The Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus are pleased with the announcement by Minister Todd Smith (Energy) regarding the Keeping Energy Costs Down Act, 2024. This legislation is critical to the long-term viability and success of Western Ontario and will aim to keep construction costs down while providing a pragmatic approach towards a net zero energy system in Ontario. This legislation will ensure that stakeholder engagement is increased and that regulatory decisions will incorporate practical considerations supporting economic and social outcomes.

“Modernizing these regulations will reduce delays and costs for economic development initiatives including new industries seeking to locate in Ontario and create jobs, transit projects, community expansion projects, housing developments, as well as residential and business customer connections,” stated Warden Glen McNeil, chair of the WOWC.

“Western Ontario has seen significant growth in the past decade with pressures to build out the gas pipeline network. Many municipalities in our region have lost major investment opportunities because of the delays in getting natural gas to development sites. This legislation will ensure our rural communities will remain competitive and grow,” McNeil concluded.

View the Press Release

The Western Ontario Wardens Caucus (WOWC) is pleased to host the return of the Ontario West Municipal Conference on Friday, October 25, 2024 in Chatham- Kent.

More information including registration and sponsorship opportunities will be coming soon.

Stay tuned!

At the 2024 Canadian Nuclear Association conference, Huron County Warden and WOWC Chair Glen McNeil, Bruce County Warden Chris Peabody, and Grey County Warden Brian Milne were presented with the Community Leadership Award from Bruce Power on Thursday, February 29.

The Community Leadership Award is in recognition for exceptional service to communities in the Grey, Bruce, and Huron Region. This award recognizes leaders who exemplify the qualities of collaboration, communication, and clear vision and have made a significant and positive impact to the region.

View the full press release

On March 5th Workforce WindsorEssex launched its EV Sector Talent Development, Attraction, and Retention Toolkit at ENWIN Utilities. This resource imparts direction for community partners and decisionmakers, providing foresight and supporting evidence to lead changes that proactively address talent development, attraction and, retention strategies for Windsor-Essex’s growing EV sector.

The Guide for EV Sector Talent Development, Attraction, and Retention in Windsor-Essex provides an overview of the region’s recent EV sector growth and identifies opportunities to create new and support existing talent development, attraction, and retention strategies. These strategies are aimed toward supporting a robust and available talent pipeline to sustain EV sector growth into the future. The report provides recommendations for community partners and decisionmakers to help support a sustainable EV sector talent base.



View the toolkit

Newcomer Community Connection Program is designed to attract and retain newcomer talent to enhance the economic region by supporting employers to recruit diverse talent for local employment opportunities and to actively promote Sarnia-Lambton employment to newcomers across Ontario.

Through the Newcomer Community Connection Program, Explore Talent Sarnia-Lambton portal was created to allow newcomers to create a profile that will allow them to stand out. It will allow employers to create a profile and search for job seekers actively seeking employment in their industry. This portal is seen as a win-win situation for both the employer and the employee as the employer can use the video resume as a means to understand the employee and the employee can use it as an effective and creative means to present themselves within 60 seconds.

Explore the portal

The Rural Ontario Institute (ROI), Western Ontario Wardens Caucus (WOWC), and South Central Ontario Region Economic Development Corporation (SCOR EDC) announce the launch of the Rural Housing Information System (RHIS) to rural Western Ontario municipalities.

The RHIS, originally developed in collaboration with the Eastern Ontario Wardens Caucus (EOWC), has expanded its reach to include the entirety of rural Western Ontario, in addition to Ontario's South Central Region. This expansion reflects significant inroads towards addressing housing challenges in rural areas. In addition, the RHIS will further expand to include the rural municipalities of Northern Ontario in 2024.

The Rural Housing Information System is open to Municipal staff, and they are encouraged to sign up at https://www.ruralontariohousing.ca/. In the coming months, ROI will be further promoting the site to builders and developers to see more affordable housing developments in rural municipalities of Ontario.

View the full press release

On March 18th the Canadian Nuclear Isotope Council launched the Isotopes for Hope Podcast series.

For over a half century Canada has been a World leader in the development, production and use of life saving medical isotopes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer while also tackling some of our greatest health sciences challenges including equipment and PPE sterilization, fighting the Zika Virus and pharmaceutical advancements.

That’s why in 2023 the CNIC launched "Isotopes for Hope: Canadian Leadership Now More Than Ever" with the goal of doubling Canadian production of isotopes by 2030 to ensure patients, families, communities and front-line health care heroes have access to the best isotope technology. We’ve made significant advancements over the past year with substantial progress as a sector on all of our recommendations and strategic focus areas. A copy of our report can be found here: Isotopes for Hope (pcdn.co).

“The World Needs More Canada” is core to our message as we have unique capabilities, people and infrastructure in our Canadian Isotope ecosystem that no other country in the World has. This not only provides us the unique ability to rise to this challenge but the leadership imperative to do so. Our first Isotopes for Hope Podcast series shares perspectives from Canadians who are inspiring leaders turning this vision into a reality and delivering important progress people around the World who are counting on Canada as a Global Isotope Superpower.

This 10-part Podcast series is now available on:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify 
• Youtube