In February, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce released its economic review, and a representative was in North Bay on Monday to discuss its findings and how they relate to the north.

The future of the provincial economy isn't quite booming in the eyes of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

OCC Vice President of Policy and Government, Karl Baldauf, discussed key issues including rising costs for hydro, minimum wage, and the need to increase broadband infrastructure to attract new and growing business with members of the North Bay chapter.

"The information super highway is the highway people are travelling on now, and they aren't going to expand in northern Ontario unless there is that reliable broadband infrastructure in place." said Baldauf.

While another challenge in northern Ontario is a decreasing population, the indigenous population in the area is on the rise and it's becoming a focus point for the OCC.

"It's a huge opportunity in front of us, to work cooperatively with our indigenous population and to ensure that as we are preparing people for the work place of tomorrow, we are also working with public policy that engages those aboriginal communities in those changes to make sure they are well positioned to be part of the positive change in the future." said Baldauf.

Some experts feel North Bay is in a position to lead in that regard.

Leo Deloyde is a Community Planning Consultant.

"There is major resources units in both college and university in North Bay to support indigenous students in North Bay to ensure they succeed. And once they do, they can proceed to fill in vacant positions and help our economy grow." said Deloyde.

Peter Chirico is the President and CEO of North Bay and District Chamber Of Commerce.

"What is our role? What do they feel our role is going to be? Because I think they've had enough push down and now it's time to push up. And certainly I know that with this sector of the population, and what they mean to our community in the future is a big part of our northern Ontario." said Chirico.

He is hoping the insight provided by the OCC will allow members to make an informed decision when they hit the polls for the provincial election in June.