Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Canadian Municipal Water Consortium recently hosted a leaders’ workshop to discuss current and emerging trends in the water utility space.
The workshop started off by reflecting on the trends identified by CWN in a report we completed for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) in 2019. The report, Canada’s Municipal Water Sector: Key Trends, Needs, Leading Practices and Innovations, identified five high-level emerging trends in the Canadian municipal water sector. These included:
- Financial sustainability
- Expanding role of water utilities
- Public expectations
- Uncertainty
- New technology
During the leaders’ workshop, we also discussed trends that are emerging in the water utility space. Some of the trends relate to topics like:
- Resilience
- Emerging contaminants
- New technology
- Equity and affordability
- Net-zero emissions
- Corporate culture shifts
- Source water protection
More information about the emerging trends will be available in an article written by CWN staff for the January/February 2023 issue of Water Canada.
Corporate culture shifts
One of the trends that we heard about was that municipalities and utilities are facing challenges with recruiting and retaining staff. This has been particularly challenging since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Katina Tam, who is a program advisor at CWN, had a conversation with current members of CWN’s Student and Young Professional Committee. One of the questions posed by Katina was about how municipalities and utilities can recruit and retain young professionals. Some of the suggestions they provided include:
- Reaching out to universities and colleges can lead to greater awareness about municipal job opportunities.
- Highlighting job benefits — like job stability, competitive salaries, pensions and flexibility (hybrid or remote work) — can attract more students and young professionals to apply for jobs.
- Participating in guest presentations and networking events provides opportunities to showcase what’s great about working at the municipal level.
- Considering the challenges that international graduates have in entering the Canadian workforce.
For more information about the workshop, please contact Sandra Cooke at [email protected] or Katina Tam at [email protected].