Town of Penetanguishene to review Water and Wastewater operational and resourcing structure
Penetanguishene, ON - The Town of Penetanguishene is launching a review of its water and wastewater operational and resourcing structure to address ongoing labour challenges and improve service delivery.
Currently, water and wastewater services operate as two separate teams with dedicated resources. While some structural changes were introduced earlier in 2025, maintaining this dual-team approach is no longer sustainable. Several factors including personnel matters and long-term viability require the Town to explore alternative models.
Two primary options will be presented to Town Council:
- Full amalgamation of Water and Wastewater operations under continued Town management – Combining Water and Wastewater operations under the Town, creating one cross-trained, consolidated team to address staffing challenges and increase resilience.
- Outsourcing to a third-party organization – Outsourcing water, wastewater or both combined operations to one external provider. Under this potential model, the third-party organization would determine its required staffing levels.
Our goal with this process is to enhance service quality, address province-wide labour shortages, improve response times to customers, and share workloads among resources. Financial impacts will be assessed during the review, however, minimizing taxpayer impact remains a priority for the Town and our Council.
"This review is about finding a model that ensures long-term viability, improves service delivery, and supports our dedicated staff while being mindful of taxpayer impact. We owe it to our community to make decisions that strengthen our infrastructure and prepare us for the future." – Mayor Doug Rawson, Town of Penetanguishene.
We are committed to transparency and respect for our tremendous team throughout this process and the Town will provide future updates. This review process, communicated to staff and Union partners earlier this month, will officially begin in early 2026.