and taking payments, cold calling, answering emails and organizing field trips and day camps. This created a lot of confusion because there were so many people doing one person’s job. 

In conclusion, I did not have a great experience working at Granary Road and will no longer not promote this company as a great place to work, to visit as a school or for fun. It saddens me that a place with so much potential ended up having such a negative working environment. I am disappointed with how management has treated my co-workers and I because every employee should be a valued member of the team. They should plan for the future by building positive relationships with their employees so that they will want to return next summer.

On first impression, the workplace appears to be growing and open to investing in its people. Over time, however, it becomes clear that the environment is unhealthy and poorly managed.

There is a strong culture of favoritism and nepotism, where certain individuals are protected regardless of performance, while others are expected to carry the workload. Expectations frequently change and often contradict what is discussed in meetings, creating confusion and frustration. Decision-making is inconsistent, and input from experienced staff and customers is often ignored.

Leadership lacks clear direction. Management spends more time talking than acting, and very little ever seems to be resolved. Employees are expected to go above and beyond without being given the proper tools, resources, staffing, or budget to succeed. While there is a lot of talk about caring for employees and work-life balance, actions do not reflect those messages.

There is no clear path for career growth. Raises, bonuses, and perks are frequently discussed but rarely materialize. Workloads are heavy, compensation does not reflect expectations, and recognition is minimal.

The environment feels unstable, with high turnover and low morale. While there are a few genuinely good people working there, most do not stay long. Overall, this was the most disappointing and stressful workplace I have experienced, and I would not recommend it to others seeking long-term growth or support.

Throughout my 2 and a half months at Granary Road (June-August), I throughly enjoyed my time working outside as matience around the park. My job consisted of daily tasks such as filling hand washing stations with water , weedwhacking , watering plants , picking up garbage around the park , farm chores , taking care of animals, and so much more to make the park look beautiful. It was an absolute gem to work in an atmosphere outside all summer and the managers were very flexible , and always kept you busy . Granary Road teaches you how to work hard and be productive. It teaches you so many other skills along the way , that are nice to have for the future. It was a very fun summer job, and I would highly recommend applying here if you are looking for work .

This place has been honestly the worst company you could ever work for. There was no leadership or guidance, even worse, there were no systems in place, which you would expect from a "big time player" ownership. What I learned from this company was how NOT to treat people, what NOT to do, and not to trust people so quick.

Ownership and management only care about the bottom line. Everyone gossips behind their back. If you like gossip and a "snake" like environment then I would recommend this.

Not only do they do this to their employees but also their business partners (market vendors). 

Please do yourself a favour a don't waste your time.

Not only did this job screw me over while i was working there but also after. While I was still employed they hired someone else to the same position as me and told me it was for extra help. Then 2 weeks later they call me up and say "sorry we don't have enough work for you, we are letting you go" and then i moved on, found a better job. but when applying for maternity EI 9 months later, my claim couldn't be processed because Granary Road claims that I quit on my own free will when I was actually let go which caused problems on my claim. So ya, save yourself and dont work for them.

horrible place, unless you are desprate do not work here. The owners only care about making money treat staff horribly and even guests to the park. It advertises as an education facility but is a glorified petting zoo and no real education happens. completely unorginized with no work life mix. 
mark it down as a horribly investment of time and energy to work here.

This is probably the worst company I have worked for. I was sold on how amazing the environment is and how much room for growth there is with a lot of training and mentorship. It doesn't take long to figure out that is not true.

The owners only care about the money, there is no organization or clear expectations of your responsibilities. Employees talk behind each other's backs and treat other business owners (market vendors) poorly. 

No budget for anything and corners are always cut.

I was involved in their aquaponics and garden centre area of the business. This is a company that is leading edge, cares about what and how it grows product for the public. Very supportive management. The most challenging part of the job was getting all the daily tasks done, while engaging with the public's interest at the same time. They have so many cool things happening, a lot of people ask questions and show interest.

Great environment with so many wonderful market vendors. Lots of different things happening with a public market and an active learning park so it was always interesting and exciting! Learned a lot and made many good friends!

What is the best part of working at the company?
i love the management. all super kind people are super easy to work with 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
really not much! it can get busy but that’s it

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
very kind and welcoming. everyone there is extremely nice

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
start at 9:45, work a chill shift, go home

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Park attendant 1 salary reported	$17.00 per hour
Maintenance person 1 salary reported	$18.50 per hour
Grounds crew 1 salary reported	$18.50 per hour
Bookkeeper 1 salary reported	$46,500 per year

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