With the focus on returning federal civil servants and other professionals to Ottawa’s downtown core, the mayor of North Grenville says her community is suffering.
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With the focus on returning federal civil servants and other professionals to Ottawa’s downtown core, the mayor of North Grenville says her community is suffering.
She says she has a plan that would keep federal government employees close to home in a bid to bolster the local economy.
In an announcement in May, the Treasury Board Secretariat said public servants in the core public administration who are eligible for a hybrid work arrangement would be required to work on-site a minimum of three days per week. The new directive takes effect by Sept. 9, 2024. Previously, public servants were required to be in the office a minimum of two to three days a week, or 40 to 60 per cent of the time.
But south of Ottawa, North Grenville has seen the benefits of residents, many of whom are federal civil servants, working from home, and Mayor Nancy Peckford isn’t willing to give it up easily.
“Coming out of the pandemic restrictions, we noticed right away that a lot of residents were telling us they had forged relationships with local businesses, whether they were professional services, grocery stores, boutiques, gas stations,” said Peckford. “They created all these local relationships and discovered them and in ways that previously they hadn’t.
“By having to stay closer to home, they had the opportunity to discover how much is here and found themselves actively supporting the local economy.”
When the government announced the most recent return-to-office mandate, Peckford said she immediately began hearing concerns from residents and business owners about the impact on the local economy.
“Almost immediately we knew we were likely going to confront the fact that more of our residents who are active contributors to the community and our local economy would find themselves back in Ottawa and Gatineau,” she explained.
“By virtue of having to be on the road so many more days of the week — and the commute from North Grenville can be up to an hour-and-a-half each way — it would impact how those residents spend their time, energy and money in our community.”
Kemptville, one of the central towns in North Grenville, has seen a boom in the local economy among hair salons, coffee shops, retail and professional services since residents have been working closer to home, she said.
Kemptville is also home to the Kemptville Campus, a 630-acre property that currently houses a community centre and multi-use facility. The campus serves as headquarters for many local organizations, including minor sports teams, the North Grenville Historical Society, Habitat for Humanity and local businesses.
However, Peckford said the campus and its 17 main buildings and additional facilities are largely underutilized. Now, she’s advocating it be used as a co-working space for government employees.
“It has so much to offer,” she explained. “A lot of people are coming to me who have said how much it would impact their lives to be able to work here and how it would allow them to be very productive if they weren’t forced to take on a three-hour commute several times a week.”
There is existing office space on the property and substantial parking, Peckford explained, as well as “vastly underutilized” buildings that could transition into co-working space.
“That’s not to say there wouldn’t be costs, but I believe with such a large parcel of land and its existing buildings, there is opportunity here,” she said. “We’re willing to invest in it.”
Because the campus previously operated as an educational institution, Peckford said she is confident it could be re-imagined as a coworking space. And while discussions with federal government officials have been preliminary, she said she is hopeful and enthusiastic that Kemptville could become a new office space for the government.
“I truly think it's a win-win-win. I’m sincere in my belief that we’re in a really good position to help a lot of employees and we’d be eager to consolidate our partnership to be a host to them,” she said. “Its complex, but it’s certainly something we have an appetite to explore.''
Wilson Lo, city councillor for Barrhaven East, echoed Peckford in the 2024 Welch LLP Business Growth Survey, produced by the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Board of Trade. In the survey’s “Ward Insights” segment, Lo wrote that remote work has benefited Barrhaven’s businesses.
“The main thing is it’s just kept more people in Barrhaven during the day,” Lo wrote. “Working from home has been very beneficial to local businesses and for the community … We do have a responsibility to ensure the downtown succeeds, but it shouldn’t be put on the backs of having people work and commute there.”
Amid talk about Ottawa’s downtown revitalization, Peckford said it is vital that communities outside of the city be prioritized, too. By working closer to home, employees can become more productive and fulfilled by their lives both inside and outside of work, Peckford added.
“It’s not that they’re looking to work less, it’s that during the pandemic they worked a lot more because they weren’t spending such time on the road, but they were also more available in non-working hours to their families and our community,” she explained. “I’m a hockey mom and I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had in the rink with moms working hybrid hours and who want alternatives.”
As businesses and the local economy in Kemptville continue to recover from the pandemic, she says she’s prepared to support them on this issue that has united residents and business owners.
“In our community, it is among the top three issues of which I am engaged and that’s saying something,” she said. “People are very concerned, and so am I. We talk about Ottawa’s downtown economy. Well, I want to talk about Kemptville.
“They owe us a balanced approach to how they seek to revitalize communities across the board, particularly those around Ottawa,” she continued. “There’s more than one economy we need to consider, and I don’t believe the Treasury Board has considered all the options.”
