Wawa, Ont.: 'The perfect place for work-life balance'

While industry in the Wawa area is targeting growth, CTV News talks to some local workers on why they like living in the small northern Ontario town.

The town of Wawa's iconic Canadian goose monument may be made of wire mesh and plaster, but the real 'Golden Goose' for the town of 3,000 is exactly that: gold.

Wawa has a giant Canadian goose monument. (Cory Nordstrom/CTV Northern Ontario)

Mining is crucial to the community and it always has been, Wawa CAO Maury O'Neill said.

"It’s why we exist as a community," O'Neill said.

"There have been many gold mines that have operated in the area for over a century. Today, it’s very, very important to our economy."

Among a number of gold mines close to Wawa is Wesdome Gold's Eagle River Mine.

It's been operational for 35 years and draws heavily from the local workforce, said mine manager Michael Wereszczynsky.

"We have around 300 Wesdome employees and over 100 contractors on site. Approximately 25 per cent of those are from the surrounding area of Wawa right up through White River," Wereszczynsky said.

Among the mine's employees from Wawa is Anthony Roy, an underground mining supervisor.

Though parts of his 13 years in mining have been with other companies, the father of three said being able to work closer to home and in a community like Wawa was a great opportunity.

"It’s not a rat race and everyone’s nice and talks to each other," Roy said.

"Everyone knows each other, it’s a small town."

Echoing those statements is Brandon Smit, the operations manager for J. Provost Contracting -- a Wawa-based construction company that provides a vast array of services.

Smit is from southern Ontario, but when work led him to Wawa, he said staying was an easy choice.

"It’s a destination no matter what time of year and a lot of people are coming up here for fishing trips, snowmobiling weekends, these are things that we do every day after work. It’s the perfect place for the work life balance," he said adding the company is "always looking to hire new staff."

It's something O'Neill said she believes will be commonplace in Wawa for the near future.

"We’re really targeting growth. We need to build some housing and make sure we have the capacity for somewhere around 100 new jobs that will come to the area over the next couple of years, so Wawa’s future is very bright,” O'Neill said.

The area's shuttered Oriented Strand Board mill was recently purchased by Louisiana Pacific and O'Neill said she expects it will greatly add to the economy of the area.

In April, the Ontario government gave the wood plant a $15 million grant to return to making an important material used in new home builds.