00:00:00:09 - 00:00:11:00
Unknown
No.

00:00:11:02 - 00:00:33:14
Unknown
Welcome to the Move Royal Canada podcast, where every week we showcase incredible businesses and rural Northern Canada businesses that are not only growing but are looking to hire. We're here to show you companies and communities outside of the big cities that are building stronger and more inclusive workplaces, workplaces that want and are encouraging newcomers, immigrants and refugees to work with them.

00:00:33:16 - 00:00:52:06
Unknown
Let us be your guides to help you find the best places in Canada to not only immigrate, but build a career and settle. I'm your host, Leah Mitchell, and I am your co-host, Lindsey Rubini. Join us as you learn about all of the amazing career opportunities in places that you may not have ever thought of moving. Let's get started.

00:00:52:08 - 00:00:57:22
Unknown
On.

00:00:58:00 - 00:01:26:08
Unknown
Good morning everyone. Welcome to the Move Rural Canada podcast. Today we have on Casey McCormac. She is the economic development officer for Gateway Economic Development. She is located in Moosomin, Saskatchewan and I'm very happy to have her because this is our first Saskatchewan episode. So welcome, Casey. Thank you. It's great to be here. We'll start off just by talking a little bit about yourself.

00:01:26:11 - 00:01:49:20
Unknown
Can you tell us a little bit about you, what you do, you know, did you grow up in Moosomin? Sort of. How did you become started living in rural. I was born and raised in Moosomin. Actually went to elementary school, high school here. And then when I graduated high school, I did a year in Saskatoon. Didn't really enjoy living in the city very much, and Covid hit quickly right after that.

00:01:49:22 - 00:02:12:06
Unknown
So I moved back home in with my parents and Moosomin and I completed my Bachelor of Commerce degree online through Athabasca University. And I just loved living in Moosomin being close to all of my family, and I'm not a big fan of bigger cities and the commute that it takes and all the people. Yeah, I totally Lindsay, I'm sure you the same.

00:02:12:08 - 00:02:31:15
Unknown
We're kind of the same way. Yes we are. We. So one of my question was, was it part of your strategy. But but it wasn't really initially right. It was more of that you tried the city. You realized you love the rural living. Living better. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And did you find, you know, obviously you grew up in Moosomin.

00:02:31:17 - 00:02:52:22
Unknown
You obviously had some contacts and connections. Did you find, you know, being an economic development officer? You know, that's that's a great job. Did you find just being in a rural area, there was a bit of little less competition in terms of when you were when you finished your degree in applying for positions? Yeah. The way that I became the economic development officer is kind of an interesting story.

00:02:52:22 - 00:03:12:08
Unknown
So I graduated, semester early in December, and the town office was actually hiring for the assistant rec director position. The lady that was in that position was on a maternity leave. And so my family was good friends with the mayor. So the mayor asked me if that was something I wanted to do for eight months, and I said, sure.

00:03:12:08 - 00:03:30:13
Unknown
So I started working here in January of 2022. And at that time the current economic development officer was retiring, and they came to me and asked if it was something I wanted to do. And I said, I don't really know what economic development is, but we looked into it and I thought it was something that I would enjoy.

00:03:30:15 - 00:03:51:22
Unknown
So I took over part time rec, part time economic development, and then eventually they hired someone for the rec position, and I switched over to full time economic development. And it's been really fun to learn. And so I've been doing it for about three years now, and it's such an interesting job. You never know what you're going to do, and it's just very rewarding.

00:03:52:00 - 00:04:11:19
Unknown
So, Casey, can you expand on that? Because I'm an economic developer by training. That was my very first thing I did for my career. But when I say I'm an economic developer, a lot of people don't know what that is. And I know it's very hard to define. But in your own words, what are you tasked with doing for your community as an economic development officer or Ido?

00:04:11:21 - 00:04:40:15
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. I did that all the time. What is economic development? But economic development is everything, basically. So my what I tell people, my job is to grow Moosomin, and this region and bring make it somewhere people want to live. So I work on anything from recreation, health care, education, immigration, entrepreneurship, anything like that, making movement and a better place to live and somewhere people want to live.

00:04:40:17 - 00:05:03:00
Unknown
Well, that sounds pretty fun. Can I just jump right into it then? You, you hit on my other favorite word, which is immigration. So can you give us an example of what you mean when you talk about you've been tasked with, you know, growing your community and how you use immigration to do just that? Yeah, we've worked quite a bit, especially with the Ukrainian community.

00:05:03:00 - 00:05:36:00
Unknown
When the war was going on. I went to quite a few different job fairs to try and recruit some people to come live in movement, because we need people to do the jobs that are open. There's lots of open jobs. So we figured we would see if the Ukrainian community wanted to move to Michigan, because we did already have one of our business owners, he owns a restaurant, he is Ukrainian, and so he was very involved in bringing Ukrainians over to Moosomin, and they kind of created their own little community.

00:05:36:00 - 00:05:57:05
Unknown
And the community amusement really rallied around them. We found them, apartments and furniture for those apartments and places to live and places to work. And they have their own little community right here in movement. That's awesome. So for someone who maybe has never, heard of moose, can you sort of describe where are you located? What is the size, that sort of thing?

00:05:57:07 - 00:06:19:21
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. My husband's a community of a little over 3000. We're right on the Manitoba Saskatchewan border on the number one highway, and we have a trading radius of 100km with 50,000 people. So we've kind of become our own little hub because we are two hours from Regina, two hours from seven, two hours from Yorkton, two hours from Brandon.

00:06:19:22 - 00:06:42:18
Unknown
There's no big city that's within an hour or whatever to us. So we have become the hub for this area of southeast Saskatchewan. And I just want to add to there are we were just talking about this before we recorded. There are so many jobs in that area of the sort of that Manitoba, Saskatchewan border, you know, between Moosomin and you go up north to Russell.

00:06:42:18 - 00:07:01:22
Unknown
It's only like an hour and I think it's over 200 jobs, you know, so and so tons of opportunities from entry level to professional for people. And like you said, you're I mean, two hours seems like a lot, but it's really not if you're going to go there for the day or for the weekend, you know, and there's, you know, yeah.

00:07:01:22 - 00:07:28:22
Unknown
You're not you're really not that far. People will drive an hour in traffic. So what's, you know, two hours for the full day or exactly. Absolutely. So what kind of jobs are available in Moosomin and surrounding area. So if I was a newcomer and I was looking for a community to relocate to, or even a city person that wants to move out of the city and is looking for a rural area, a rural community, you know, obviously we need employment.

00:07:29:01 - 00:07:50:11
Unknown
So what type of jobs do you guys have available in your area? Yeah, our big industries would be, mining and agriculture. A Nutrien Potash mine is located about 25 minutes north of Moosomin near Rocanville, and they employ over 800 people on that site. So that's a big one. There's also quite a bit of oil and gas around us.

00:07:50:11 - 00:08:15:07
Unknown
Lots of agriculture, as I said, lots of family farms and that kind of thing. And then our retail is fairly big. We have a lot of different small to medium sized businesses. So there's many different retail jobs, car dealerships, fast food restaurants, shopping, any of that kind of stuff too. So when we talk about Nutrien and they have 800 jobs are around there, we would be talking about various levels of jobs.

00:08:15:07 - 00:08:40:08
Unknown
We'd be talking about entry professionals. So the trades they'd be hiring, millwrights, electricians and then again, with management like accounting and even. Yeah, even laborers as well. Right. So that alone offers, somebody a wide variety of jobs that they're looking at. It does Nutrien do you know, off hand if they have their own job board or, they post on their website?

00:08:40:08 - 00:09:08:04
Unknown
I know for sure. But yeah, they employ so many people there and every different kind of job you could basically imagine, you know, being a smaller town. But like you said, you start your very large hub. If a newcomer was to, you know, that's a lot of times the biggest town, especially right now with, you know, all the cuts to immigration and to immigration supports what types of supports does the movement area have, say, in terms of of settlement services of language?

00:09:08:04 - 00:09:27:02
Unknown
Are there are there programs or companies that are offering things, or can you elaborate on that a little bit? That is one area where we struggle a little bit, but we do. We are part of the essential newcomer services for Saskatchewan. So they will help. They're located in Yorkton, so an hour and a half to two hours north of us.

00:09:27:02 - 00:10:00:19
Unknown
We do have an immigration consultant located right here in the community. She's just recently moved here. It's called link. Link can consulting for language. We do have the Southeast College provides language services. We also have service Canada is here every other week so they can help a little bit. And just in terms of the community like language services, I know when we were bringing in all the Ukrainians, there were a couple of companies that hired translators right on the job to work with them just to help with that language barrier.

00:10:00:21 - 00:10:21:09
Unknown
So it is a very welcoming and open community to that. Well, and that's good to hear that. There's, you know, companies, you know, it can be tough sometimes in smaller communities, right? You know, I hate to say, but a lot of times we get forgotten about. Right? That money goes to the cities. And you know, I think rural almost needs it more because you need different strategic supports.

00:10:21:09 - 00:10:43:01
Unknown
What works in a city won't necessarily work in rural. You know, they need they need different solutions. So it's it's it's great to hear that you've got stuff and you're kind of adapting. And you know that's great to hear. Yeah. So like kind of still sticking on that line. In terms of, you know, you guys are starting to become more aware that you need, immigration support and services.

00:10:43:06 - 00:11:05:03
Unknown
So can you tell us a success story about, you know, someone maybe moving to your community and thriving and staying there? Yeah, absolutely. I would say movement has a fairly large Filipino group, and I don't know, like they've been here for quite a while, like, even when I was going to high school. But I know there's one, specific man.

00:11:05:03 - 00:11:27:09
Unknown
His name is Leo, and he moved. I don't even know when. Quite a quite a while ago, he started his own business. It's an apparel business. And then he kind of leads the Filipino community. They've become even more integrated. They just recently started building a big basketball court with the whole community. Because I know basketball is a big thing in the Philippines.

00:11:27:12 - 00:11:51:02
Unknown
And now we have I believe it's 300 to 400 Filipinos, right? In movement. Well, that's excellent because you know what does happen there in terms of economic development and community development was, you know, you have people that are moving into your community and then they're also helping the community thrive. You know, in terms of creating, like doing their own business, like basketball court like that is incredible.

00:11:51:07 - 00:12:17:00
Unknown
Yeah. All right. And so to also make the community, the larger community aware of the Filipinos passion for that sport. And, you know, maybe the local community can learn some tips and tricks from them. So that's a really, really great story. I like that one. Yeah. And I have to say I love it too, because I always laugh because I have I have three boys and I live in a small town and I say, I think we're the only family in town that doesn't do hockey.

00:12:17:00 - 00:12:35:15
Unknown
We're not, but we do basketball. So I, I love it that there's more basketball coming into smaller towns. And I think a lot of times people think small towns and they just think hockey and you know, everyone. There's so many kids who aren't into that, which is fine. So it's like we need to have, you know, other options for kids to play sports and do stuff.

00:12:35:15 - 00:13:00:01
Unknown
So that's that's great to hear that. Yeah, absolutely. Movement is a big hockey town, but we kind of realize that not every kid wants to play hockey. So we started there's basketball and then a couple of years ago I was actually pretty heavily involved with, starting an art center in town. So now we have an art center where people that are more creative and like that kind of stuff can go there instead of going to play hockey or whatever.

00:13:00:03 - 00:13:20:04
Unknown
So when somebody moves there and, so let's say, yeah, whoever it doesn't matter moves there, is there, a welcoming committee or, you know, is there a place that someone can go where they can look, look up and say, okay, so, you know, where can I buy a house? Where can I find a job? Or my spouse can find a job?

00:13:20:06 - 00:13:48:07
Unknown
What other things can we participate in? You know, what? Can we volunteer and is there is there's, a website or anything that people can go to. Yeah. The michigan.com website has a lot of that information. I just worked on creating, resident guide for New People that moved to town. And then just at the town office, the ladies in here are very helpful with whatever you're looking for, whether it's for jobs or housing or recreation and that kind of thing.

00:13:48:07 - 00:14:05:11
Unknown
They're very helpful with giving recommendations on that kind of stuff. So to be clear, they won't find you a job, but they will help you do everything else once you do that yourself. Okay, great. Well, I just I will have all that for everyone in the links as well, so they can go directly to your site to see all that as well.

00:14:05:15 - 00:14:32:22
Unknown
And just to keep on that same line, Lindsay was talking about, the housing. So you have some really cool initiatives going on in Mosman in terms of housing. Can you talk about that? A bit more? Yeah, I can, so back in, 2023, I believe a we movement was awarded with, some money from the Housing Accelerator Fund, which is a federal grant from Canada mortgage and Housing Corporation.

00:14:33:00 - 00:15:04:03
Unknown
So we received just about $1 million from them. And so with that, we have, a number of units that we have to hit by 2027. So we decided that, it was kind of open ended, what we could do with the money. So we decided that every person that built a house in Mosman was going to receive $30,000 once their house was complete and $30,000, for the first unit and for any multi-unit stuff, you receive $30,000 for the first unit and $8,000 per unit after that.

00:15:04:05 - 00:15:28:15
Unknown
So we just had, 212 unit apartment buildings completed. So they received $214,000 from the town. Wow. That's that's very like I love it. Like, I think that's a great idea. Yeah. So would you say, are they all full now was occupancy rate in those. So they opened I believe a month ago, and they're over three quarters full.

00:15:28:17 - 00:15:50:09
Unknown
Oh, wow. So yeah, it got to get your foot in the door. Yes, yes. Housing is one of the biggest issues that we are struggling with right now. There's not enough places for people to live. So this grant was very helpful. And on our is it still moving like are people still building or have you sort of completed it or it's still people still opportunities to come and build.

00:15:50:11 - 00:16:10:05
Unknown
Yeah, we still have quite a few spaces left in it. We had so, so far we've had a 24 unit apartment building, a six unit, and then there's three houses that will be getting built. There's a duplex. It's just about finished. And then we still have, 12 more spaces left in that. So someone could come, like, let's say I wanted to move to movement more.

00:16:10:05 - 00:16:31:18
Unknown
I could come and build a house and I could get $30,000 back on my house. Look what I've paid. Is that. Yeah. You're in that correct? Okay. Yeah. Wow. And even for those that are newcomers that may can't afford that, maybe can't afford to build a house right now. So, you know, right at the start, you did see, though, there are multi units available.

00:16:31:20 - 00:16:57:21
Unknown
That's right. Okay, okay. Crazy. And and one more thing I got to ask where, where are you getting all these people to help build these houses. So there must be lots of job opportunities right there in terms of like you know a carpenters electricians, plumbers. Yeah. So the local companies, we do have one local company. And then the 24 unit came out of Brandon, Manitoba.

00:16:57:23 - 00:17:35:14
Unknown
That's actually something we're really needing. So if anyone out there wants to start a construction company in Richmond, that'd be great. Our current, like, our current, the home builder right now, he's booked up, I think, until 2027. So that's a huge opportunity for a company, you know. Absolutely. Well, I think it also lends itself to, you know, when you look at rural communities and you talk about, what is mostly needed there and, you know, we need everything from doctors or lawyers, accountants, obviously, but as well as we need plumbers, electricians, we need all those tradespeople too.

00:17:35:16 - 00:17:56:00
Unknown
And the one wonderful thing about the trades is that you can earn while you learn. So you don't have to, you know, commit yourself to going to four years of college and then and then getting that opportunity you could actually move to move. And then if you found a position there and start working and then kind of, you know, the way how apprenticeship works is then you put yourself through school for those eight weeks a year.

00:17:56:06 - 00:18:22:07
Unknown
So it's really a great opportunity to actually move to your community and work. And they can go to, you know, school when they need to. Right? So yeah, that's in terms of housing, because I always like to highlight too, about how much more affordable living in rural areas is. You know, what would a house that say, you know, maybe a basic three bedroom house cost or even what is, you know, what the rent would be in Bozeman?

00:18:22:09 - 00:18:44:23
Unknown
Yeah. I believe rent would be anywhere from 900 to 1400 a month, depending on the size. One bedroom on the lower end and three bedroom on the higher end. Obviously, average housing price in Mosman would probably be around 300,000. It's a little bit more expensive for a rural community, but you can just see that that's the demand for Mason right now.

00:18:45:01 - 00:19:11:11
Unknown
Actually, I don't think that's expensive at all because from the city of Edmonton and you know those I don't know how to sense. I, you know, articulately. But, anyways, I was I was there and there are lots of cookie cutter houses and the quality of the build just is not there. And they're paying now, I believe it's over 600,000 for those kind of houses.

00:19:11:11 - 00:19:32:18
Unknown
And you don't really get a backyard with that. Yeah. You know, so I think what you get for maybe 3 to 400,000, Anderson, is a lot different than what you would get in this city. So if people can visualize a three bedroom bungalow, you know, with, big backyard, that's what we're talking about when we're talking about building a house.

00:19:32:18 - 00:19:55:12
Unknown
It's not we aren't talking about houses side by side by side by side by side. Yes, I did clear that up. Yes. Yeah. And even in terms of rent, you know, I think I've got I'm aging myself here. But 20 years ago I was paying in downtown Winnipeg 800 for rent, you know, for like a two bed. So the fact that you can get a one bedroom for 900, you know, is to me, great.

00:19:55:14 - 00:20:20:16
Unknown
You know, that's amazing, you know? I'm sorry. Go ahead. I believe, like, those new, apartment that I we're talking about, they're three bedroom, and I think they're 1500 a month, so. And that's a brand build. And you think of like, when I talk about trades, you're getting the same pay in a rural area for trades. But now your housing is so much more cheaper, you know, like it's just to me it's just that's how you get started.

00:20:20:16 - 00:20:52:04
Unknown
You know, we always tell people, even if you just move rule for the first 3 to 5 years, you're going to be so much more ahead than if you just jumped in living in the city. Absolutely. And see it very similar. So when we talk about immigration and we talk about if you grew up in Canada, what I am finding now as someone that does practice economic development is that I am finding that even those who, may have grown up in the city and who are in their 20s, they're actually looking rural as a Canadian because they can't afford those, you know, those houses that are, you know, being built even in the

00:20:52:04 - 00:21:12:09
Unknown
suburbs of Scott of, of, I should say Saskatoon or Edmonton. Right. So they are looking rural and so I don't think it really matters if you are a young Canadian or a new immigrant. I think that, you know, going rural is actually going to help you establish yourself, like Leah said, and really build you a great quality of life in the future.

00:21:12:11 - 00:21:36:06
Unknown
Absolutely. You know, I mean, know, we don't want to, obviously. I mean, I think living room is great, but obviously there's what some people might consider some challenges. So in your opinion, you know, what are some challenges that maybe rural areas face when it comes to attracting newcomers or, or maybe things that you've heard from newcomers? Say, you know, this wasn't something I expected living in rural, you know.

00:21:36:07 - 00:22:00:22
Unknown
Yeah, I think like a lot of people think that there's nothing to do in a small town or different things are more expensive, like our grocery prices are fairly expensive in movement because we do only have one grocery store. So they have no competition. And so that's a little bit of a struggle. And then maybe just like because it's a small town, everybody knowing your business is to what some people maybe would struggle with.

00:22:00:22 - 00:22:17:11
Unknown
I don't think it's that bad in movement, but I can see how that would be, conception. I would say as a parent, I love it. I love it when someone says, oh, hey, Leah, I saw your kid. And I'll say, oh, so where were you? You know. Yeah, but yes, I can see that sometimes. Isn't that the truth?

00:22:17:11 - 00:22:35:10
Unknown
Right. So it's a good thing and a bad thing in a way to how you get, you know, going back to the grocery store, that could be actually be an opportunity, right? So a lot of times we that live in a small town, we say, oh, that's a struggle or that's a challenge where somebody listening right now might be wanting to open up a business and say, you know what?

00:22:35:10 - 00:22:57:06
Unknown
Because I believe competition is a healthy thing, very healthy thing, and it only helps the community grow. So somebody is looking at, you know, wanting to open up a smaller grocery store. Movement may be the way to go. And do you guys have any business incentives or or any business assistance? If people are looking at, wanting to establish a business in Mosman or the surrounding area.

00:22:57:08 - 00:23:25:17
Unknown
Yeah. Currently the town has, one year of tax free on New commercial builds. We're looking at maybe doing some more incentives into that. But then we also have the Community Builders Alliance, which I work with. And, they're, nonprofit, private group of business owners that will help invest in new businesses for people that are wanting to open a new business, they'll put together a group of investors to get you started, and they provide business assistance.

00:23:25:17 - 00:23:47:22
Unknown
I will help with new businesses, too. So there's quite a few things that a great supports. Yeah. To get started. That's really great. Yeah. So if somebody was interested or want to learn more about yeah not only moving and what you all have to offer in movement, but if they were actually wanting to know what type of business opportunities there are, they could just contact you directly.

00:23:47:22 - 00:24:11:01
Unknown
And you know, you guys could have a discussion. Would that be a possibility? Yeah, absolutely. For everyone as well. We'll make sure to have Casey's information in there as well to if people want to contact. Yeah. To ask more about that. Do you think, in your opinion, is there anything that rural communities could be doing better to attract people to move, to their communities?

00:24:11:03 - 00:24:35:13
Unknown
Probably early working on like for movement, working on some of our immigration supports in our language services, I think where we started. But I think that there's a lot more we could do to help. And then just continuing to be that welcoming, opening community that wants to welcome these people. Well, and I think you're in a great spot.

00:24:35:13 - 00:25:01:10
Unknown
I have a lot of family. Moose jaw. So you're moose means my stop that that co-op and Tim Hortons, you know. So it's I just think too it's a great place just even where you are located, you rule. But you're just like, hop on the number one and you can get to where you need to go. You know, if when people look on the map, you'll see like it's right there and, you know, and it it isn't, you know, I mean, I know you said it's two hours around.

00:25:01:10 - 00:25:19:06
Unknown
I don't even know if it's I mean, yeah, I guess it's like an hour and a half. Yeah. Yeah. I don't have like really like I went to Brown University for a while and there was people who would drive from like Virden every day or further, you know, to go to school and stuff, just, you know, it's just it's such an easy place to access so many areas.

00:25:19:06 - 00:25:50:16
Unknown
I think, you think of like in terms of immigration support, like Leah specializes in English language. So I think that's really highly needed. But, in terms of, you know, having the community help with certain pathways, I think that's where it gets kind of tricky. Unless you're our sub community, like a real community immigration pilot. You know, but, for a community to have to know all these different immigration pathways and so on and so forth, you know, I think, independently, people can find their way, you know, and how they land.

00:25:50:16 - 00:26:15:19
Unknown
But the settlement support services, I think are very, very important. But let's talk about that in terms of education. And because we had brought that up about, you know, going to be you running university, if, somebody had relocated it there and they wanted to take, you know, some college classes and, you know, a university, you mention you, you didn't attend, but you took a university of at the basket online.

00:26:15:21 - 00:26:36:07
Unknown
What kind of local colleges are there around there? So unfortunately we do have the Southeast College, but they are, leaving at the end of this month. They're done in movement. So we've been in talks with them to hopefully maybe keep them here. But as of June 30th, I believe they're out of their building and gone out of movement.

00:26:36:07 - 00:26:58:18
Unknown
They are still going to provide the English support, just, on an as needed basis, just booking, boardroom or whatever to provide it. But like you said, there's lots of close by schools. And then like I did, Athabasca University is completely online. I've never been to Alberta, but I fully went to school there, and I have a Bachelor of Commerce degree from there.

00:26:58:20 - 00:27:28:00
Unknown
And then, like Brandon University is an hour and a half away. I have a friend attending a nursing school there right now, so. And she's home lots. So it's not the best, but it's easier than you think. Well, and like you said, there's so many I've actually taken some classes throughout the past year. They're great. There's, there's nowadays there's lots of online options that and even like when Lindsay said to if you're in trades like, you know, you can go for a little bit then come back and work or you do part time online or, you know, like you said, you it's two hours away.

00:27:28:00 - 00:27:49:20
Unknown
You could go to Regina or wherever and come home on the weekends. And and you know, and a lot of, you know, I feel like, you know, even Regina is a lot more affordable than, like, Toronto or Vancouver. So, you know, you might still have to pay rent, but it's not going to be nearly as expensive. Do you find and I always, like I said, just with my background with language development and stuff like that.

00:27:49:22 - 00:28:20:00
Unknown
Are there any workplaces who hire a lot of newcomers and they have. Is it, is it a challenge to find those translators or to find the supports to help them grow? With, with their companies? Or have you found they've kind of the reason I asked that I, I always like to think so. I always find there's a big sort of my mind shift happening, I think, in Canada, when even with all these cuts happening with language, people are starting to realize that language is no longer an IRC thing.

00:28:20:00 - 00:28:38:17
Unknown
It's more of a workforce development thing. Right? Do you do you see that shift, or do you see workplaces sort of starting to realize, okay, maybe we need to offer this if we want our employees to stay? Yeah, we definitely have seen that a little bit. Especially with that or Sad, which is out of Lang Bank, which is about 20 minutes removed.

00:28:38:17 - 00:29:04:02
Unknown
I mean, they hired quite a few Ukrainian, so then they hired a Ukrainian translator actually to help with that. A few other places I think, have they kind of help their employees try to learn English, that kind of thing a little bit. So yeah. Yeah. No, I think definitely as more, as we need more people and we need more, I think that's definitely going to be more of a I think that, like you said, communities and businesses realize.

00:29:04:04 - 00:29:30:02
Unknown
But you know, even touched on that further I like let's have that conversation about English and it really still is the IRC thing. Right. And and it's, it's going to become more of a community issue now that there's not enough federal support for that. So it's going to be, you know, passed down or, you know, more it's going to weigh heavily more on the employer and the community.

00:29:30:04 - 00:29:48:18
Unknown
And but even people trying to, you know, immigrate into the country, you know, if they're here on LMI or somebody offers them a job. It just happened to me recently. And and I told this client, I said, you know, the employer is asked, it says clearly in the LMI that you must speak English. And they were fluent in English.

00:29:48:20 - 00:30:07:06
Unknown
And they said, but you got to prove that you can do this, right. So, you know, they asked the employer to write a letter, saying, oh, yeah, well, we did the whole interview in English, so I can do that. I said, I don't think that's going to be enough. Like, I think you're definitely y. No, I didn't think I said, you're going to prove that you know this and you shouldn't, you should have to take your IELTS.

00:30:07:08 - 00:30:38:21
Unknown
And they didn't. And they got there, application rejected. So I think that's a really great point in saying that. It's not, you know, the, the word thinking is the wrong word. It's more about, you know, we know that English or French is very, very important. And therefore, when you're going to immigrate here and even when you land here, you're going to need to improve your English or French, because in order to, you know, move up in, in positions, you need to be able to, you know, converse and understand and so on and so forth.

00:30:38:21 - 00:30:59:02
Unknown
So, I think, you know, it's always great to have a conversation on how important communication is, because it's really important if you want to involve yourself in the community, in the workplace. But even to get started immigrating, right, it's it's found its way across everything that you do. And I think to, you know, more and more like you said, it's getting passed down.

00:30:59:02 - 00:31:25:21
Unknown
So I think it is going to become more of a actually economic development, more communities and more of that is going to have to sort of I guess I don't want to say shoulder the burden, but take that initiative, right. Take that opportunity to get the employees, you know, I'm not going to go into too much, but, the company I work for, engine, we had a report come out and a really key statistic was 84% of people said they would stay with a workplace if that workplace offered language.

00:31:25:23 - 00:31:45:11
Unknown
And all I thought about was all those rural companies who are trying to retain employees. And then I think it was 85% that they would recommend that company if English was offered there to others. So I'm like, right there, there's your stats for you want to keep employees you want to attract offer offers something that's not being offered anywhere else right now in Canada.

00:31:45:12 - 00:32:13:02
Unknown
You know. So speaking of retention, Casey, how how well, how do you guys think that you've done so far in terms of attracting and retaining, people to your community in the last couple of years since you've been in your position? I think we've done a pretty good job. We did work very hard on attracting, and most of the people that have moved into movement, I believe, have stayed, we obviously don't keep everyone, but I think it's gone pretty well.

00:32:13:04 - 00:32:29:19
Unknown
Well, and I think to honestly, 2 to 5 years is a lot better than, you know, six months. You know, to me that's they're still selling, they're contributing and they're maybe leaving, but they're saying that was a great place to get started, you know, and, and maybe some of their family stays or comes back in five years because they really liked it.

00:32:30:01 - 00:32:50:16
Unknown
You know. Well, I think the good job start to also lend itself. Right. So if people are, you know, going there and then they're landing that job and then they're being promoted, I think that also lends itself to, you know, people wanting to stay and raise their their family there too. So that's really good. What do you guys see in the future for, for moose in the surrounding area?

00:32:50:17 - 00:33:10:11
Unknown
You had just told us before we started, recording that you created Gateway Economic Development. So who does that all involve? So Gateway economic development includes the town of moose been the realm of movement, the town of Rock anvil, the realm of Rock anvil, and the Community Builders Alliance, which is that nonprofit group of business owners that I was talking about.

00:33:10:13 - 00:33:36:00
Unknown
So we just in March ish, I think we combined with the town of Broken Mill because they're only 20 minutes down the road from us, and they have the big potash mine, and they were thinking about economic development. And our mayor especially is very big on economic development. And we're thinking like big picture. So, eventually we'd like to combine with even more towns around us to just kind of make this entire region some where people want to live.

00:33:36:00 - 00:33:53:04
Unknown
Because when you're 20 minutes, half an hour from another town, it's a win win for both towns. When something happens there. I just want to say that you just said 20 minutes or a half hour, right? So when you're in this city and you got to go to a medical appointment, you are probably going, unless you live right by the hospital, like, you know, just every rule.

00:33:53:10 - 00:34:12:17
Unknown
But, you know, so if you're if you got to go to a medical appointment, it doesn't matter when I'm in the city like so I often go to city Winnipeg. So when I'm there and I'm staying at my daughter's place, you know, I'm automatically 20 to 30 minutes away from a lot of different things. And I think that's that's a misconception that a lot of people have about living their real town.

00:34:12:17 - 00:34:30:23
Unknown
Is that, oh, well, then I have to drive to go here. Are there? But the difference between our 20 or 30 minutes is that we have no red lights. Yeah, you just go and you probably often get there faster than what you want in the city, and you don't get as frustrated because you're just straight there and you're at your point and your are your destination.

00:34:30:23 - 00:34:48:11
Unknown
So I think that's a really good point you just brought up, is that partnering with different communities offers a lot more services, and you're still really close together. So it is a win win. Yeah, we really saw that with broken milk is broken milk has an indoor pool that they're actually working on right now. It's supposed to open this fall.

00:34:48:13 - 00:35:05:06
Unknown
And so why would we build an indoor pool and movement when you can go 20 minutes down the highway to rock and build to that indoor pool. So we share that with them. We share like we have really good health care and movement. So we'll share that with them. Obviously that's a great, actually something to bring up.

00:35:05:06 - 00:35:27:06
Unknown
So are there lots of opportunities in health care in the region? Yes, many, many, many. Movement is actually, kind of an anomaly. We have 14 doctors in the community and it's huge. Yeah, yeah, we are the smallest town in Saskatchewan that offers the residency program. So, doctors can take their family residency right here in Michigan.

00:35:27:06 - 00:35:49:07
Unknown
And we've had, I believe, 2 or 3 go through our first doctor that went through the residency program. She bought a house, moved her family here, and they live here full time now. So it's really, really cool. And we're always in need of more health care supports, more nurses and X-ray techs and that kind of stuff. We also have you can do chemotherapy right here in movement.

00:35:49:09 - 00:36:14:20
Unknown
And then we just recently built a long term living facility here. So there's lots of opportunities in health care jobs here in moving. Okay. So we're getting a link that are put in the show notes. And then if people are looking for jobs they can just hop on there because the regional health authorities, they hire them and they don't, nobody else hires for them to apply directly to the regional health authority.

00:36:14:20 - 00:36:39:02
Unknown
So that's a great idea. One thing I always think I always like to highlight as well, and this is a question to, only because I see the challenges right now with people getting their licenses in Winnipeg in areas, how is it obviously you live in a rural you do need a license, right? There's there's no busses, you know, maybe taxis, but, in terms of ease of getting that license, is it quite hard or is it like a long wait time?

00:36:39:02 - 00:36:59:01
Unknown
Do you know, in terms of that as a pretty I think it's fairly easy here in Michigan. I know they do driver testing right here in Michigan. Like I took my driver's license in movement. I think I want to say they're here every month okay. So it's quite steady then. Yes. That's good. And I guess when I'm thinking here it's probably different because we're different provinces as well.

00:36:59:01 - 00:37:17:10
Unknown
But I mean just it has up to everyone to I, I don't want to say it's easier in rule, but I think, you know, you don't you don't have like a bunch of stoplights, like a large city. Right. So yeah, we have that in Michigan at all. Yeah. My, my son just took his recently and I was like, you had it's so easy.

00:37:17:10 - 00:37:35:08
Unknown
Like I was going on the highways and you know. Yeah I had to parallel park behind one vehicle. There wasn't. So it's great for all those people. I mean, I've driven before. Yeah. Yeah. Well it it's great honestly, to get gain your skills in a small town too. Right. There's a lot of less pressure, you know, less cars.

00:37:35:08 - 00:37:53:04
Unknown
So I think it's actually not a bad thing to. Yeah. They run our driver's ed for like the kids out of the school. And then they do always take them on one city trip so that they get to drive in a city and on the highway. Yeah. Oh that's good. Nice. I think we're almost coming to the end to your Lindsay.

00:37:53:04 - 00:38:19:18
Unknown
Did you have any other questions. You wanted to ask. No I think cuzi kind of answered it but maybe just pressed her a little bit more on it. You guys have a big picture. So even if you, at your Gateway Economic Development group doesn't have that defined yet, you as Casey, the economic development officer for Mosman, what would your big picture look like if you could just draw it yourself and snap your fingers and make it happen tomorrow?

00:38:19:20 - 00:38:43:17
Unknown
I think more more people, obviously. But, more housing. We're kind of working on hopefully a new residential subdivision. So if that could happen, that would be really helpful. And then more daycare spaces, because that's where somewhere where we struggle. We are, we were approved for another 90 daycare spaces, so we're currently working on getting that built.

00:38:43:17 - 00:39:04:07
Unknown
It hasn't started yet because it's very expensive to build. So that would be another thing that if I could snap my fingers and it be here, that would be helpful. Oh well, that's actually really, you know, because we we focus a lot on workforce and work, opportunities because that's what the number one thing you need in order to relocate is the job.

00:39:04:09 - 00:39:27:13
Unknown
So you bring up early childhood education. Right. And that is really important. And there is such a high need for these in our country overall. And again, daycare spaces, spaces as well, which leads to, you know, having to get more contractors to build. So, I think there's gonna be a lot, I know there's a lot of opportunity in your community.

00:39:27:13 - 00:39:48:09
Unknown
So I think you guys have done an amazing job, so far. And we really look forward to seeing what gateway economic development does in the future. Thank you. Just to close off, I've got two more questions. Is there any advice you would give to anyone thinking about moving to Mosman or a rural community? Things that they should do, you know, before they say, just jump in, right?

00:39:48:15 - 00:40:16:10
Unknown
I think maybe contacting someone in motion would be helpful just to know exactly what they're looking for. And I think, most importantly, being open to the idea of living in movement, doing your research, finding out if it's something that suits you, the recreation, the daycare, the hospital, that kind of stuff. Make sure that it matches your lifestyle. Because if it doesn't and, we don't want you to have a negative view of movement just because it didn't necessarily match what you're looking for.

00:40:16:12 - 00:40:39:15
Unknown
Yes. What if they want to reach out to you. They could then. Yeah. Absolutely. Okay. We're going to make sure that. So if anyone is interested in moving to Muslim you're ville that area of Saskatchewan then. Definitely. I think you guys should connect with Casey and still point you in the right direction in terms of where there's possible jobs, the housing availability, the daycare, everything that you kind of want to know.

00:40:39:15 - 00:40:58:00
Unknown
And I really love Casey that you said, make sure you do your research on where you live, because, yes, I think that's very important. You gotta love where you live. And, opportunity is what you make it. And I think your town has everything that a lot of people would love to have. Thank you 100%. And so actually, that sort of brings perfect to our next question.

00:40:58:00 - 00:41:21:17
Unknown
We're really trying to highlight, you know, rural restaurants or cool places. Is is there somewhere in the movement area that you would recommend, even if someone's driving by in the number one to stop and try or an area to visit? I think a lot of people, even across the country, know the Red Barn in Richmond. It's, chicken restaurant right on the highway.

00:41:21:19 - 00:41:45:16
Unknown
So many people know about it. It's a very good restaurant, but we do have lots of other good ones in in the great house walk in Bowen, which is brutal. So. And we just opened that they just opened a brewery about a year ago. So that's kind of cool. Okay. I think that's the one thing I too, is that you have so many people passing by and everyone's just doing a quick stop, but people need to take the time to come into town, right?

00:41:45:16 - 00:42:07:20
Unknown
Because there's, there's so much more than what you see on the number one. And so if anything, I encourage everyone who's doing those summer trips this summer to actually stop, give yourself a couple hours and movement and really check it out. Like you said, try the restaurants, drive around, you know, stop by the economic development rate that this is that chance to kind of explore, a great community and a great place to live.

00:42:07:22 - 00:42:29:12
Unknown
Yeah, actually, I wrote about that a couple of years ago about using your summer, holidays, a road trip to explore small rural towns where you might want to relocate to. So, yeah, yeah, I, I agree with you. It's a fabulous idea. You know, plan a trip out to Scotland, take a road tour, spend a couple of nights, and that alone gives you kind of the vibe of what's happening in that town.

00:42:29:13 - 00:42:52:10
Unknown
100%. Well thanks Casey. Yes. Thank you, Casey, for coming on today to talk about movement and everything that's going on there. Thank you to all of our listeners for for listening. We encourage you to reach out to Casey to, to look into movement, the opportunities in that area. We will have everything posted in our show notes and we'll see you all next time.

00:42:52:12 - 00:42:57:19
Unknown
Until then, Liberal live well.

00:42:57:21 - 00:43:12:18
Unknown
If you feel this could assist other people like yourself, please like and share a podcast as well. We will leave links below to the topics we spoke about today. Thank you for listening and join us next time to learn about another great company and community. That is a great place to work and settle.