Forty years of making complicated HR and payroll feel manageable

Since 1984, StarGarden has helped organizations with the toughest workforce, pay, and compliance requirements run HR and payroll with accuracy and confidence. Here is who we are, and why we still love the hard problems.

Our Story

StarGarden started in 1984 in Vancouver as Pathfinder, a custom software shop that took on projects of every kind. One of those projects set the course for everything since: an HR and payroll system for the BC Ministry of Labour. They needed something almost nothing on the market could do, running payroll across multiple unions and employee groups from a single, position-centric design. We built it, and we found our calling in it.

That one decision, to organize the system around positions rather than patching around them, became the foundation we still build on today. More than 40 years later, the same idea drives our platform, SG6: handle real workforce complexity at the core, so the organizations that rely on us can manage HR and payroll with accuracy, flexibility, and control. We are still based in Vancouver, and still building for the same kind of hard problem that started it all.

What drives us

We exist to make hard things manageable. The organizations we serve work in some of the most demanding environments out there: unionized workplaces, intricate pay and benefits rules, layered compliance, and teams that stretch across provinces and borders. Most software treats that as an edge case. We treat it as the job.

You will find StarGarden behind the scenes in local government, healthcare, education, and heavy industry, wherever payroll has to be right the first time. And our promise has not changed since day one: dependable software, backed by people who answer when you need them. We measure ourselves less by features shipped and more by whether your team spends less time wrestling with process and more time supporting the people behind it.

From Pathfinder to StarGarden

Four decades of building HR and payroll software for organizations whose requirements were never simple.

1984
Founded in Vancouver

StarGarden starts life as Pathfinder, a custom software company taking on projects of every kind.

Mid 1980s
The defining project

A BC Ministry of Labour commission to run payroll across multiple unions leads to the position-based design that still anchors the platform.

1990
StarGarden is born

The StarGarden trademark is filed, and the position-based HR and payroll product becomes the company's focus.

1990
Reaching beyond Canada

StarGarden trademarks its name in the U.S.A., an early step toward the international markets it serves today.

2016
A modern HCM platform

StarGarden launches HCM 5.0 and its Foundation workflow engine, bringing automation, mobile access, and shared services to the platform.

Today
40+ years on

StarGarden with SG6 runs HR and payroll for complex organizations across Canada, the United States, and New Zealand.

Why organizations choose StarGarden

Choosing an HR and payroll partner comes down to more than features. It is about trust, consistency, and a system that keeps pace with how your organization really works. Here is what our customers count on.

Position-based at the core

StarGarden is built around positions, not patched together around people. That design is why mergers, union rules, and complex reporting structures fit naturally instead of breaking the system.

Four decades of doing this well

We have supported HR and payroll operations from Vancouver since 1984. That longevity means stability you can plan around, not a vendor you have to worry about.

One connected system

HR and payroll live together in StarGarden, which cuts duplicate entry, sharpens accuracy, and gives your team a single source of truth.

Built for complexity, not around it

From union agreements to detailed pay and benefits structures, the platform is designed for how complex organizations actually operate, not retrofitted to cope.

Ready for what changes next

Legislative updates, tax changes, and ongoing maintenance keep your system current as requirements shift, so compliance never catches you off guard.

Real people behind the platform

Great software still needs great service. Our 24/7 phone support means help is there the moment your team needs it.

Enterprise-grade security

StarGarden is SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2) Type 2 compliant and hosted on Microsoft Azure, so your data is protected by the same security standards enterprise IT teams expect.

Contact Us

If your organization is looking for a proven HR and payroll solution for a complex operating environment, we'd be pleased to speak with you.

Phone: 800-809-2880
Locations: Canada, United States, and New Zealand
Email: info@stargarden.com

CONTACT US

CONTACT INFO

  • Phone: 800-809-2880
  • Find us in Canada, USA and New Zealand
  • Email: info@stargarden.com

STARGARDEN

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