NORTH BAY — Progress is quietly being made in efforts to get some of the laid off GM workers to relocate to North Bay to help solve some of the labour shortages being experienced by companies unable to fill available skilled jobs here.
The idea was floated about three months ago by North Bay city councillor Mike Anthony.
See: City trying to lure laid off Oshawa GM workers
Anthony said at the time that he believes North Bay is an attractive alternative for the families.
The plant’s closing will toss more than 2,500 employees out of work, but if you include the jobs affected in the Canadian auto-sector workforce, that number balloons to 15,000 working for auto-parts suppliers,
Now, Anthony says he has met with the city's Director of Community and Development Ian Kilgour and the Executive Director of YES Employment LeeAnne Maillé to work out a game plan.
It starts with getting an inventory of jobs that local employers have been unable to fill and assembling promotional materials that hype the North Bay area.
As well, YES Employment has contacted the lead employment agency working on the GM issue in the Oshawa region, the Durham Workforce Authority.
"Our North Bay contingent will likely travel down in September to do a bit of a mini job fair," says Anthony. "We're managing our expectations. We know that out of the 2,700 people, the majority will find work or will want to stay in that area. What we're saying is we know that there are jobs that have not been able to be filled locally,
"If we could get 10 or 20 or 30 people out of 2,700 who are originally from the north, or like this area or see the benefit of living in a safe city with two lakes and no big commutes, it could potentially go a long way in helping local employers who haven't been able to fill jobs, as well as growth for the city."
The layoffs are scheduled to begin in September, continuing till the end of the year.
"When they realize it's only three hours up the road, some of them might come up to work during the week and return during the weekend, but my real hope is that some of these people will see North Bay and realize it's a place you don't need to make as much money, and a house is half to a third of the price. You can be on a beautiful lake in five minutes after work and still be close enough to the big city to go to a ball game on the weekend."
