Syncrude and the municipality are working together on new initiatives to attract more people to Wood Buffalo.
Doreen Cole, Syncrude’s Managing Director, gave a speech at the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce Luncheon on Thursday where she highlighted the company’s goal to promote the region to their workforce.
Speaking to reporters, she says the company is committed to hiring as many local residents as possible.
“This year alone, we have hired as many as 200 people, we’re also continuing to work with the women building futures program to bring more women into the workforce, so we’re continually looking for workforce and we want to stay healthy over the long-term.”
During her speech, Cole mentioned multiple initiatives the company is working on.
This includes offering incentives in the community through their employee recognition program, more local awareness during job postings on their website, social media, and paid media, as well as their partnership with organizations allowing turnaround workers a chance to experience the area.
“We always looking for ways to work together with the community and make the region stronger, we do that with all of our stakeholders,” added Cole.
Positive Sign Moving Forward
Mayor Don Scott is optimistic these initiatives will lead to more workers calling Fort McMurray home.
Scott recently proposed a moratorium on work camps in an attempt to get more people into the region, however, Wood Buffalo council rejected the idea.
He says there’s a chance this could be the replacement to the ban they’ve been looking for.
“My goal is to have more people living in this community no matter how we achieve it – if everybody did it willingly and comes to the table and we achieve that same goal, great if other measures need to be taken, we’ll see what we get.”
Cole noted many of these initiatives were in discussion or introduced before the proposed moratorium, adding the ban did help revamp talks with the municipality.
“That’s the leadership this region needs and I’m looking forward to hearing a lot more positive signals about investing in the community and have people living in the community,” said Scott.
Meanwhile, the municipality continues to have conversations with the Oil Sands Community Alliance about more partnerships with other companies.
