A Freedom of Information request has revealed that Canadore College had been developing extensive plans for a new long-term care home near Cedar Heights Road—without informing nearby residents or engaging them in the process
Editor’s note: This is a follow-up to the BayToday story Cedar Heights residents wary after meeting on new long term care home near Canadore.
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To the editor:
Cedar Heights Residents were told by Canadore President George Burton for more than one year that there were no specifics to share about a planned Long-Term Care Facility on Cedar Heights Road.
Emails went unanswered or provided little to no information.
Residents attended a City Council meeting to present concerns about the infrastructure on the road needing significant upgrades to support this development. Residents hosted a public meeting inviting the Canadore Leadership and the Municipality to answer questions.
With information still not being shared, residents had to resort to a Freedom of Information request. The FOI records reveal extensive Long-Term Care planning and expenditures over several years by Canadore College without public consultation and engagement.
Residents of the Cedar Heights neighbourhood are raising serious concerns about governance, transparency, and public trust in Canadore College’s proposed Long-Term Care (LTC) facility, after foundational planning documents were disclosed only through a formal Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
The FOI disclosure includes four separate site plan versions, a traffic impact brief, a stormwater management report, a species-at-risk assessment, and other planning materials—demonstrating the project was well beyond a conceptual stage while residents were being advised by the College leadership. that the same detailed information they were asking for was not available.
This is not a case of neighbours opposing long-term care. Residents support LTC and recognize Ontario’s need for beds. The concern is institutional process: a publicly funded institution advances major planning decisions without meaningful front-end consultation and without voluntary transparency.
The disclosed materials also amplify site and safety concerns, including building scale/massing in close proximity to existing homes and an apparent access configuration that may orient the facility’s primary entrance/exit onto Cedar Heights Road—a residential street—raising obvious issues of traffic safety, emergency access, and neighbourhood disruption.
Residents are calling on Canadore’s Board of Governors, incoming President & CEO Dr. Sandra Efu, and the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care to have a full information sharing session to include the neighbourhood, and the City of North Bay staff/stakeholders who can share planning of municipal infrastructure and assets that support a development of this magnitude.
Media Contact and Spokesperson, on behalf of Cedar Heights residents
Connie Hergott
North Bay