‘Critical situation’: Water and wastewater operators needed in Manitoba

CTV’s Jeff Keele has the latest on staffing concerns at water and waste plants and how it could affect public health and economic development.

Municipal officials say public health and economic development could be in jeopardy if staffing issues at water and wastewater plants aren’t addressed.

Denys Volkov from the Association of Manitoba Municipalities said operator shortages and certifications have been a problem for 20 years.

“We have a critical situation with water and wastewater operators in municipalities all across our great province,” said Volkov.

Denis Saquet is the manager of operations in Neepawa and is also the chair of the Manitoba Water and Wastewater Association. He knows all too well about the issue.

“You can feel the pain for some communities that are looking. Others are constantly asking. Some are always hunting,” said Saquet.

He said Neepawa had a six-year stretch where they faced challenges staffing their water and wastewater plants with certified operators. Saquet said people retired, were off on medical leave, or, in a lot of cases, places like Neepawa just can’t compete with the larger cities.

“A number of years where we were just a revolving door of employees receiving certification, some of them leaving the same day they actually received their provincial certification letters from the province.”

He said they are in good shape now, in part because they looked within the community to train people.

Volkov said a lot of the certification teaching is done at schools in Winnipeg and Brandon. They want the training moved closer to home.

“We believe that the provincial government can work with the institutions in order to provide training locally so municipalities can save money,” said Volkov.

The AMM met with provincial Environment and Climate Change Minister Mike Moyes this week.

Moyes tells CTV News he is open to the idea.

“This is a really important job,” said Moyes. “So making sure the municipalities have these workers on site and doing that good work is really important and that’s what our government wants to do, is ensure that that takes place.”

Saquet said drinking water operators touch everyone in the community.

“They are the one person in the community that really affects every single person if you think about it that way,” said Saquet.