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Dryden City Council

Bearskin temp screen cap

Dryden Airport optimistic about service return

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Promising study results have Dryden Airport officials optimistic about the return of passenger service.

Julien Carron of InterVISTAs presented the findings of a Passenger Feasibility Study to city council last Monday, concluding with “a high level of confidence” that restoring air service is viable for the region.

“Air service is feasible. That’s full stop,” Carron told council. “What we have to look at now is scalability.”

Passenger service was terminated in 2024 after Bearskin Airlines left the region. Kenora and Fort Frances were left without service as well.

“Travel levels in Dryden, Kenora and Fort Frances have not rebounded to pre-COVID levels, posing significant challenges to the sustainability of our operations in these communities,” Bearskin’s parent company Perimeter Aviation said in a media release at the time. “Over the last year, the three destinations saw an average of two passengers per flight, reflecting the drastic reduction in demand for air travel in the region overall.”

Carron says strong pre‑pandemic demand and solid community support make the return of passenger service achievable.

“The community was very vocal about how important it was to get service back,” Carron said. “Not only to the economy, but the social factors in keeping connected to major hubs.”

He said there’s “a lot of movement” with airline companies beyond Bearskin, including Northstar, Pivot and PropAir.

“The great news right now is there are a lot of carriers operating in this space that are seeing the gap and seeing the need that Air Canada and say the top five (national carriers) are leaving behind or unable to fill,” Carron said.

Without air service, travel from Dryden to Thunder Bay can take up to seven hours via car in adverse winter road conditions.

“The north isn’t asking for a luxury,” said Maxx Kochar, Director of Airport Operations at Loomex Group, the firm responsible for the Dryden Airport. “It’s asking for a reliable link to essential services and opportunity. If the north is going to keep growing as an economic engine for Ontario and Canada, reliable connectivity is part of what makes that possible.”

Kochar says reliability is key to achieving pre-pandemic demand.

“The question came up: why did people stop flying?” Kochar said. “If you’re not meeting your customer’s requirements and expectations, they’re going to stop using your service. After enough cancellations and delays, people are going to choose driving.”

Carron says reliability concerns came up often in passenger surveys conducted by the firm.

“We have some competing forces on the regulation side of things as far as pilot hours, duty times and such,” Carron said. “We also have some challenges with equipment, aging equipment in our aircraft fleet. Shortages of pilots and shortages of mechanics are fighting against us when we talk about these size markets and some of the regional carriers.”

“But nonetheless […] I’m happy to say that (the Dryden Airport) is in a very good position as far as infrastructure is concerned.”

Kochar says he believes Dryden could be a hub for travel between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

“A realistic start that they’re talking about is four round trips a week (to and from Thunder Bay and Winnipeg)”, Kochar said. “Compared to other airports it’s small, but at least you know that if you fly in you have the ability to leave again in a reasonable amount of time. A lot of business travelers will fly in, have a meeting, then fly out. So at least they’ll know they can do that.”

Life preserver and caution sign near water

Dryden Drowning Prevention Program preparing for summer

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In the wake of four local drowning deaths last summer, the Dryden Drowning Prevention Program is taking steps to ensure a safer water environment in 2026.

A 12-year old girl and her 15-year old brother drowned in the Wabigoon River in July. Two months later, a 5-year old boy and 28-year old man drowned in Wabigoon Lake.

Dryden Fire Service Chief Chris Wood spoke at Tuesday’s council meeting to outline the education, prevention and emergency response initiatives underway in anticipation of this summer.

Third and seventh graders will be taught essential, life-saving water safety skills through nationally recognized programs Swim to Survive and Swim to Survive Plus.

The programs include in-class education sessions delivered by members of Dryden Fire Service, Dryden OPP, and KDSB Northwest EMS, and three in-pool instruction sessions delivered by the Dryden Pool and Fitness Centre.

“I really want everyone to know that there’s a sense of healing for all of our emergency responders to be able to get into classrooms and deliver some of this education,” Wood said. “It’s a positive spin from very tragic events.”

The city also committed to providing clear, accessible safety information at waterfront locations, including non-designated swimming areas. These signs will be placed at municipal locations to communicate parental supervision requirements, swimming zones, drop-offs, currents, lifejacket use, emergency location information (via QR codes), and notices indicating it is an offence to remove life-saving devices from shorelines.

“We’ve also engaged with Google and are looking to add a feature to Google Maps that if you’re looking at the app, you’ll see the same images on our shores explaining these hazards,” Wood said.

City staff are developing a lifejacket rental program in partnership with the Dryden Public Library. This program will provide free adult, child, and youth lifejackets to residents, and implementation is anticipated in early 2026.

As for rescue equipment, Dryden City Council has approved capital funding for dry suits to improve responder safety and operational effectiveness across all seasons. Dryden Fire Service currently has two certified RPAS (drone) pilots and has applied for funding to acquire a service-owned drone, which would significantly enhance water rescue operations and other emergency responses. Four throw-ring style floatation devices were installed at City Docks in October.

“Chief Wood, I am so grateful, so delighted, so appreciative of the amount of work that has gone into this very, very comprehensive report,” said Councilor Catherine Kiewning. “I’m so happy there are so many parts moving within the report, because this is the kind of stuff that is going to keep our residents safe.”

City CAO Roger Nesbitt says the city is thankful for the quick response form Woods and his team.

“I truly appreciate you jumping on this right away and recognizing that we needed to do better,” Nesbitt said. “You’ve done a tremendous job, not just within our community, but through your collaboration with other communities as well. I want to recognize your efforts in all this. Thank you.”

yellow banana fruit on brown wooden crate

Dryden Council in talks to move farmer’s market back downtown

Dryden City Council is leaning towards moving the Cloverbelt County Farmer’s Market from the AgCentre back to the parking lot of Dryden Memorial Arena in the downtown core.

Council will discuss with city staff to push this proposal further.

“This would allow the market to be accessible to people who can’t drive and people in long-term care facilities,” said Benjamin Feagin Jr., CEO of grocery store AgriTech North and presenter of the proposal. “It will also provide the market access to people being able to conveniently stop on their way out of work.”

“The traffic is probably tenfold, if not more, better in the history of the farmer’s market at [the arena parking lot] than at the AgCentre.”

Feagin said the AgCentre has been very accommodating, but Dryden needs to incentivize vendors to return after poor performances in recent years.

“Food is not a forgiving market,” Feagin said. “It’s a very low margin, so it takes a lot to keep it alive.”

The proposal was received positively at Tuesday’s council meeting.

“I think there’s a huge benefit to having the event downtown,” said City CAO Roger Nesbitt. “It adds tremendous value driving foot traffic into the downtown core and providing more events through the summer months.”

“I’m fully supportive of our farmer’s market coming back into town,” Councillor Ritch Noel said. “I used to go to it all the time, but when it’s out of sight, out of mind out there [at the AgCentre], I tend to forget about it.”

Feagin is also proposing the city funds semi-permanent or permanent infrastructure in the arena parking lot for the farmer’s market and other events.

“A lot of our farmers are aging and they can’t set up on their own and they can’t be trucking tables and chairs every time, so they need storage space,” Feagin said. “We could provide a trailer for tables and chairs at the parking lot temporarily while we sort out other details.”

He says he’s connected with a woman‑led engineering group in Thunder Bay that’s prepared to assess the lot and suggest infrastructure options with minimal impact on parking.

Dryden City Hall

Dryden’s five-year plan prioritizes population growth management

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Dryden City Council is moving forward with their new 2026-2031 strategic plan.

Chief Administrative Officer Roger Nesbitt says the priority is to manage forecasted population growth in a sustainable manner by improving housing availability and affordability.

“I think it’s a foregone conclusion with many of the individuals that provided feedback that Dryden is destined for population growth,” Nesbitt said as he announced the strategic plan to council on Monday. “We need to preserve that quality of life that makes Dryden attractive to existing residents, new residents and businesses.”

Nesbitt outlined five strategic priorities for the city from 2026 to 2031:

  1. Implement an Infrastructure-First Development Policy. The city plans to adopt a policy that mandates necessary infrastructure upgrades are completed ahead of, or concurrent with, the approval of major new housing or commercial developments.
  2. Protect and Direct Development (Land Use Planning). The city plans to strategically define clear boundaries for growth, concentrating new development in specific, intended areas.
  3. Support Housing Affordability and Diversity. The city plans to proactively foster a diverse housing supply to meet the needs of all income levels and life stages.
  4. Proactive Investment in Critical Public Services. The city plans to work with appropriate community stakeholders and senior levels of government and use projected growth forecasts to immediately plan for increased staffing and facility expansions in critical service areas.
  5. Strengthen Municipal Capacity and Fiscal Health. The city plans to invest in municipal administrative strength and pursue diversified, sustainable revenue streams in order to build staffing and technical expertise to manage complex, large, scale growth and to fund sudden infrastructure needs without sole reliance on existing property tax revenue.

The full strategic plan can be viewed here.

Dryden City Hall

Dryden expects to add extra holiday time for municipal staff

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The City of Dryden plans to close non-essential facilities for an additional two and a half days during this year’s winter break.

City Council recommends closures on December 27 and 30, plus a half day on the 31st, for municipal staff. Employees are expected to take those two and a half days out of their allotted vacation time.

City Council cites a decline in customer service levels and reduced staff due to employees taking time off for their families. It references other Ontario municipalities with a similar holiday schedule.

It says the closure will have minimal impact on essential services like fire, snow removal and cemetery. Other booked recreational programming like hockey tournaments will still be provided as required.

Dryden City Hall

High-profile interim Integrity Commissioner named for Dryden

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The City of Dryden is appointing a new high-profile interim Integrity Commissioner after the resignation of previous officeholder Guy Giorno.

Kingston lawyer Tony Fleming will be city council’s integrity watchdog for the next nine months while they look for Giorno’s permanent replacement. He charges $325 an hour for his services, a hefty raise from Giorno’s $60. The position is billed hourly on a per‑commission basis, with no retainer.

Fleming is a supervising partner for Cunningham Swan Lawyers and has been the Integrity Commissioner for over 80 municipalities in his career. He holds an L.L.B. from Osgoode Hall at York University and an L.L.M. in Environmental Law from Queen’s University.

Guy Giorno resigned in January, citing draining political disputes.

“To be clear, as a municipal Integrity Commissioner, I have never allowed and will never allow the identity of a complainant or respondent to affect the fair, impartial and independent discharge of my duties,” Giorno said in his letter of resignation. “I am concerned, however, by the perception that might arise when frequently senior City officials and the entire City Council are parties to Integrity Commissioner complaints.”

“Second, I am increasingly concerned by the potential for the Code of Conduct to be weaponized in the political arena (…) I take scrupulous care not to be dragged into disputes over politics and personalities. To maintain detachment and neutrality is vital but draining. After more than eight years of doing so in Dryden, I believe it is best that someone new pick up the torch.”