Northern Ontario town says $500 land listings boosted house prices, drew families
BNN Bloomberg
A plan that saw a small town in northern Ontario offer vacant lots for as little as $500 has helped revive its economy, officials said Thursday, drawing dozens of families and more than doubling property values.
A plan that saw a small town in northern Ontario offer vacant lots for as little as $500 has helped revive its economy, officials said Thursday, drawing dozens of families and more than doubling property values.
Smooth Rock Falls launched the revitalization effort in 2017, years after the community was nearly ruined when its main employer -- a pulp mill -- closed its doors in 2006.
The marketing campaign, which saw the community offer vacant lots for as little as $500 in some cases, has led to shifting attitudes -- from “glum'' to hopeful, to something even more exciting -- said Luc Denault, Smooth Rock Falls' chief administrative officer.
“We're beyond hope,'' he said. “We've seen the changes, and what's a great feeling is we're continuing to see it ongoing.''
Sixty families have moved to the community since it started offering the incentives in 2017, officials report -- a boon for the town that had a population of 1,330 in 2016, compared to 1,830 in 2001.
Denault said the municipality relies on the census for its population data, so the number hasn't been updated since things started turning around, but less scientific tracking suggests the community has grown.