Pros
The colleagues here are very friendly, and mostly willing to help you out with questions or references. Some of the directors are very warm people who will do their best to help their team out. The main office (Harbourfront) is also decorated beautifully, and the stocked pantry (free cookies!) is a bonus. The office also has a VR studio which can be exciting to use when given the chance. This office also uses BIM software to develop and submit designs which is a huge plus in coordination. Although the firm specializes in industrial archi, employees are exposed to other typologies such as residential and institutional. This variation is great when building a portfolio.
Cons
The management (bosses and HR) really take their own sweet time to respond to feedback regarding welfare, pay, or work. If a colleague asks for help because they are overloaded, help will only come in 50% of the time. Architects will take on around 4-7 projects (high for industry, the norm is 3), you may count it as a pro if you need project exposure. Guidelines towards covid are also implemented reactively - IDA has an alternate office (IDA Technology) which they send people to to maintain a set number in the main office, regardless of whether the location is convenient or not. Work-from-home is also not a thing unless there is a very valid reason. As for salary, don’t expect starting off/climbing too high. The management has skipped appraisals before due to being ‘too busy with work’. A small con is the software used for admin related matters (attendance, application of leave, etc). Slow, inefficient, and bug-prone, yet management continues to use it despite feedback.