Getting to Work - Presentation at CAPPA 2021
Channel: Ashleigh Weeden
Date: 09/06/2021

Getting to Work: Navigating Place, Policy, and Public Administration in the Local Labour Market Dynamics in Saugeen Shores, Ontario
Presented by S. Ashleigh Weeden (PhD Candidate, University of Guelph), Ryan Gibson (University of Guelph) virtually at the 2021 Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration (CAPPA) conference.

What happens in a rapidly growing community that’s been recognized as one of the best places to live as it tries to keep up with labour demands, changing demographics, and challenges to the enabling infrastructure that support a strong labour market and economic development? Before the COVID-19 pandemic, and throughout it’s first year, local leaders in Saugeen Shores have been grappling with how to proactively support inclusive local labour market dynamics. However, persistent data gaps make crafting effective local government policy and programming challenging. Further, the quantitative nature of the data that is available often hides key relational and place-based dynamics at play in small and rural community contexts. In response to these gaps in research and practice, this paper presents a case study of the labour market dynamics in Saugeen Shores (and local public administrative responses to these dynamics) acquired through a community-engaged research initiative that included 23 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across key local economic sectors (including local government, the private sector, employers, employees, and people looking for work in the community). Drawing from the political economy of rurality and place-based approaches to policy, we argue that local actors both inside and outside of government face critical challenges to supporting inclusive local labour market dynamics due to the tensions involved in rapid economic development.

This research was completed in partnership with Bruce Power, the Town of Saugeen Shores, and funded through a Mitacs Accelerate Internship at the University of Guelph.