Grey County heading to 2025 AMO Conference

Grey County Warden Andrea Matrosovs will join more than 2,500 participants at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference in Ottawa from August 17-20.

The AMO Conference is an opportunity for municipal representatives from around the province to come together and discuss the issues and opportunities facing their communities. The conference features a full program with more than 50 sessions, workshops and learning lunches scheduled. Conference topics include housing, economic development, resilience through technology, municipal finance and more.

Presenters at the conference include Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his cabinet ministers, opposition leaders, AMO President Robin Jones and many more. The keynote address will be given by Andrew Coyne, an award-winning political journalist with columns in Maclean’s Magazine, the Globe and Mail, Financial Post and other publications.

The annual conference is also an opportunity for municipal officials to meet with provincial representatives to discuss important local issues. In addition to the conference program, Grey County delegates will be participating in four delegations with Ministry representatives.

The first delegation is with Ministry of Health on August 18 to discuss base funding for community paramedicine and paramedic services funding for inflation. Delegates will also be asking the Ministry to consider simplifying funding reporting requirements. Grey County currently needs to report to both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Long-Term Care, as well as Ontario Health. Aligning reporting criteria would reduce the administrative burden for both Grey County and the province.

Grey County’s second delegation on August 18 is with the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security. Georgian College – Owen Sound Campus Executive Director, Dave Shorey, will be joining in the delegation which will discuss the financial crisis facing Ontario colleges. The current funding model for colleges doesn’t reflect the true cost of delivering programs in small communities. Providing provincial sustainable funding and strategic investments in rural college campuses is critical to support workforce development and drive economic growth across the province.

Grey County’s third delegation will take place on August 18 with the Ministry of Long-Term Care. In this meeting Grey County will be discussing multiple issues including timelines for vulnerable sector screening for staff, new certification requirements for personal support workers, and the phasing out of resident support personnel (RSPs). RSPs play an important role in Grey County homes in supporting residents and taking some pressure off staff. The final item to be discussed with the Ministry of Health is funding for redevelopment. Grey County is redeveloping Rockwood Terrace in Durham and will ask the Ministry to allow in-progress construction projects to be eligible for the new redevelopment funding model announced in the 2025 provincial budget.

On August 19, Grey County will have its final delegation of the conference with the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade to discuss funding for small business enterprise centres. The Grey County Business Enterprise Centre is the first point of contact for businesses and entrepreneurs in the region who want to start up or scale up their business. Grey County will request a return to long-term permanent funding for the centre. Grey County has more than 13,000 businesses and 99% of them are classified as small businesses.

In addition to the Grey County delegations, Warden Matrosovs will participate in three delegations with the Western Ontario Wardens’ Caucus. The first meeting is with the Ontario Liberal Party. The second meeting is with the president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Rebecca Bligh. The final delegation is with Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

More information about the AMO 2025 Conference can be found on the AMO website at www.amo.on.ca/2025-amo-conference/program.

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For media inquiries, or to schedule an interview with Warden Matrosovs during the AMO Conference, contact Rob Hatten, communications manager, at rob.hatten [at] grey.ca (rob[dot]hatten[at]grey[dot]ca) or call 519-373-1592.

For inquiries about the AMO Conference or programming, contact Brian Lambie, AMO Media Contact, at lambie [at] redbrick.ca (lambie[at]redbrick[dot]ca) or call 416-729-5425.