Northern Ontario Grow Bonds Helps Emo Sawmill Expand
SUDBURY – The Ontario government is helping create new jobs in Northwestern Ontario by supporting the expansion and modernization of an Emo sawmill, Northern Development and Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci announced today.
“We are on the side of northerners. That is why this government is firmly committed to investing in private sector job creation in our traditional and emerging economic sectors,” said Bartolucci. “We are working closely with northerners to build a stronger, more prosperous North.”
Manitou Forest Products Limited has received a $250,000 loan from the Northern Ontario Grow Bonds Pilot Program to help expand its sawmill and to purchase specialized equipment. This investment has created 12 new jobs and is helping to increase the company’s overall sales. The Ontario government launched the Northern Ontario Grow Bonds Pilot Program to stimulate job growth and business opportunities in Northern Ontario. Northern residents purchased close to $13 million in bonds, with the proceeds being invested in small and medium-sized businesses in the North.
“Our government is ensuring that small- and medium-sized businesses in the North grow to the next level of success,” said Bartolucci. “We are listening to northerners who have expressed to us the importance of investing in projects that help companies remain competitive.”
This initiative is just one way the McGuinty government is helping northern businesses. Others include:
• A refocused Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation that works with the private sector to diversify and grow the Northern economy, with additional initiatives in community infrastructure to help increase job creation
• A GO North Investor program, designed to encourage international investment through marketing the North’s strengths across the continent and around the world
• Northern Development Councils, which provide a direct link from northerners to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines.
These initiatives are part of the government’s Northern Prosperity Plan for building stronger northern communities. The Northern Prosperity Plan has four pillars: Strengthening the North and its Communities; Listening to and Serving Northerners Better; Competing Globally; and Providing Opportunities for All.
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Contacts:
Laura Blondeau
Minister’s Office – Sudbury
(705) 564-7454
Sharon Tansley
MNDM/NOGBC – Sudbury
(705) 564-7115
The McGuinty government laid the groundwork for fundamental change in Northern Ontario when it unveiled its Northern Prosperity Plan in June of 2004. The plan weaves together a range of targeted initiatives in the North and in Ontario’s mineral sector to drive job creation, economic growth and competitiveness, and the participation of northerners in charting their own future.
The plan is based on four pillars: Strengthening the North and its Communities; Listening to and Serving Northerners Better; Competing Globally; and Providing New Opportunities for All. With the help and hard work of northerners and mineral sector partners, significant results are being achieved.
STRENGTHENING THE NORTH AND ITS COMMUNITIES
Northern Ontario’s infrastructure is being revitalized. Provincial investments in highways, winter roads, community infrastructure and educational institutions have led to new jobs and economic opportunities, and increased public health and safety.
• For the first time, northerners know where highways will be improved, and when. In 2005, the government released the Northern Ontario Highways Strategy, which sets out a five-year, $1.8 billion comprehensive program for all northern highways.
• Travelers on Northern Ontario’s nearly 11,000 kilometres of highways have benefited from improved road surfaces, an increased number of passing lanes, and new signs promoting safe driving.
• Over 2004 and 2005, the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines’ Northern Highways Program invested over $541 million in projects that resulted in the rehabilitation of 43 bridges and repairing almost 700 kilometres of highway. In 2006-2007, the largest ever single-year investment, $357 million, will go toward northern highway rehabilitation and expansion. This is expected to result in 420 kilometres of improved highway, and a further 43 rehabilitated bridges.
• Additionally, the government is on track to meet its commitment to finish four-laning Highway 11 in 2012 and Highway 69 in 2017. Construction is also nearing completion on the new two-lane alignment for Highway 11-17 west of Thunder Bay, and on the new four-lane Highway 17 corridor east of Sault Ste. Marie.
• As part of Move Ontario, northern municipalities received $56.6 million to repair and upgrade local bridges and roads.
• Residents of 31 remote communities in the province’s Far North have had more economical, safe and convenient access to services and supplies via the 3,000-kilometre winter roads network, in which the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines has invested a total of $7 million since October 2004.
The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) has been refocused to work with northern entrepreneurs, companies and business organizations while continuing to support vital infrastructure and community development projects that enhance quality of life and stimulate economic activity.
• Since October 2003, over 4,500 jobs and work placements have been created and 1,295 jobs have been sustained from NOHFC investments. Indicators of diversity and new business opportunities are appearing – including the animation cluster that’s starting to blossom in Sudbury.
• Residents of northern communities have safer drinking water after upgrading their water systems with the help of NOHFC investments totaling more than $32 million.
The Northern Ontario Grow Bonds Pilot Program is helping small and medium sized businesses to retain or create new jobs through the expansion or establishment of new businesses. The pilot program provided residents of Northern Ontario with the opportunity to invest in a safe and competitive savings instrument, while actively contributing to the economic future of the North.
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is educating a new generation of doctors in and for the North, driving research opportunities and breaking new ground in rural health, telemedicine and interdisciplinary learning. The government has invested $95.3 million toward the new school. Most recently, $6.7 million was provided to match the funds raised through the school’s bursary fund.
Through the Ontario Strategic Infrastructure Financing Authority the province is helping 47 northern municipalities upgrade vital infrastructure by providing $259 million in low-cost loans.
We are strengthening Ontario's forest sector by investing $220 million over the next three years to help with the cost of forest access roads and reduce stumpage fees. These and other measures, including last year's commitment of $680 million in support, will help Ontario companies secure and create jobs.
Northern tourism marketing, sports, culture and tourism infrastructure initiatives have also benefited from $14 million in provincial investments.
On the energy front, the government is helping the forestry and other sectors control energy costs by capping profits at OPG for the next three years. $4 million was invested in the creation of a Bio-Energy Research Centre in Atikokan, which will conduct practical research.
LISTENING TO AND SERVING NORTHERNERS BETTER
The constant theme of all aspects of the Northern Prosperity Plan is the invitation for northern engagement. Never has a government opened so many avenues of participation for northerners, who are responding and getting involved in the policies and programs that affect them. Provincial support for projects to build and extend broadband infrastructure is giving more northerners, spread out over vast distances, the opportunity to participate via the Internet.
For example, northerners are directly engaged in talking to the government about its policies and initiatives in the North. Northern Development Councils represent the Far North, northwest, northeast and major cities. Their first report to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines will be based on extensive dialogue with northerners about creating opportunities for youth in Northern Ontario.
• Council members have worked with the government and partner ministries to provide input on a range of provincial policies and programs including: key elements of the Northern Prosperity Plan; the Ontario Mineral Development Strategy; immigration as a tool for economic development; and the report of the Water Strategy Expert Panel.
The Ministry of Northern Development and Mines also operates and administers a network of 31 Government Information Centres, soon to be renamed ServiceOntario, in Northern Ontario. These offices are the backbone of the Province’s ‘walk-in’ front counter service network and offer a simple, seamless, customer-focused service to northerners.
COMPETING GLOBALLY
Working to keep Ontario’s mineral sector ahead of the pack. The province’s mineral sector is enjoying a boom the likes of which has been not seen since the 1980s. Commodity prices are at record highs and opportunities to grow and prosper abound. Ontario’s mineral production, valued at $7.2 billion, accounts for almost one third of Canada’s mining wealth. Earlier this year, De Beers Canada began construction on Ontario’s first diamond mine. This exciting development has led to a dramatic rise in the number of companies exploring for gold and diamonds.
The government is supporting a healthy mineral sector by:
• Creating the Ontario Mineral Industry Cluster Council to foster a sustainable and rising standard-of-living from Ontario’s mineral industry and create a larger and more globally competitive cluster.
• Supporting the development of an international centre of industry-driven mining research by investing $10 million towards the launch of the Centre of Excellence in Mining Innovation at Laurentian University.
• Releasing Ontario’s first Mineral Development Strategy, which will enhance the province’s position as one of the world’s best mining jurisdictions and supportsustainable mineral development and stewardship that benefits communities and all Ontarians.
• Launching the three-year, $15 million Far North Geological Mapping Initiative, which will help create jobs, business opportunities, and a more stable business climate in Ontario’s Far North, in collaboration with Aboriginal communities.
• Investing approximately $7 million annually in geological mapping and resource inventory to identify and promote northern areas, which have high mineral potential to investors.
• Creating one-window Internet access to provincial mining-related services. . Investors around the world will now have direct access to information that will support investment decisions and mineral investment in Ontario.
• Maintaining a favourable tax system including flow-through share treatment for mineral exploration.
• Investing $60 million over six years for the Abandoned Mines Rehabilitation Program. This long-term commitment is a first for a program that has been very successful in eliminating or reducing environmental and physical safety hazards.
The GO North Investor Program was launched to promote Northern Ontario investment opportunities to the world and help attract investment and create jobs in the North. GO North takes advantage of the inherent strengths of many ministries in bringing new investment to Northern Ontario.
• As part of GO North, funding is being provided through the Northern Community Investment Readiness program to communities, First Nations and Economic Development Corporations to help them successfully explore, attract and receive investment opportunities.
• “Ontario’s North” – a video that showcases the North’s business advantages, sector strengths and quality of life to international audiences has been distributed around the world and across the North. Advertising focusing on Northern Ontario was incorporated into the 2006 Invest Ontario international marketing campaign.
PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL
Young northerners are finding support for training, employment and business opportunities so that they have reason to stay and build their lives in the North. Through the Northern Development Councils, the minister launched a dialogue with northerners on strategies to create additional opportunities for young people. The government is also pursuing building new partnerships with First Nations and Aboriginal communities to help secure new opportunities for prosperity.
• The NOHFC has helped 399 young people find internship and co-op placements that will help them launch careers in Northern Ontario.
• The NOHFC has also helped 41 young entrepreneurs create new business opportunities in a wide variety of commercial niches including translation services, interior and graphic design, forestry services, dental care, veterinary services and many others.
• More than $500,000 was invested for summer jobs and training for Aboriginal youth.
• The government has created training and pre-apprenticeship opportunities for communities in the James Bay Lowlands area by committing $1million to local employment and training board. This investment will help people gain the skills they need to be successful in apprenticeships and to be eligible for work at the De Beers Victor Diamond Mine. The government also provided more than $300,000 to fund pre-apprenticeship training projects in the welding and Native Construction Craft Workers trades.
• To improve access and opportunities for Aboriginal postsecondary students, the government invested more than $1million to help universities and colleges deliver innovative projects in outreach, transition and retention.
• The government is investing $1.5 million to help Contact North expand its award-winning distance education and training network into over 20 new communities in Northern Ontario.
• The government has invested $6 million in First Nation libraries to help strengthen literacy and promote lifelong learning for people of all ages. In addition, $800,000 was provided for the Lieutenant Governor’s summer camp initiatives that encourage literacy among Aboriginal youth.
• The province has signed individual Memorandums of Cooperation with Eabametoong First Nation, Webequie First Nation, Kasabonika Lake First Nation and Neskantaga First Nation, which will help strengthen the relationship between these First Nation communities and the province.
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Contact:
Laura Blondeau
Minister’s Office – Sudbury
(705) 564-7454
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