Ottawa's neighbouring town of Smiths Falls is making a calculated bet: if you love visiting, why not stay for good?
The small Eastern Ontario community — about an hour's drive southwest of Ottawa — has quietly developed one of the more creative rural retention strategies in the region, aiming to convert tourists and short-term visitors into full-time residents.
The Strategy
At the heart of the plan is a simple but compelling insight: people who already choose to spend their vacation time in Smiths Falls have self-selected as the town's ideal demographic. They like what the community offers — the Rideau Canal, the growing culinary scene, the slower pace — they just haven't considered making it permanent.
The town is now working to change that calculus. Local economic development officials are developing targeted outreach to visitors, including information packages about housing affordability, remote work infrastructure, and community programs available to new residents. The pitch leans heavily on quality-of-life metrics that have become increasingly attractive in a post-pandemic world where remote work has decoupled employment from geography.
Why Now
The timing is deliberate. Housing costs in Ottawa and other major Canadian cities have put homeownership out of reach for many middle-income earners. Smiths Falls, by contrast, offers detached homes at a fraction of urban prices, with reasonable commuting distance to the capital for those who still need to be in-office occasionally.
The town has also undergone a quiet renaissance over the past decade. The former Hershey chocolate factory site has been reimagined as a hub for cannabis producer Canopy Growth, bringing jobs and economic activity. Independent restaurants, boutique shops, and arts spaces have followed, giving the town a more vibrant street life than its modest population might suggest.
Building the Infrastructure for New Arrivals
Beyond marketing, the plan involves real investment. Improved broadband connectivity has been a priority, recognizing that remote workers require reliable high-speed internet as a baseline. Local officials have also been working to streamline the process for new businesses — a nod to the entrepreneurial transplants who often follow residential migration patterns.
Community integration programming is another pillar. Moving to a small town from a city can be isolating if social networks don't follow. Smiths Falls is looking at ways to connect newcomers with local organizations, volunteer opportunities, and cultural events to accelerate the belonging that keeps people from moving back.
What It Means for the Ottawa Region
For the broader Ottawa region, this kind of rural attraction strategy matters. As the National Capital Region continues to grow and housing pressures intensify, communities within the commuter belt will increasingly compete for residents. Smiths Falls' proactive approach could serve as a model for other small towns looking to stabilize and grow their populations.
It also reflects a broader shift in how smaller Ontario communities are thinking about economic development — less focused on landing a major employer and more attuned to the lifestyle-driven decisions that now drive where Canadians choose to live.
Whether the plan converts enough visitors into residents to move the needle remains to be seen. But in a region where talent attraction increasingly follows livability, Smiths Falls is at least asking the right questions.
Source: OBJ — Ottawa Business Journal
