Wellington County is working to address a labour shortage and lack of housing.
Director of Economic Development Jana Burns said a newcomer specialist had been hired.
We have "somebody on staff that's a certified immigration specialist, so he's working with our employers. we're trying to create an awareness of the fact that there is a newcomer population that we can work with and we'd like to welcome into the community," she explained.
Burns said, "like every single rural community, we're attracting newcomers to meet the challenge that we have with decreasing population numbers and out-migrating youth and We're trying to attract newcomers to keep our businesses going."
She added, "The biggest challenge in respect to getting labour is number one, we don't have transit. ......and number 2 is attainable housing."
She pointed out that the planned RideWell ride-sharing program will offer affordable rural transit to help make rural areas a more attractive place to live, starting October 1st.
She said they are marketing Wellington County as an excellent place to live.
She said as an area right outside the GTA and Kitchener Waterloo, Wellington County is a great place to start a family and grow a business.
She added a housing strategy is near completion.