By Sandi Krasowski
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Chronicle-Journal

Growth in the Thunder Bay region’s new-business startups and expansions has intensified the search for funding sources. The Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre hosted a Meet the Funders event and added three more funding sources to their previous dozen. Funders have been vital to the survival of the region’s businesses, both […]

By Wayne Doyle
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
BarrieToday.com

Shortly after cannabis was legalized in Canada 2018, retail cannabis stores started popping up like weeds. At the time, it seemed like a new pot shop was opening on every corner. Many of them are gone today, victims of an overzealous retail market that couldn’t support the many small ‘mom […]

By Kris Dube
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Niagara-on-the-Lake Local

Niagara’s grape and wine industry is raising a glass in a toast to the provincial government for its recent announcement about the elimination of a 6.1 per cent tax on products sold at winery retail stores. This comes as part of a larger agreement that consumers will be able to […]

Elisa Nguyen
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
enguyen@fortfrances.com

The motto of the SAR-1 program is “so that others may live.” True to their mission, the program recently provided intensive training to a group of future team leaders in the Rainy River District, developing expertise and a search and rescue team for the Treaty 3 territory and neighbouring communities […]

District of Rainy River Services Board
Press release

The District of Rainy River Services Board (DRRSB) unanimously approved the 2024 Annual Budget of ~32.4 million at the regular board meeting held Thursday, December 14, 2023. The overall budget reflects an increase of $1.28 M or 4.13% which is funded primarily by the Province through the four major programs, […]

Press release

Dec. 21–An individual is facing a Stunt Driving charge after being caught driving in a unsafe manor causing excess smoke and noise. On December 20, 2023, at approximately 4:30 p.m., members of the Rainy River District OPP on general patrol, located a vehicle stopped at an intersection approaching Broadway Avenue […]

By Carl Clutchey
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Chronicle-Journal

Conmee, Ont. — A cooking additive that was likely a staple in your grandmother’s pantry appears to be making a comeback close to home. Conmee hog farmer Shaun Groulx has begun selling leaf lard, a dairy-free, pork fat that can be added to pie crusts and used in pan frying. […]


By Carl Clutchey
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Chronicle-Journal

Having 15 to 20 committed volunteers at your disposal doesn’t seem like a lot to ask — unless you’re running a small-town fire department. That’s the challenge O’Connor Township’s Henry Mattas and other Canadian volunteer fire chiefs overseeing rural departments have been facing for many years. Mattas, who has been […]

By Sandi Krasowski
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Chronicle-Journal

One of the main focuses of the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission this year is the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, which continues to fuel employment in the North and garner advocacy to make it permanent. Since the pilot’s inception in 2020, Jamie Taylor, chief executive officer of the […]

By Dave Baxter
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Winnipeg Sun

The year 2023 saw families and advocates plead and rally for a search for human remains in a landfill, violence against Indigenous women and girls continue to plague communities, and the province of Manitoba elect Canada’s first ever First Nations premier. As we near the end of another year, here […]

By Javier Ortega-Araiza
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
New Canadian Media

Three years after they had landed in Canada from Russia, Mikhail and Vera Kelim’s lives took a sharp turn. It was on Feb. 24, 2022 that the Russia-Ukraine war began, and having close friends in both places, the Waterloo, Ont.-based couple found themselves in shock. They also felt a sense […]