The mayor of a small town in Ontario that’s planning to sell plots of land for $10 says it could cost about $300,000 to build a home there.
Cochrane, a town with roughly 5,000 residents and located about eight hours north of Toronto, plans to sell 1,500 plots of land for $10 to attract housing development and boost the local economy.
The program is still in its developmental stages but is set to be up and running in early May, according to Mayor Peter Politis.
READ MORE: Small Ontario town plans to sell plots of land for $10 to boost development
Construction on a $10 plot would typically cost about $300 per square foot, meaning “a 1,000 sq. ft. home would cost about $300,000,” Politis told Now Toronto in an email statement.
The price tag is significantly less than the cost of purchasing a house in Toronto, where in February the average selling price of a single-family home was $1,657,026, according to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, but low costs aren’t Cochrane’s only attractive trait.
According to Politis, Cochrane boasts a diversified economy “unlike the typical small town in Canada,” which he referred to as “one horse towns.”
From an economic standpoint, Cochrane has the largest gold mine in North America, and as of 2027 will be home to the largest base metal mine in the country.
It also has two world class forestry mills, a large secondary service industry, owns its phone, hydro and IT utility, and supplies hydro to two other communities in the region.
Cochrane is home to renowned nature attractions including the largest natural habitat for captive Polar Bears in the world, Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat. It also features one of the newest recreational complexes in the region, a brand new outdoor entertainment complex located on the lake in the centre of town, a supervised beach, and the only seniors retirement home in the region, outside of the City of Timmins.
Cochrane also boasts numerous multi-use trails allowing folks to walk or bike through the natural environment back to the downtown core. It is also home to epic snowmobile trails recognized the world over.
Mayor Politis described Cochrane as “family orientated” and as a place where people watch out for each other’s family members. “It’s an extremely friendly, quiet, relaxing way of life,” he said.
