NORTH BAY -- Downtown North Bay has started a contest to entice those who are shopping online to keep it local with their "Hop Online" campaign.

The contest which starts today will run until May 14 and give those who are supporting downtown businesses a chance to win a gift card usable at any of the stores. 

"It’s a great way to still be able to support these businesses who are very vital to not only our downtown core but to North Bay as a whole," said Nicholas Clement, the chair of marketing and promotions for Downtown North Bay.

"We have a lot of great local businesses that offer a variety of great local products that could only be offered here and so it’s a way to help them out."

Many local businesses had to close their doors in late March due to the pandemic.

"A lot of these businesses depend on people coming into their stores day to day," said Clement.

"At the end of the day we want to still have them around after this is all done."

You can enter the contest by posting to Facebook or Instagram as proof you have supported downtown business or leave a nice review of one of your favourite downtown stores.