CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Watson Gloves is committed to ethically sourcing products ensuring its employees and suppliers are treated with respect and have the resources and tools necessary to thrive in the workplace. We also respect and embrace the diversity of thoughts in the workplace and are constantly working towards creating an inclusive environment where employees feel safe, welcomed and valued.

Watson Gloves’ employee-centric emphasis is another key success factor. The average tenure of employees with Watson is 15 years, a testament to how much workers love working for the company. We’ve even had a retiree come back to work! By hiring the right people who understand the company’s family-owned values, Watson Gloves has maintained a roster of North America’s top-quality glove makers.

With over a century of experience, Watson Gloves is North America’s single source for hand protection at work, at home, at play. Our team of glove specialists get tremendous satisfaction from working with our customers to find the perfect hand protection for just about any task imaginable. We are committed to innovation through protecting people and our planet with a robust sustainable glove portfolio. Whether we source our gloves from the world’s finest manufacturers, or hand-craft them in our local factory, every pair of gloves we sell has been selected for top-of-the-line materials, design and craftsmanship. Try on a pair of Watson gloves. Your hands will thank you!

Two Man Show to International Operation

In April 1918, John Watson and Wayne Stanley started a small business selling handcrafted gloves to Vancouver’s dock workers. Today, 106 years later, Watson Gloves has grown across North America. We are among the country’s leaders of distributing hand protection; offering the widest range of quality gloves for work, home and play.

How did we get here? We have stayed true to our founders’ belief that quality materials and above-and-beyond customer service go hand-in glove. We still make gloves. In fact, our artisans – with an average 20 years’ experience – put the same level of dedication and craftsmanship into every pair of gloves we make, as did our founders. Perhaps more importantly, we have expanded our horizons to keep up with our customers’ changing needs. Our talented buyers travel the world over in search of the most innovative materials and designs so that we can offer the best gloves for any task: at work, at home, at play. From bustling cities to remote corners of our country and countries across the Atlantic, our team of sales reps and efficient distribution system make it easy to protect the hands of our customers.

At Watson Gloves, we do one thing, and we do it extremely well: we are the glove experts. Mr. Watson and Mr. Stanley would be proud to know that, even as we continue to grow, we continue to earn our reputation as North America’s single source for hand protection.

Thank you to all of our employees and loyal customers for making Watson Gloves the icon it has become.

Our local Burnaby factory is the heartbeat of our company and has been making quality leather gloves since 1918. It originally stood at 127E 2nd Avenue in Vancouver for 89 years, and sold work gloves to early Vancouverites who worked in saw mills, mines, logging camps and farms before moving to Burnaby in 2008.

Inside the factory is a fascinating mix of cutting-edge technology and blasts from the past. There are presses from the 1920s, one fashioned from bumpers supplied by the car-repair business that used to be next to the old Watson Gloves location. There is a broom handle that is used to smooth leather that was there when employee Tom Lowe started with the company over 45 years ago.

“The secret of the company’s longevity isn’t that complicated”, Marty Moore said. “You surround yourself with great people and great customers and provide great quality, innovative product, and you are going to win.”

Our core values are our guiding principles that shape how we navigate the industry, build trust and confidence with our customers, and lead as individuals. By following our five core values, it has brought together a group of hard-working individuals that share a mindset of succeeding by being authentic, working as a family, acting with integrity, having fun, and encouraging continuous improvement.

At Watson Gloves, our people are the heart and soul of who we are and our legacy. Rooted in a culture that values camaraderie and collaboration, our team operates like a family, supporting each other through every challenge and triumph. We believe in the philosophy of “work hard, play hard,” recognizing that dedication and effort are essential ingredients for success, but so is maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Our passionate workforce brings an unparalleled enthusiasm to everything we do, especially when it comes to gloves. Whether it’s crafting the perfect fit, ensuring top-notch quality, or innovating new designs, our team’s dedication to the craft is unmatched. Our enthusiasm translates into every aspect of our business, driving us to deliver exceptional products and growing relationships with our customers.

In 2020 we introduced our TIP program which stands for Talent Investment Program. The TIP program is used is to identify training & development opportunities that will support our employees growth each year and into the future by leaning into Continuous Improvement and Continuous Investment of Our People. Training can include learning and development: seminars and conferences, formal education, career development or Watson Process Improvement like Lean 101, Green Belt or Blackbelt training for example.

We also have a Book Club for our leadership team. Each year our executives pick out a book for our team to read that relates to an inspirational person, business or mindset for us to think differently and outside the box or add new tools to our everyday life at Watson. Continuous improvement = continuous investment in our people.

We respect and embrace the diversity of thoughts in the workplace and constantly work towards creating an inclusive environment where employees feel safe, welcomed and valued. We are an equal opportunity employer that grants opportunities of employment and advancement regardless of race, colour, place of origin, religion, immigrant and newcomer status, ethnic origin, ability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and age.

At Watson Gloves, we believe in celebrating our team’s achievements every step of the way. From weekly Watsonversary shoutouts on our TEAMS channel to major milestones celebrations at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) or quarterly townhall, we ensure that every accomplishment is recognized, celebrated and each employee feels valued reinforcing our commitment to creating a culture of recognition and appreciation at Watson Gloves.

We’re committed to recognizing the hard work and dedication of our team members in meaningful ways. That’s why we’ve partnered with the platform Guusto for employee recognition.

With using Guusto as our employee giveback platform, we can go beyond traditional recognition methods by offering personalized gift certificates tailored to each individual’s preferences. Guusto ensures that every recognition moment is both thoughtful and memorable. Not to mention that for every recognition on Guusto they support the One Drop foundation where they donate, for every Guusto gift sent, 1 day of access to clean water to countries in the world who lack access. Since 2019 our team was responsible for 1068 days of water being donated through the foundation.

But it’s not just about milestones and achievements; we also love surprising our team with SWAG, whether it’s during onboarding or at our annual AGM (Annual General Meeting) in June.

At Watson Gloves, we understand that recognition isn’t just about acknowledging accomplishments; it’s about fostering a culture of appreciation and support that empowers our team to thrive. Join us in celebrating success, every step of the way.

At Watson Gloves, our culture is as resilient and versatile as the gloves we craft. Rooted in a legacy of craftsmanship and innovation, we embrace a “work hard, play hard” ethos that defines who we are.

From the factory floor to the boardroom, we’re united by a shared commitment to protecting hands and empowering people. Our heritage runs deep, spanning over a century of excellence in glove manufacturing and 4 generations of the Moore family. Yet, we’re always looking forward, embracing new technologies and ideas to drive progress for the next 100 years.

But Watson Gloves isn’t just a workplace—it’s a family. We support each other (seriously, lots of high fives), celebrate successes, and lift each other up through challenges – which has kept us going for over 100 years – through wars, recessions and pandemics. Whether it’s a company barbecue, singing karaoke together, tradeshow road trips or simply sharing stories while laughing over lunch, we cherish the connections that make us more than colleagues.

At Watson Gloves, we’re not just crafting gloves; we’re crafting a culture of family, fun, integrity, continuous improvement while being authentic, all the while protecting hands and shaping the future of the next generation, one glove at a time.

Employee Benefits

Fri-Yays & Super Fri-Yay, WFH flexibility, RRSP Matching Program, comprehensive Health Benefits Plan, Employee Discount Purchase Program, Sick/Personal Days, Fun-Up Social Events.

Other than our passion of manufacturing and selling gloves – we love to fun up! Getting our teams to come together to laugh, eat, have a dance party and even sing karaoke. If you work for Watson, it’s safe to say you know most of the lyrics to Sweet Caroline! “Hands, touching hands, reaching out!” baa baa baa!

But it doesn’t stop there! Other perks to keep a healthy and happy work environment are that we have a gym at all 3 branches, and even a bike share program at our head office where you can reserve a bike to ride down to the local boardwalk by the Fraser river to get some fresh air and clear your mind.

To top it off – in the summer we also have Fri-Yays! What are those? They are part of our non-union employee flexibility program to reward and recognize our employees efforts, hard work and extra time put in all year ‘round!

We’re pleased to offer FRI-YAYS for part of the summer months where employees get to enjoy some Friday afternoons off and an early start to the summer weekends. We are committed to offering this perk with the anticipation of 2-way flexibility from the team.

Culture Amp is a third-party employee engagement platform that provides us with the ability to survey our team to understand what drives engagement at Watson Gloves.

At Watson Gloves, we believe that engaged employees are the cornerstone of success. That’s why we survey our team every year to gather valuable insights to create proven action plans to improve our employee experience. We’re very proud of our employee engagement score that has averaged 88% for the past 9 years that we have been running this survey. We are currently categorized in the top 10% of all Global organizations!

Last year, our team rated our top scores in the following areas:

1. That we provide a safe work environment.
2. That they felt alignment and involvement in how their work contributes to the overall organization and goals.
3. That they felt confident in the company’s position of continued success.
4. That they would recommend Watson Gloves as a great place to work!

Our collaborative culture owes its success to the engagement and talent of our Watsonators who tirelessly pursue our Vision and Just Cause. Through our team’s relentless efforts and dedication to our Core Values, we are able to drive our shared mission of elevating the glove industry with innovative and sustainable hand protection.

At Watson Gloves, we are committed to fostering a safe and supportive work environment where our people can grow and thrive.

Watson Gloves is proud to have been named one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies in 2025, being recognized for its industry-leading performance, global business practices, and sustained growth.

Canada’s Best Managed Companies program awards excellence in private Canadian-owned companies. To attain the designation, companies are evaluated on their leadership in the areas of strategy, culture and commitment, capabilities, innovation, governance and financial performance.

Canada’s Best Managed Companies is one of the country’s leading business awards programs recognizing innovative and world‑class businesses. Every year, hundreds of entrepreneurial companies compete for this designation in a rigorous and independent evaluation process. Applicants are evaluated by an independent panel of judges with representation from program sponsors and special guests.