Angelica Garcia, PPQ
Gentec Electro-Optics Inc. – Quebec City, QC
Angélica Garcia is a payroll professional who’s dedicated to her family and her work. Originally from Colombia, she completed a bachelor’s degree there in Business Administration. Colombia is also where she met Carlos, the man who would become her husband, and where she gave birth to her first daughter in 2010. Three years later, she and her family decided to immigrate to Canada to give their child better opportunities in life, and they chose Quebec City for its calmer pace.
2016 was a turning point for Angélica. In January, she was hired as an administrative assistant and bookkeeper at Gentec Electro-Optics, a company specializing in laser measurement tools. She considers her fellow employees as her family at the office. “As soon as I arrived at Gentec, I felt right at home. You can’t ask for anything better than having a good quality of life with your family while still being able to advance in your career,” she confides. Later that same year, she gave birth to her second daughter.
Angélica’s introduction to payroll in 2018 came about through a fortuitous combination of circumstances. The previous payroll employee had left, and after two years in her administrative role, Angélica expressed her interest in the newly open position. A few months later, she was ready to start taking on new challenges in the field of payroll. “You’ve got to love numbers and have an eye for detail. You have to stay up to date in everything you do. You have to take your time and do a lot of reading. It’s very precise work that requires a lot of attention,” she explains.
Today, her hard work and curiosity have paid off. In January 2021, she earned her designation as a Professionnel de la paie du Québec (PPQ) from the National Payroll Institute. Angélica now works as a payroll manager and is still at Gentec, her “family at the office”. She manages payroll for over 100 employees, 30% of whom are unionized. “It’s a nice challenge, because there are special settings in the system to process payroll for unionized employees (time sheets, adjustments, etc.), and some employees have specific requests,” she says.
For Angélica, working in the payroll department is a meaningful way to contribute to the health of the company as a whole. It’s also a perfect balance between two worlds: human resources and accounting. “I can express our respect for each of our employees and their importance to the organization, answer their questions in a clear and precise way, and contribute to the emotional stability of the company,” she notes.
Having achieved her goal of successfully balancing work and family life, this mother of two continues to keep busy. She recently completed a course to become a pastry chef, and enjoys making tasty treats for family and friends. When she’s not baking, she divides her free time between gymnastics, swimming and figure-skating lessons for her kids. She also likes to hike and enjoy nature. She’s still amazed by the changing of the seasons here – one of the first things that caught her eye after arriving in Quebec. Her favourite season is spring.
What does the future hold for this talented woman? “I want to continue specializing and improving my knowledge of payroll – and someday far in the future, I’d really like to become a pastry chef as well,” she says.
