TC Transcontinental Update from City Manager’s Office

The announcement from TC Transcontinental has created significant uncertainty for employees, their families and the broader Owen Sound community. The City recognizes the impact of this news and is working with community partners to better understand what support may be needed in the weeks and months ahead.

Earlier this week, City Manager Tim Simmonds, alongside representatives from Grey County and Georgian College, met with local and national leaders from TC Transcontinental. The purpose of these meetings was to establish lines of communication, extend support and begin understanding how local organizations can work together to respond to the needs of affected employees and the community.

The City understands that the closure was a corporate decision made at the executive level. While that decision rests with TC Transcontinental, our focus is on the actions we can take locally, while ensuring the people affected remain our immediate priority. Initial conversations among local and regional partners are focused on understanding the needs and priorities of employees at RBW in Owen Sound, identifying available employment, training and other supports, and considering how those resources can be coordinated in response to those identified needs.

A Transitional Working Group has been established, led by the City in collaboration with Grey County’s Economic Development Team, Georgian College, and Employment Services Bruce Grey Huron and Perth. The group will serve as a coordinating body to maintain communication, better understand emerging needs and help mobilize appropriate resources as those needs become clear. Recognizing the broader economic implications for our community, early discussions have alsoincluded the closure of the P&H grain elevator site and the importance of understanding its impact on workers and future opportunities for the site.

The Transitional Working Group is partnering with the Province of Ontario through MPP Paul Vickers to better understand the broader economic impact of the closures at both TC Transcontinental and P&H and working to identify opportunities to support affected workers and the longer-term economic resilience of Owen Sound and Grey County.

There is still more information to gather, particularly from those most directly impacted, before specific next steps can be identified and communicated more broadly.

The City, in collaboration with the Transitional Working Group, is committed to advocating for our community maintaining open lines of communication and helping connect affected employees and residents with available resources as needs are better understood.

We will provide further updates as information becomes available and can appropriately be shared.

For more information, please contact Communications at 519-376-4440 ext. 1207 or email communications@owensound.ca 

-30-