Huntsville Council supports better training for municipal equipment operators
The Huntsville Council supported better training for municipal equipment operators, in the March 25, 2024, meeting.
Council voted in favour of a letter from the Association of Ontario Road Supervisors (AORS) seeking support for the province to develop a Municipal Equipment Operator Course.
According to the agenda, the goal of the course is to ensure optimum road safety for residents in the face of a provincial-wide labour shortage in municipal Engineering and Public Works Departments.
It adds that the industry shortage is not expected to recover any time soon, but rather “will only be exasperated over the next three to five years, which will cause levels of service municipalities are able to provide to ensure the health and safety of our residents to decline.”
The agenda continues, “There is currently no provincial-wide course that properly trains potential municipal public work employees, specifically relating to municipal heavy equipment.”
Proper operation of heavy equipment impacts the road safety and functioning of communities, which includes emergency response being able to efficiently respond to calls, school buses, and drivers commuting to work, appointments and otherwise.
Deputy Mayor, Dan Armour, indicated that the District of Muskoka supported the request at the Engineering and Public Works Department meeting and other municipalities are submitting the AORS letter to the province as well.
He added, “They’re trying to standardize the training so they can actually have good operators out there to keep the job.”
The Town has also requested funding from the Provincial Minister of labour, Training, Immigration, and Skilled Trades to pay for the 2024 course with the Skills Development Fund.
A copy of the AORS letter will go to the Provincial Minister of labour, Training, Immigration, and Skilled Trades, David Piccini, the Town’s Member of Provincial Parliament, Graydon Smith, and AORS.
