Professor Ryan Gibson and PhD candidate Ashleigh Weeden (SEDRD, Rural Studies) are working in partnership with the Town of Saugeen Shores, Bruce Power, the Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce, and the Four County Labour Market Planning Board to explore labour market dynamics in Saugeen Shores, Ontario. This research initiative will help provide critical considerations and recommendations to the Town of Saugeen Shores and local employers to support future investments and programming to support the local economy.

The project is part of a Mitacs Accelerate Internship, awarded to Ms. Weeden, and funded by Bruce Power, the University of Guelph, and Mitacs.

To support this research project, the research team is recruiting people to interview employers/business owners, people currently working, and people looking for work in Saugeen Shores. Interviews will take approximately 45-60 minutes and questions related to the opportunities and challenges to economic development, including labour force development, recruiting and retaining employees, accessing meaningful employment, business planning, regional collaboration, and infrastructure requirements created by current labour market dynamics in a rapidly growing rural/small community.

Interviews are being scheduled from September to November (2020). Anyone interested in participating in this research initiative is invited to complete a pre-screening survey by visiting http://bit.ly/GettingToWork2020 

Interviews will be scheduled on a rolling basis through November 1, 2020. Participants must be 18 years or older, comfortable participating in a 45-60 minute interview in English, and be involved in the local labour market in Saugeen Shores.

People interested in participating in the project are also encouraged to share their thoughts and experiences via Mentimeter by visiting www.mentimeter.com on any device and entering the code 84 86 91 8 to participate in some interactive survey questions, or by visiting https://www.menti.com/oooa2nzoke directly.

To learn more about the “Getting to Work: Investigating Labour Market Challenges in Saugeen Shores, Ontario” research initiative, including opportunities to participate in the project or to learn more about the Advisory Committee guiding the research, please visit www.ruraldev.ca/getting-to-work or contact Ashleigh Weeden at [email protected]