About Township of Zorra
What is the Township of Zorra?
Zorra is a rural township of roughly 8,000 people in Oxford County, southwestern Ontario, between London and Woodstock. Its communities include Thamesford, Embro, Kintore and Lakeside, and its economy is largely agricultural. The Township runs the services a rural municipality owns directly: the clerk's office and council support, finance and taxation, building and planning, by-law enforcement, roads and drainage, water and wastewater, fire services, and parks, arenas and recreation programmes across several villages.
Zorra drew national attention in 2020 when it became one of the first municipalities in Canada to trial a four-day working week for its administrative staff, and again at the end of 2021 when council voted to keep it.
Where will I work?
On site in the Township. The municipal office is at 163 Brock Street in Thamesford, with public works, fire and recreation staff based at facilities across Zorra's villages. This is in-person local-government work in a rural setting.
What is the Township of Zorra team like?
Small and generalist. A township of this size means a handful of people in each department and roles that cover wide ground rather than narrow specialisms, with direct contact with residents rather than through a call centre. Zorra's willingness to run the four-day trial at all — and to publish the reports behind it — is a reasonable signal of how the organisation approaches its staff.
Work-Life Balance
Zorra piloted a four-day week in 2020 and made it permanent by council resolution 30-12-2021 on 15 December 2021. The arithmetic is set out in the Township's own Report 2020-090: "The work week would still consist of 35 hours and each workday would be 8.75 hours." Staff work four longer days instead of five and are paid in full.
This is a compressed week, not a reduction. Thirty-five hours before, thirty-five hours after — the change is in how the week is arranged, not in how much of it you work. (Some national press coverage reported 40 hours; the Township's own council report says 35, and the council document is the authority.) After the pilot, council chose to make the schedule permanent rather than wind it up.
The schedule reaches administration staff. Report 2020-090 records that it was judged "not practical" for Public Works and Recreation, whose hours follow road, water and facility service needs.
Perks and Benefits
- Permanent four-day working week for administration staff, council-approved since December 2021 (res. 30-12-2021)
- 35 hours over four 8.75-hour days at full pay — a three-day weekend every week
- One of the first municipalities in Canada to trial and then keep the four-day week
- Broad, generalist rural-municipal roles with direct public contact