Mayor Paul Lefebvre aims to grow Greater Sudbury's population to 200,000 by 2050 and key to that idea is plan to create a task force aimed at growing the labour force.
The mayor unveiled his idea during his State of the City address in April.
“We need to ensure that we have the labour force to support the unprecedented opportunities related to the importance of critical minerals sector for Canada and Ontario’s economies,” he said during the speech
As Lefebvre explained to Sudbury.com, the task force will “identify those missing pieces to make sure employers can find employees.”
Since his election in October, 2022, Lefebvre said he has met with various industry groups who were unanimous that more effort must be made to attract employees to the region, pointing to the city's unemployment rate of around four per cent and a job market with 3,500 vacancies.
If employees are not available, Lefebvre said employers “are going elsewhere,” a situation that isn't conducive to growing the city's population.
The informal task force will include the city’s elected officials and draw from the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce’s membership base, trade unions and various other organizations in the region, such as the Northeastern Ontario Construction Association.
Lefebvre said he’d like to get rolling on the committee by the end of May, and that it won’t be a “one and done” effort, with meetings likely to take place quarterly after its formation.
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