TERRACE BAY — Strategic planning in some North Shore communities is focusing less on large industry and with more of an eye on diversification, say local and regional officials.
Nipigon, Schreiber and Terrace Bay each received funding from FedNor, which was publicly announced on Sept. 8, to offset the costs of developing new five-year strategic plans. Nipigon got $72,000, Schreiber received $79,200 and Terrace Bay was granted $71,910.
It comes as the communities remain without a large-scale industrial presence, with the mill in Terrace Bay being indefinitely idled in early 2024; Nipigon’s mill burned down in 2007 and was never rebuilt. In Terrace Bay, Mayor Paul Malashewski said the community was already starting to work on long-term planning, but the mill closure drastically changed that process, necessitating them reaching out to FedNor.
“We had started to do it on our own, but after the mill closure, with the uncertainty of what was going on with the mill, we decided to get a professional consultant in to do the plan for us,” Malashewski told Newswatch in an interview, adding that the FedNor money essentially reimbursed the township for the work.
With the mill’s closure being relatively recent, Malashewski said there hasn’t yet been a hit to the municipal tax base as the mill owners, AV Terrace Bay, are still paying property taxes. However, Malashewski added, they are looking to find other ways to raise money.
“With the mill being down and maybe some uncertainty there, we want to try and diversify our economy,” he said. “So, trying to attract new industries or businesses, and support small businesses and also some tourism development.”
Part of that tourism, Malashewski said, has been the recent arrival of cruise ships to the North Shore community, with several making port calls in the past two seasons.
“In this day and age, having all your eggs in one basket isn't a good thing.”
Nipigon knows that well. After its mill burned down, the township eventually took ownership of the land and is seeking ways to get it redeveloped. The loss of that industrial tax base has forced the township to look elsewhere, and that eye on diversification remains in its latest long-term planning efforts, said Nipigon chief administrative officer Lars Moffatt.
“Can we incentivize commercial or industrial businesses to be able to come to Nipigon, and what are we going to offer to be able to make that happen?” he said of their priorities, which also includes housing, for the next half-decade.
Like in Terrace Bay, tourism is also a big focus of Nipigon's strategic planning, he said, adding that the FedNor contribution was a reimbursement, as their plan was endorsed by council in September 2024.
“We've got great hunting and fishing, we've got great outdoor assets, and we just want to be able to market those better,” Moffatt said.
Over the years, Nipigon has established itself as more of a regional service hub, he added, which has helped offset the loss of the mill.
“If you look narrowly in one direction, you get kind of blindsided if things don't go maybe according to plan,” Moffatt said.
“But it's finding other industry that we can bring in, more from the industrial perspective, that would help support more of a diverse economy.”
Marathon Mayor Rick Dumas, who is also the head of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association, said it’s a common theme in many communities he represents as the president of NOMA. The longtime Marathon municipal politician said times are changing.
“When I first started on council, it was simply (that) we looked at single-industry municipalities as chasing-the-smokestack scenario,” he said. “We went back and looked for those big suppliers, those big industries where they would support 200 and 300 jobs.
“In today's economy, we’ve got to look at how do we diversify our economies, and hopefully the municipalities with this funding, and looking at their own strategic plans … to reflect a wider range of employees and employers rather than looking at the big industry.”
Such planning, Dumas said, can make communities more resilient over longer stretches.
“If the big industry comes knocking again, and we have opportunities within those sectors — mining, forestry, manufacturing — that's great,” he said. “But these strategic plans are super important for our communities to address the needs of the municipality over a period of time.”
In Marathon, Dumas said, “we were lucky,” as when they lost their mill, the community was able to pivot to mining. But he said not every municipality has that luxury of having a second anchor industry. Losing that mill property as a source of industrial tax revenue cost Marathon about $1.3 million annually, he said, which made up roughly 20 per cent of its operating budget.
“But if we didn't have (the mining sector), that $1.3 million either has to be picked up by the residential and commercial sector, or simply, you lay off people and you cut services,” Dumas said.
“That affects all municipalities, and no matter what size your municipality is, big or small, if you lose those tax dollars, you have to make tough decisions.”
