NORTH BAY – A group called Invest North Bay, along with the City of North Bay and other partners, are launching a campaign to attract immigrant investors and those looking to escape the rat race of southern centres.
"The City of North Bay is one of the best-kept secrets in North America and we got to get the story out that this is a place to do business," said Ian Kilgour, Invest North Bay.
At the launch, a few investors who have set up shop in North Bay shared their stories about moving to the city.
Laxmi Konwar moved to North Bay nine years ago and manages the Northern Himalayan Café. He says when he "came to North Bay, I felt that connection and the peace with this place. I loved it and I wanted to be in the place."
The Chamber of Commerce says North Bay is changing with retirements about to open up spots in the local economy.
"What we found when serving our members is that there's quite a number of them that are looking to retire and sell their business in the next five years… this is a way to market those businesses for replacement," explained Peter Chirico, North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce.
Invest North Bay says two people called Opportunity Ambassadors will be in Toronto following potential leads from interested investors looking at North Bay.
North Bay's Mayor Al McDonald is a big supporter of this initiative and says bringing immigrants to the city is the best way to make it grow.
"The only reason Toronto is growing, to be honest, is because they've been able to attract their fair share of immigrants, probably most of them coming into Canada. We need to attract those individuals to our community," said McDonald.
This marketing strategy will go hand in hand with the federal government's Rural and Northern immigration Pilot project in North Bay which has received more than 1,500 applications.
