The WorkBC office in Osoyoos is closing at the end of the month, and being replaced with an outreach location at the Sonora Community Centre. (VANESSA BROADBENT/OSOYOOS TIMES)

By Vanessa Broadbent

Osoyoos Times

Although WorkBC’s satellite office in Osoyoos is closing at the end of the month, employment services will remain available in town with a weekly new outreach location at the Sonora Community Centre.

The new outreach location will be open once a week, the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction told the Osoyoos Times, but times of operation have not yet been determined.

The current location operates three full days a week. At the new outreach location, an employment coach will direct people to the necessary services, Cassandra Togneri, a spokesperson for the ministry said.

“WorkBC Outreach is another way to deliver employment services to people, when and where they need them … People can work with employment counsellors through WorkBC Outreach to connect with the services they need to find and keep a job.”

The decision to make the changes to WorkBC service in Osoyoos was based on community need, previous service history, labour market conditions and population changes since 2012, Togneri said.

“The ministry will continue to monitor this new service delivery arrangement for Osoyoos to ensure services meet all clients’ needs and they achieve sustainable employment.”

• Read more: Closure of WorkBC office sparks concern

Osoyoos town council shared concern for the service changes and a decrease of local employment services.

The changes were addressed at council’s meeting on Monday, and town administration was directed to write a letter to the Minister, expressing concern and questioning the impact.

“Local employers benefited from having a local office in Osoyoos,” CAO Barry Romanko told council.

“There is a need to receive clarity from the provincial government and the Maximus contractor on how services to Osoyoos are being improved.”

The centralization of services is a decrease of local provincial government services, Romanko said, not an increase as the ministry is promoting.

Coun. Myers Bennett pointed out that many job seekers need to visit the office more than once.

“I know it’s more than people just going there and applying for a job,” he said.

“They have to go there, go back, do follow ups, do courses; it’s not just a place you go and look at the board.”

Mayor Sue McKortoff agreed, and said contacting the ministry was a “no brainer.”

“I was horrified when WorkBC emailed us and said the office here was closing down,” she said. “I’m not happy about that.”