“Do what you love and the money will come later.” 

That’s the little piece of advice Pat Remillard, General Manager of Operations Central Division at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), has for any students or recent graduates trying to figure out their career path. 

Remillard recently won a 2019 Railway Age Women in Rail Award and had a successful career in the manufacturing industry prior to the railway.

“It was a pretty cool surprise when I got the news that I won the award. I’m proud to be part of the CP family; I’m grateful for the opportunities that CP has given me,” she said.

While many people have a clear vision of what path they want to pursue, Remillard’s career path did not start that way. However, there were two things she was sure of: she wanted to work with people and she wanted to help make things better.

“For me, I didn’t know what the end result would look like, but I stayed true to what I loved,” she said.

A gradual journey

Remillard started off her career journey in computer programming, a job where she excelled. However, she realized that the job didn’t satisfy her need to work with people, and so she went into customer service. While Remillard enjoyed the job, it didn’t satisfy the logical side of her mind. She ended up teaching at a private college in computer programming, database management and systems analysis/design for a business program. 

After taking a break from working, she went back into the workforce and worked at Boeing, where she learned all about manufacturing. After several other progressive opportunities in manufacturing, she landed a job at New Flyer Industries. All of the skills she developed in manufacturing came together at that job. During her time at New Flyer Industries, Remillard led the charge in transitioning the factory into a world-class environment. 

Shortly after Remillard started at CP, she found success in helping to streamline the company’s customer service process. She was promoted to director and looked after three small manufacturing factories within CP’s mechanical division. She helped reorganize the factories and shift the safety culture; and won an award for her efforts. 

“At CP, we have a leadership training program. We used all the concepts in that program to shift behaviour into being a safe, productive work environment,” Remillard said.

From there, Remillard was promoted to her current position as General Manager of Operations, Central Division, a position she has held for two-and-a-half years.

“I never in a million years would have thought that I’d be doing this job, but it’s about working with people, building and leading your team, and making things better!” she said. 

Why work at CP

Remillard says career opportunities are abundant at CP for students. 

“It’s a great company to work for. If you want to work and you want to learn, there are so many facets of this business you can shine in,” she said.

Remillard says the company has positions ranging from operations to mechanical to engineering to business support (customer service, IT, finance, resource management, etc.). CP also has offices across the country, from Vancouver to Montreal.

Advancements take work

While Remillard has had a lot of success in her career, she says advancement in any profession is not easy.

“It’s hard work, you have to be willing to make adjustments, and you have to be willing to learn,” she says. “If you’re open to learning and open to feedback, then it’s easy. But don’t mistake easy with effortless. You have to put in the work.”