By Rosalind Russell – The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM), in partnership with the four Northeastern Ontario Workforce Planning Boards, has released a new report examining the recruitment, retention and workforce development challenges facing municipalities across the region.
Stacie Fiddler, Executive Director of the Labour Market Group, says the Municipal Workforce Development and Job Vacancies Survey was launched at the 2026 FONOM Conference in Timmins, and has since gathered 61 responses from municipal representatives across the districts of Algoma, Cochrane, Manitoulin, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Sudbury and Timiskaming.
She says the findings demonstrate that workforce pressures are affecting municipalities of every size, with ninety-four per cent of respondents reporting difficulty attracting qualified candidates, either generally or for specific positions.
She adds the positions most frequently identified as difficult to fill were senior management, public works and finance, followed by administrative, by-law enforcement and water and wastewater positions.
FONOM says they look forward to working with the province and partners on practical solutions
FONOM President Dave Plourde adds that municipal employees deliver the essential services that residents and businesses rely on, and when a community cannot recruit a treasurer, public works employee, building official or senior administrator, the impacts are felt throughout the municipality,” said FONOM President Dave Plourde.
He emphasized it is not about salaries; rather, municipalities identified salary benchmarking, centralized recruitment resources, shared human resources support, improved training opportunities and assistance with succession planning as important regional priorities.
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