Conventional communication may not spread the word well enough about new policies and bylaws, and that needs to change, says Fort Frances Town Council.
As provincial and federal legislation changes, municipalities are obligated to review their own policies and bylaws to meet legislative requirements. Through these changes, Fort Frances will provide information through conventional means such as Open House sessions and council meetings for questioning and transparency.
According to a report to council delivered at their Monday, October 27, 2025, meeting, the town is finding conventional communications may not provide enough outreach to adequately inform the public about legislative changes, new bylaws, and new policies.
Under the provincial More Homes Built Faster Act, the government introduced changes to the Planning Act and the Ontario Building Code to address the missing middle regarding housing supply.
Those changes permit up to three residential units on properties zoned for single residential development subject to property and building conditions. Changes are intended to allow residents more ability to develop on their land to increase housing supply.
That information may not have reached all Fort Frances residents, so educational materials is required to better inform the public of those changes. Municipal staff has outlined options to disseminate important information.
Option 1 is to develop and circulate information through internal means. Compiling information regarding additional residential units and creating information materials internally would be the most affordable option as it does not require any capital commitment.
But staff time to this may impede other obligations and duties. There is also the factor of quality for the information materials that would be improved if a consultant were retained to assist.
“This option can be actioned immediately and results can be assessed through the material circulation stage,” according to the report.
Option 2 has the municipality contract a consultant to assist with compiling and spreading the word.
“If there is a desire to have higher quality information packages available to the public, the town may consider contracting a consultant to assist with this undertaking,” the report said.
This process may expedite the ability to get information out and ensure that it is accessible to residents and will require a financial commitment estimated to be between $3,000 and $6,000. The actual costs may end up higher.
Councillor Kaleb Firth wondered if the best course of action would be to consider Option 2 and to add resources from the future Community Improvement Plan and input from the new economic development officer.
“I think this kind of ties really well with that (economic development) as well,” he said. “I don’t want us to have to rush and have to do this twice or three times.”
Jonathan Burrows, the town’s chief building official and planner, said that was why staff recommended council pursue Option 1 with a future reconsideration for Option 2.
“We would like to proceed with putting out informational materials at this time,” Burrows said. “We believe we could provide some brief informational materials that we can post on our social media at this time.”
The Official Plan and zoning bylaw will soon be finalized. And the work to ink a community development plan will soon begin. Having those documents in hand will better suit the adoption of Option 2, he said.
“It could be beneficial in the new year to proceed with Option 2 of actually having some well-put-together informational materials at a later time when we do have that updated information,” Burrows said. “But we don’t see a reason not to entertain Option 1.”
Council agreed to provide information to residents by way of Option 1 and to prepare a report in early 2026 that will outline the effectiveness of that option. The report will determine if Option 2 would be beneficial.
