Tourism Saskatchewan has partnered with Destination Canada for its new Canada Nice campaign and the Hudson Bay area is reaping some of the rewards with new grants coming their way to promote the region.

Jeanine Holowatiuk, the community economic development officer, announced the new grants during the Sept. 22 council meeting with $60,000 being split between the communities of Hudson Bay, Carrot River and Nipawin in order to show the nice sides of the region.

“They want to highlight the nice stories, the nice people, everything that makes Saskatchewan great. So locally in Hudson Bay, we’ll be looking for those stories, those projects that really show how great Hudson Bay is.”

Each community will receive $8,000 for content creation and $12,000 for marketing, Holowatiuk said.

NewSask awards

Hudson Bay was also honoured to see five of its local businesses receive NewSask Community Future awards.

The recent online competition saw businesses rewarded for innovation and sustainability during COVID-19, Holowatiuk said. She congratulated the winners and said she wishes all the Hudson Bay businesses could have been nominated for the $500 cash prize.

“When COVID hit, they all had to think of different, creative ways to service the community and keep their businesses operating and all of them did so much for the community that I wish every business could have been nominated. It was really exciting to have five of our businesses chosen for the winners.”

The town office is always looking for ways to honour and support local businesses and they have been asking other communities what they have been doing, Holowatiuk said. Right now, they are trying to focus on what local businesses need for support and what barriers are keeping them from accessing provincial and federal funding.