Quinte News spoke with Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis to look ahead into 2026.
Doctor recruitment remains a top priority for the city.
“We figured we need about 35 doctors to fix our shortage over the next few years,” Ellis tells Quinte News.
“My goal, council’s goal, and Karen (Poste’s) goal is to recruit as many as possible”
Despite healthcare being a provincial responsibility, more than 60 physicians and nine nurse practitioners have been recruited to practise in Belleville heading into the new year.
Ellis also noted that the city is looking to maximize the utilization of its industrial land.
“We are going through the servicing of our industrial land as we are down to seven acres of land, which we have people interested in now, but we have no land that is serviceable or sellable and it is a high priority for this council,” Ellis said.
The mayor had previously mentioned looking for more provincial support as the new year comes around.
He was asked which projects could use that kind of support.
“We have to wait for programs to open up,” Ellis responded
“Infrastructure is our main goal, to repair our infrastructure, as opposed to building new infrastructure, roads, water pipes, all those will have funding streams. Last year, we had an application for about 16 and a half million for our Loyalist Secondary Plan, and it was turned down by the provincial government. We reapplied to the federal government, and we were successful, and that was part of the $30 million we got out of the feds.”
