Nancy Peckford, the Mayor of North Grenville, says the town wants to use Kemptville Campus as a government office so the thousands of public servants living in the community don’t have to commute to Ottawa in the fall.
“Quite frankly, here in North Grenville, we’ve been a beneficiary of the fact that people have had more hybrid work options,” Peckford told CTV News on Monday.
Last month, Peckford voiced her disappointment with the federal government’s return-to-office mandate, which will require public servants to work in-person at least three times a week.
North Grenville is roughly 50 kilometres south of Ottawa, so Peckford is recommending a closer option.
“Kemptville Campus is an excellent co-working option,” she explained. “It gives some relief to those federal employees who, for a variety of different reasons, may not be able to fulfill the new Treasury Board commitment.”
Kemptville Campus has about 17 buildings, and while most are currently occupied, the town feels a few of them would work well for public servants.
“There are a lot of different kinds of spaces available here,” said Liz Sutherland, the Executive Director of Kemptville Campus. “Wide open spaces that have good audio-visual tech and natural light. The big windows that you get with the kind of mid-century and early century buildings.
“But they’re now very suitable for co-working spaces or gathering spaces for people having meetings as well.”