Community Improvement Plan
The City of Kenora has adopted a new Community Improvement Plan (CIP), which designates the entire municipality as the Community Improvement Project Area and establishes targeted program areas such as Neighbourhoods, Harbourtown Centre, Commercial, Industrial, and Community Corridors to guide where specific incentives apply.
The CIP introduces sixteen grants to support development, including fee rebates, tax increment grants, surplus land disposition, housing grants for additional units and multi unit buildings, upper storey conversions, façade and signage improvements, accessibility upgrades, CPTED safety enhancements, environmental site assessment support, activation programs for Harbourtown Centre such as ground floor commercial conversions and sidewalk patio grants, and improved energy efficiency within eligible program areas.
These programs aim to promote activities such as increased housing supply, beautification, economic growth, community safety, and reinvestment in underutilized properties within the municipality. Council will have the opportunity to determine funding availability and priorities annually.
The Community Improvement Plan Review was funded by the Ontario Government through the Rural Economic Development Program and the City of Kenora Municipal Accommodation Tax.
Subject lands
The new Community Improvement Project Area and CIP apply to all lands within the municipal boundary of the City of Kenora. As such, no key map is provided.
Written and oral submissions
The public was consulted through the project, with open houses held on March 5, 2025, and January 22, 2026, and the Statutory Public Meeting on February 3, 2026. Comments received informed updates to the administrative process and grant incentives for the Community Improvement Plan.
Decision
The Community Improvement Plan is exempt from approval by the Minister. The decision of the Council of the City of Kenora is final if a Notice of Appeal is not received on or before the last day for filing a notice of appeal. If no appeal is filed within the prescribed time, the Community Improvement Project Area and Community Improvement Plan come into effect on the date of adoption.
How an appeal is made
An appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal may be made by filing a notice of appeal with the City Clerk either via the Ontario Land Tribunal e-file service (first-time users will need to register for a My Ontario Account) at by selecting The City of Kenora as the Approval Authority or by mail to the City Clerk, no later than 4:30 p.m. on March 10, 2026.
The filing of an appeal after 4:30 p.m., in person or electronically, will be deemed to have been received the next business day. The appeal fee can be paid online through e-file or by certified cheque/money order to the Minister of Finance, Province of Ontario. If you wish to appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) or request a fee reduction for an appeal, forms are available from the OLT website. If the e-file portal is down, you can submit your appeal to the Corporation of the City of Kenora, City Hall, 1 Main Street South, Kenora, ON P9N 3X2.
The Notice of Appeal must:
- be accompanied by the fee required by the Tribunal, and
- set out the reasons for the appeal, and the specific part of the proposed Community Improvement Plan to which the appeal applies.
Right of appeal
No person or public body shall be added as a party to the hearing of the appeal unless, before the plan was adopted, the person or public body made oral submissions at a public meeting or written submissions to the council or, in the opinion of the Ontario Land Tribunal, there are reasonable grounds to add the person or public body as a party.
Additional information
For further information please contact: Melissa Shaw, Land Acquisition and Divestment Officer, at 807-467-2292 or planning@kenora.ca and reference the Community Improvement Plan (February 2026).
Contact us
Contact the Economic Development Team
Megan Dokuchie, Economic Development Officer
Phone: 807-467-2127
Allyson Pele, Economic Development Officer
Phone: 807-467-2204
Operations Building
60 Fourteenth Street North
Kenora, Ontario P9N 4M9
A City of Kenora Department
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