Human Resources News and Awards

Take Our Kids to Work Day 2014

The 2014 "Take Our Kids to Work Day" event was a definite success, with various city staff hosting a total of 45 grade 9 students on Wednesday, November 5th. The day began with a "Kick Off," where participants were provided information packages to prepare them for their day. The students and employees were greeted by Mayor Elect Drew Dilkens and Deputy Fire Chief Steve Laforet, who provided a warm welcome and encouraging words for the students. Students and their sponsors had the option of attending "site tours" at various other city departments in the afternoon. A special thank-you goes out to all the departments who provided items for the students' welcome packages and participated in these tours - your cooperation and effort is greatly appreciated. Many of the students provided positive feedback, noting that they found the tours very informative and exciting.

Workplace Wellness Program wins Diamond; Another wins Gold!

In celebration of Canada's Healthy Workplace Month (October 1 to 31, 2014), Go For Health Windsor-Essex hosted the 13th Annual Working Toward Wellness Healthy Workplace Awards and the 9th Annual Bike Friendly Workplace Awards Ceremony. At this ceremony, the City of Windsor's Workplace Wellness Program was recognized with a Diamond Award for their commitment to health and well-being of their employees, retirees, and family members, through the provision of an organized workplace wellness program. This is no small feat, as to win a Diamond Award, the workplace must have won three consecutive Platinum Awards (highest award level for a comprehensive workplace wellness program). In addition, the Corporation of the City of Windsor also received its third Gold Award for a bike friendly workplace.

Take Our Kids to Work Day 2013

The 2013 “Take Our Kids to Work Day” event was a definite success, with various city staff hosting a total of 44 grade nine students on Wednesday, November 6th. The day began with a “Kick Off”, where participants were provided information packages to prepare them for their day. The students and employees were greeted by CAO Helga Reidel and Fire Chief Bruce Montone, who provided a warm welcome and encouraging words for the students. Students and their sponsors had the option of attending “site tours” at various other city departments in the afternoon. A special thank you goes out to all the departments who provided items for the students’ welcome packages and participated in these tours – your cooperation and effort is greatly appreciated. Many of the students provided positive feedback, noting that they found the tours very informative and exciting.

Workplace Wellness Program wins Diamond; Another wins Gold!

Go For Health Windsor-Essex hosted the 12th Annual Working Toward Wellness Healthy Workplace Awards and the 8th Annual Bike Friendly Workplace Awards Ceremony on October 23, 2013. At this ceremony, the City of Windsor's Workplace Wellness Program was recognized with a Diamond Award for their commitment to the health and well-being of their employees, retirees, and family members, through the provision of an organized workplace wellness program. This is no small feat as to win a Diamond Award the workplace must have won three consecutive Platinum Awards (highest award level for a comprehensive workplace wellness program). In addition the Corporation of the City of Windsor also received its second Gold Award for a bike friendly workplace.

Leadership Windsor/Essex

Leadership Windsor/Essex is one of only 22 Leadership programs across Canada. Designed for those who care deeply about their community and who are willing to make a personal investment to improve a community’s quality of life, Leadership Windsor-Essex is the definitive program of choice for those seeking to make a difference. Employees who have participated include Cathy Masterson (2012/2013), Kamlesh Pandya and Robert Price (2011/2012), and Natalie Seal (2010/2011).

Fran Horvath Memorial Equal Opportunity Award

The Fran Horvath Award is in memory of an employee who committed themselves to fostering a community of equality, diversity and social justice both inside our workplace and in our greater community as well. Recipients include Mike Stamp (2013), Mary Lou McCullough-Malboeuf (2012), Linda Azzopardi and Marian Drouillard (2011), and Melinda Munro (2010).

Learn @ Work Week 2013

Don't forget to stop by and visit us during Learn @ Work Week 2013, between September 23 and 27, in partnership with the Canadian Society for Training and Development. Various displays of information will be available, so if you are contemplating a professional designation or furthering your education, you'll find that and more at this week's planned event.

National Accessibility Awareness Week 2013

The City of Windsor once again participated in the annual Face to Face program which is an initiative aimed at providing a job shadowing experience for individuals with disabilities who are facing employment barriers throughout Windsor and Essex County. The program registers individuals with disabilities who are seeking experience in a chosen career field and then they have Human Resources professionals interview each of the participants. Based upon the previous experience and career goals of the participants they are matched with an employer for one day and a half of job shadowing placement. The City of Windsor participated in Face to Face in 2011 and 2012 and hosted 7 placements during each of those years in the program. Our participation in 2013 lead to an increase in placements.

Mental Health Week 2013

The Windsor Workplace Wellness and Employee Family Assistance committees offered a variety of workshops/presentations focusing on mental health topics to all interested City of Windsor staff during the week of May 6-10, 2013. Some of the many topics will be how to deal with stress, financial health, spirituality, motivation and being physically active, substance abuse, healthy relationships, cooking for picky eaters and an overview of services provided by our EFAP provider, Shepell-fgi.

Take Our Kids to Work Day 2012

The 2012 “Take Our Kids to Work Day” event was a definite success, with various city staff hosting a total of 71 grade nine students on Wednesday, November 7th. The day began with a “Kick Off” in Council Chambers, where participants were provided information packages to prepare them for their day. The students and employees were greeted by Mayor Eddie Francis, who provided a warm welcome and encouraging words for the students. Students and their sponsors had the option of attending “site tours” at various other city departments in the afternoon. A special thank you goes out to all the departments who provided items for the students’ welcome packages and participated in these tours – your cooperation and effort is greatly appreciated. Many of the students provided positive feedback, noting that they found the tours very informative and exciting.

Workplace Wellness Program wins Platinum; Another wins Gold!

In celebration of Canada’s Healthy Workplace Month (October 1 to 28, 2012), Go For Health Windsor-Essex hosted the 11th Annual Working Toward Wellness Healthy Workplace Awards and the 7th Annual Bike Friendly Workplace Awards Ceremony on October 24, 2012. At this ceremony, the City of Windsor's Workplace Wellness Program was once again recognized with a platinum award for their commitment to the health and well-being of their employees, retirees, and family members, through the provision of an organized workplace wellness program. In addition the Corporation of the City of Windsor also received a gold award for a bike friendly workplace.

Learn @ Work Week 2012

Corporate Staff Development invites you to join us as we celebrate Learn @ Work Week, September 17-21, 2012. Hosted in partnership with the Canadian Society for Training and Development, Learn @ Work Week encourages the recognition of value of learning to job performance and economic success.

Take Our Kids to Work Day 2011

The 2011 “Take Our Kids to Work Day” event was a definite success, with various city staff hosting a total of 62 grade nine students on Wednesday, November 7th. The day began with a “Kick Off” in Council Chambers, where participants were provided information packages to prepare them for their day. Students and their sponsors had the option of attending “site tours” at various other city departments in the afternoon. A special thank you goes out to all the departments who provided items for the students’ welcome packages and participated in these tours – your cooperation and effort is greatly appreciated. Many of the students provided positive feedback, noting that they found the tours very informative and exciting.

Learn @ Work Week 2011

September is the perfect time of year to promote learning. Area students returned to the classroom. UNESCO marked International Literacy Day this month. And the City of Windsor celebrated its annual “Learn at Work” week September 19-23. This year was particularly special as we wrapped up “Learn at Work” week with Dr. Peter Jensen, performance coach to Olympians and employees of numerous corporations. Peter is an effective motivational speaker and was very well received by all staff in attendance September 23rd. As well, Peter’s insights into achieving personal high performance and healthy lifestyles fit perfectly with our annual celebration of professional development.

2010 Workplace Wellness Gold!

The City of Windsor, at a ceremony October 27, 2010, Windsor's Workplace Wellness Program was recognized with a gold award for their commitment to the health and well-being of their employees, retirees, and family members, through the provision of an organized workplace wellness program. The Windsor Workplace Wellness team would like to thank everyone who is committed to making our employee wellness program a success! For more information on our wellness program, visit www.citywellness.ca.

2009 CAMA Award

The City of Windsor, Human Resources Department and the IT Department, along with a private partner eSolutionsGroup Ltd. of Conestoga Rovers & Associates, prepared a joint award submission to the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators pertaining to the City's e-learning program. In June 2009, the City of Windsor was presented with the 2009 Award of Excellence for Municipal Workplace Literacy & Learning Achievements in the category of "Recognition of Workplace e-Learning Initiatives". This is the second CAMA Award received by the City of Windsor in the last three years.

The success of the corporate e-learning initiative is credited to numerous individuals and partners who have been involved in its inception, development and ongoing maintenance. Under the leadership of Helga Reidel, General Manager of Corporate Services, Vincenza Mihalo, Executive Director of Human Resources and Harry Turnbull, Executive Director of Information Technology, some of the main contributors include:

  • e-Learning Request For Proposals Committee
  • Human Resources (Employment Services, Human Resources Information Systems, Corporate Training and Staff Development Team)
  • Information Technology Team
  • Stakeholders for System Users
  • Tangible Capital Asset Corporate Project Team
  • An accessibility focus group
  • Corporate Information Security Committee
  • Corporate Communications
  • The staff at eSolutionsGroup Ltd.

For more information about CAMA, please visit CAMA's website. You may also review the City of Windsor 2009 CAMA submission in portable document format (PDF).

2007 CAMA Award

In 2007, the City of Windsor, Human Resources Department, Organizational Planning & Staff Development Area, applied to the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) 2007 Awards of Excellence for Municipal Workplace Literacy & Learning Achievements. Our submission was in the category of Organizational commitment to workplace literacy/learning and/or clear language. We are very pleased that CAMA selected the City of Windsor as the winner in this category.

For more information about CAMA, please visit CAMA's website. You may also review the City of Windsor 2007 CAMA Submission in portable document format (PDF).

For general information, contact 311.

For detailed inquiries, contact:
Human Resources Department
400 City Hall Square East, Suite 408
Windsor, Ontario N9A 7K6
Phone: (519) 255-6515
Fax: (519) 255-6504
TTY: (519) 255-6685
Email: hrdiv@citywindsor.ca