The City of North Bay introduced a framework for its strategic plan on May 26.
With a vision of the city as “a place for our families to live, learn, work and play — a vibrant community that strives to grow while fostering a higher quality of life and place,” the framework outlines the city’s strategic priorities, to be implemented over the next 10 years.
The framework outlines three areas of concentration: growth and development; vibrant, active, healthy and safe community; and prudent operation of the city. Each area identifies key goals and objectives of focus.
When it comes to growth and development, the city wants to create public and private sector partnerships and relationships and promote investment.
There’s an emphasis on developing the waterfront and revitalizing the downtown, in addition to making the business climate more friendly by making it easier to do business with the city, and investing in projects that are “catalysts for development.”
The city wants to encourage establishment and expansion of business; in particular, small and medium-sized enterprises that provide “highly engineered products and services.”
There’s also a plan to engage Canadore College and Nipissing University to develop skilled labour and development opportunities, as well as encourage immigration to meet labour needs, and retain and attract youth to the city.
“Our priorities focus on making North Bay a better place to live, work, play and learn,” Mayor Al McDonald said in the framework literature.
“This means working collectively to grow and diversify our economy, while striving to ensure our community is not only a great place to live, but also a place where there is engagement and vibrancy.”
The city plans to undertake a consultation process with the community and key stakeholders in September, which will help further develop the strategic framework into a final Community Strategic Plan.
