2022 is another record-breaking construction year in North Bay.
Mayor Al McDonald announced $204 million in building permits through the first nine months of the year.
That brings the total for this term of council to over $510 million.
He says council, city staff and their community partners all came to the table to make this happen.
“Half a billion dollars in construction the last four years, I think, instills a lot of confidence that if people want to invest in the City of North Bay, (then) people are investing here and I think that’s a good thing,” McDonald says.
He also points to all of the benefits of new businesses opening, like the new Burger King restaurant on Lakeshore Drive.
“What it shows is these multi-billion dollar corporations are looking at North Bay and going ‘we’re going to spend a million dollars in North Bay because they’re growing’,” McDonald says. “It’s not just the jobs, it’s not just that we got another restaurant, we also another $50,000 in tax revenue.”
Given the pent-up demand for residential, commercial and industrial serviced land, McDonald expects the trend to continue next year.
He’s also hopeful the moratorium on residential development charges continues with the next council.
“We need to send that strong message to home builders, we’re not going to add that $10,000 on to a new home, you build it and our citizens are going to benefit from it,” McDonald says.
2022 construction values:
– $125 million institutional
– $45.5 million residential (112 total new dwelling units)
– $14.6 million commercial
– $17 million industrial
– $2 million miscellaneous projects
The previous all-time record for building permits, $150 million, was set last year.
