Careers

Owen Sound employees are guided by the City's core values:

• Caring
  • We care about our community.
  • We are a welcoming, inclusive, and age-friendly City.
  • We strive for positive change and are committed to continue working in a collaborative fashion towards the City’s vision of being “Where You Want To Live.”
• Creativity
  • We are a creative community that embraces innovation to find solutions with the greatest benefit for Owen Sound.
  • We are resourceful and creative in order to thrive, regardless of external pressures.
• Integrity
  • We demonstrate integrity by being open, transparent and communicative.
  • We believe that continuing to communicate in an honest and informative way will lead to more fruitful two-way conversations.
• Sustainability
  • We demonstrate sustainability by acting in a financially, environmentally and socially responsible manner.

 We are proud to support our valued staff with the following:

• Flexible working arrangements for a balanced home/work lifestyle (where appropriate)
• Continuous learning and training development opportunities
• Employee social events, wellness days and casual Fridays
• Competitive compensation
• Comprehensive benefits package, employee and family assistance program, and OMERS pension plan

In addition to base salary, we offer the following benefits:

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance benefits
  • Includes massage, physiotherapy, chiropractic and osteopathy care
• Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) pension plan
• Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP)
• Vacation entitlement
• Flexible work arrangements
• Employee Recognition Program
  
  

Please note that these benefits are primarily based on full-time permanent employment.

Our employees are our most valuable asset, and we are committed to providing our staff with training and educational opportunities to help them reach their career goals.

To help you reach your career goals, we provide:

• Continuous learning
• Professional development opportunities
• Performance reviews
• Functional, skills-based and leadership training

We are committed to providing all employees with a healthy, safe, inclusive, accessible and supportive workplace. We provide this environment through legislative compliance, joint health and safety committees, ongoing training and health and safety programs.

Employees have the opportunity to participate in different wellness initiatives throughout the year and are encouraged to find their work/life balance.

The City of Owen Sound is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing accommodation in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, throughout its recruitment and selection processes as well as during employment.

In the 2021 Employee Engagement Survey, staff were asked to tell us one thing that makes the City of Owen Sound a great place to work.  Here are a few answers:

• "The opportunity every day to positively impact the lives of people that live, work or visit the City."
• "There are many highly dedicated employees who approach their work with respect and care."
• "Nice community and a great area with plenty of recreational, cultural and social opportunities."

Our organization's greatest strengths identified by current staff are Co-worker Relations & Safety Practices.

In the 2024 Employee Engagement Survey, staff were asked to tell us one thing that makes the City of Owen Sound a great place to work.  Here are a few answers:

• "The people in the community as well as the staff working for the City. People genuinely care about the City they work in and many individuals want to contribute on a greater level to provide the best services to our customers and to achieve an overall sense of pride for the place we live in and raise our families."
• "It is rewarding to work and serve in the community of Owen Sound and have the opportunity to impact the lives of residents in a positive way."
• "It is a great feeling that you’re contributing to the community you also live in and can make positive changes that affect people you know."

Corporately, our two highest drivers of engagement are Safety Practices and Support for Learning Opportunities

From the 2021 survey to the 2024 survey, some of the drivers of engagement that we saw improvement in are:

• Support for Learning Opportunities (increased 7.6%)
• Organizational Communication (increased 6.7%)
• Individual Recognition (increased 5.1%)