Industry on the upswing in Manitouwadge

Manitouwadge is looking for a few new people to call neighbour. The small town in northern Ontario is seeing an upswing thanks to an increased demand for natural resources.

"Manitouwadge is like a hidden gem," said Mayor-elect Jim Moffat.

“People travel here for the wilderness, the fresh air, it's just a great place to be.”

Manitouwadge is a town of about 2,000 people located on Highway 614, smack dab in the middle between Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie.

The name means 'cave of the great spirit' in Ojibway, a testament to early residents of the area.

"Work-wise, there is a lot of forestry work in Manitouwadge, there are many miners who still live in Manitouwadge and they travel to the local mine at Hemlo or they fly in and fly out," said Moffat.

The long-time local politician said nature is also a recreational must for many.

"You can't beat the snowmobiling out here, lots of snow in the wintertime. We have the best ski hill on the north shore," he said.

"Summertime we've got a great golf course there and fishing, hunting galore."

CLOSE TO BARRICK GOLD

The job bank on the town's website currently has several openings for high-level jobs.

Barrick Gold is also a short commute from the town.

One of the employers helping to sustain the town is Manitouwadge Contracting Ltd. Owner Craig Schut said you can't beat the lifestyle.

"It's a very small, tight-knit community, small in the middle of nowhere," he told CTV News.

"You go around and ask people what brought them here and most people like myself will tell you it was a short-term job. Twenty years later and I'm still here."

Schut said it was mining that really helped create the town. Forestry has always been there.

"We don't have a facility for forestry in town, we deliver the product to other areas," he said.

"We're a stump-to-dump operation for forestry. We rely on ourselves for all aspects of it. So we do everything from building the roads, to harvesting the timber, to processing the timber and looking after getting that timber and all that maintenance that is required in getting that to the mills. We do it all in-house with our employees and direct contractors."

"We are a fully furnished community, we have a wonderful hospital, we have schools," added Schut.

"This is about a small as town as you can get where you have everything. Nobody gets trucked anywhere – a lot of other communities, your kids are on the highway for an hour or two on a school bus. We're very lucky. We're self-sufficient but there is, in between mining and forestry, a need for people here."

Cost of living has been a common joke for many of them. Until recently, it didn't cost much to set up shop.

"For a long time, that was the running gag. You pay more for your vehicle than you do for your housing, but now people are catching on and our values are going up so if you're coming up here, hurry up," laughed Moffat.

A decent price to pay for community, in a peaceful setting full of nature.