Quality of life a draw for tourists.

A giant four-tonne statue of a Canadian snow goose proudly stands at the entrance to the community, acting as the gateway to Wawa - which means "wild goose' in Ojibwa.

The community of Wawa is an area of supreme beauty, attracting many tourists, while providing a high quality of life, says John Hoffren, community development officer.

"The major attractions as a base for economic activity are the abundance of natural resources and the soughtafter tourism industry for fishing, hiking, snowmobiling, camping, and canoeing," Hoffren says.

The Superior East Regional Tourism Strategy 2000 identified tourism, accommodation, and service sectors as the largest employment sectors in the Wawa economy.

Part of Wawa's draw for tourists, and also a major attraction for economic development, is the quality of life that is offered in the community, Hoffren says.

The primary economic attributes of the community include forestry, mining, service and tourism. The major or employers for the Township of Michipicoten include the provincial and municipal governments, healthcare and education agencies, and the forestry industry.

The major employers in Wawa are Weyerhaeuser, Aqua North Forest Nurseries and River Gold Mines Inc. The opening in 1995 of the Jager (now Weyerhaesuer) Oriented Strand Board (OSB) plant in Limer Township, just east of the community, resulted in over 140 new jobs to the region. The full opening of the River Gold facility just west of the community around the same time added approximately 100 jobs to the region.

Both of these openings fortunately mitigated the impact of the closure of Algoma Ore Division (AOD) of Algoma Steel Incorporated in 1998, Hoffren says. At the time, AOD was the area's largest employer with 210 employees.

The Township of Michipicoten has industrial properties zoned from light industrial to heavy industrial. The Michipicoten Industrial Park is located across from the Michipicoten Municipal Airport and has lots zoned both light industrial and commercial. There are 25 lots which are just under an acre in size. The lots are partially serviced with water and hydro.

The types of industry that the community wants to attract are those that can either diversify the employment sectors and/or are complementary to the existing industries. To achieve this, the town is in the process of establishing a community marketing corporation.

Weyerhaeuser is an international forest products company that grows and harvests trees, produces and sells forest products, including logs, building products, wood chips, pulp, paper and packaging. Local companies provide forest management services for larger pulp and paper mills in northwestern Ontario.

Weyerhaeuser employs 160 directly and another 100 indirectly in Wawa, says Dennis Murphy, Weyerhaeuser's manager in Wawa.

Hoffren says one of the major challenges in attracting economic development is changing the mindset that small Northern Ontario communities are isolated. Wawa has a lot to offer businesses and industries looking to settle in the area, he adds.

However, the commercial real estate market in Wawa is stagnant, with only three properties available. There are a total of 282 businesses in the community including government organizations, agencies, schools, incorporated clubs, other public organizations and private enterprises.

Wawa is considered a service centre for the region for government, medical, commercial and educational sectors.

The exploration and extraction of mineral resources have been ongoing activities in the Wawa area since the native operation of primitive copper mines and the search for these mines by early European explorers in the late 1600s. There were some unsuccessful mining exploits which went on in spurts until 1897 when gold was discovered on the south shore of Wawa Lake establishing Wawa's future as a mining town. In a matter of a couple of months over 300 claims were staked around Wawa Lake.

The search for the elusive precious yellow metal during the Michipicoten gold boom led to the unexpected discovery of iron ore in 1897, again opening up the mining operations in Wawa.

WAWA
POPULATION                    4,340
MAIN EMPLOYER/PRIVATE SECTOR  Weyerhaeuser Oriented
                              Strand Board
TOP FIVE EMPLOYERS            Weyerhaeuser Oriented Strand Board
                              North Algoma Health Organization
                              Aqua North Forest Nurseries,
                              River Gold Mines Inc.,
                              and Watson's Algoma Vacations Ltd.
AREA SIZE OF COMMUNITY        422.09 sq. kilometers, including the
                              communities of Wawa,
                              Michipicoten River Village (Mission)
                              and Michipicoten Harbour
LOCATION OF NEAREST CITY      Sault Ste. Marie- 227 kilometers
MUNICIPAL TAXES BASE AVERAGE  Residential 0.01505000 /
                              Industrial occupied 0.01505000
LAND VALUES                   The Total Assessment Value
                              of taxable lands in the community
                              is $125, 629, 945.
INDUSTRIAL PARK               Serviced