The Township of Bonfield has adopted a new five-year Economic Development Strategy.
It’ll be used to guide council and staff decision-making through 2031.
There are five pillars with a variety of recommendations in each. They include infrastructure and investment readiness, business retention and growth, gathering places and services include fuel, healthcare and a grocery store, housing diversity, and sector bets like agri-food, value-added wood manufacturing and a visitor economy.
In-depth interviews with local businesses and non-profits were held along with a community-wide survey, a series of focus groups, interviews and a town hall event.
“This renewed engagement with local business owners has provided the Township with a much better understanding of the core issues, challenges and opportunities that we face together,” says Mayor Narry Paquette. “It has produced an important evidence base – one which the new Council can reference as it continues to develop and refine its economic development projects, plans, and proposals moving forward.’
Christopher Cameron, Consulting Director at Qatalyst says Bonfield is strategically located at the crossroads of Canada, with critical infrastructure including the Trans-Canada Highway, the CPR railway line, a natural gas pipeline and is only a 25-minute drive from North Bay.
“It also has a strong sense of community identity, and I would say a unique value proposition given its rich agricultural and forestry-based heritage,” he says. “Add to this, a thriving four-season tourism economy, and the potential for new light industrial processing capabilities, and you have a formula that could well support sustainable job creation for many decades to come.”
Further details can be found on the township’s website.
