The future of rural businesses and communities is dependent on appropriate and effective workforce development strategies. Rural businesses and communities are confronted with challenges in accessing relevant human capital to support, maintain, and grow their operations. Without deliberate and place-based strategies, rural businesses and rural economies will be negatively impacted.

Researchers at the University of Guelph and Selkirk College are interested in enhancing our understanding of innovative rural workforce strategies, plans, and policies to address current and future labour gaps. To understand the experiences and dynamics taking place in Ontario we asked business supporting organizations and work force planning organizations from across the province to share insights on labour force dynamics from their communities and regions.

Building on labour force and workforce development themes from local newspapers and academic literature, an online survey was circulated to all Community Futures Development Corporations and Workforce Planning Boards in Ontario. The survey asked business supporting organizations and workforce planning organizations to gauge their insights on the impact of COVID-19, the types of business supports or resources provided by organizations, and any potential innovative rural workforce strategies and policies. The online survey was circulated to executive directors, or similar positions, in all 26 Workforce Planning Boards and all 71 Community Futures Development Cooperations in Ontario. The survey received a response rate of 30%.

Key messages emerging from the survey:

• More than half of the economic sectors are experiencing more difficulty since the pandemic to attract and retain workers increased after the pandemic.
• Over 50% of respondents indicated businesses in their region are experiencing difficulty in finding new employees with retail, accommodations and food services, construction, and health care and social assistance experiencing the most difficulties.

All respondents indicated the level of difficulty being experienced has increased since the COVID pandemic, sometimes by as much as 20% more than before the pandemic. The key challenges in attracting and retaining labour were difficulty in locating housing for employees, difficulty in accessing transportation for workers, and difficulty in attracting workers to rural communities.

This survey is part of a multi-year research initiative examining labour shortages in rural communities called Addressing Labour Shortages through Newcomer Attraction in Rural Ontario. This research is funded by the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance, a collaboration between the Government of Ontario and the University of Guelph. Full reports outlining the findings from the survey, along with additional publications and information on the project, can be found at https://ruraldev.ca/lsna/.