At the heart of the town is strong community engagement. ‘Pulling for Peace’, which celebrates International Peaceful Borders Day, invites community members from both Fort Frances and International Falls to participate in a friendly tug-of-war competition where a 1,200 foot rope is strung across the river between the two towns. Fort Frances’ Curling Club also won $25,000 from Kraft’s 2013 Celebration Tour to update their facilities.
Once a one-industry town, Fort Frances is now a community in transition. Earlier in 2014, the town’s main employer, Resolute Forest Products, closed its doors, leaving the town in a state of limbo. Rumours of potential buyers interested in re-opening the plant surfaced, and the townspeople remained cautiously optimistic that the mill would open again. And recently it was announced that the mill would indeed re-open again, and employ 235 people. There was also talk of another potential opportunity coming to Fort Frances – a mining project anticipated to create numerous jobs in the area. The environmental study for the mine has since been completed and will soon become a reality, employing 635 people initially.
