Eighty-five percent of the 110 members of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities are having a hard time attracting professionals to work for them, and to retain them.
Public works directors, CAOs, clerks, treasurers, any one of those. Even just regular public works workers,” says FONOM president and Kapuskasing mayor Dave Plourde. That comes from a survey of members. He says it’s especially bad in smaller communities.
“How do we find the people to work in municipalities that are required positions that need to be filled and then how do we retain them?” he asks.
The issue will go back to the FONOM board to discuss possible solutions.
Plourde says his municipality is already using the study results.
“It’s a tool that we can use to then go to government or whoever we’re talking to, to see what we can do to make sure that we don’t run out of professionals.”
