Ontario Town to Launch Third Round of Incentives to Lure Newcomers

Smooth Rock Falls offers bargain basement prices on land to revitalize town hit hard by pulp mill closure

Smooth Rock Falls in northern Ontario will soon launch its third round of generous incentives to woo people to move there and help rebuild the community. Town of Smooth Rock Falls

TORONTO—A northern Ontario town that has offered two rounds of generous incentives in an innovative bid to attract newcomers will soon launch a third round—this time putting on offer prime waterfront land.

Smooth Rock Falls, about an hour from Timmins, saw its population dwindle and revenues fall drastically after the closure in 2006 of the local pulp and paper mill, the town’s main employer. To entice newcomers to move there and help rebuild the community, the municipal government developed a plan offering what it describes as “unparalleled community and financial incentives.”