THUNDER BAY — The Current River Arena could see its name changed to the Itec Community Arena.
In a 3-1 vote, the quality of life standing committee moved to bring the renaming of the arena forward to the council level.
Couns. Kristen Oliver and Andrew Foulds and Mayor Ken Boshcoff voted in favour. Coun Shelby Ch’ng was absent.
Coun. Greg Johnsen was opposed to the idea in principle, asking why the city staff wasn’t seeking to negotiate a five-year naming rights deal with the local heavy equipment company instead of a 10-year contract.
“I guess I’m just wondering, you know, $20,000 now isn’t going to be $20,000 in 10 years. So why wasn’t there a consideration for, say, five years? A chance to, you know, maybe make a little bit more money on the deal, if you will. Assess if there are other potential industries or buyers, if you will, that want to put their name on it. Why not the five years?” he asked city staff.
Itec would pay $20,000 per year for a 10-year term for the naming rights. The cost to update the existing exterior sign will be paid by the city to a maximum of $1,000, according to the staff report.
Paul Burke, supervisor of sports and community development, said a 10-year contract for the naming rights of a municipal building is industry standard.
This is the second time city council has discussed the naming rights of a municipal asset. The naming rights for the indoor turf facility were approved in 2025. Tbaytel’s contract with the city is for five years because it is considered a lower-tier asset.
“When we get into shorter terms, it’s really around things like the Tbaytel multiplex field that would be a five-year term, but when we’re talking about the name of a building, it’s typically 10 years,” Burke said.
Burke added businesses would want the 10-year contract to give the facility brand recognition within the community, as well as the city wouldn’t want to take on the cost of new signage every five years.
Johnsen proposed that the company may want to extend the contract for another five years, allowing a chance for the city to renegotiate the price.
“My concern is that we might be leaving money on the table by going with a 10-year plan,” he said.
It’s built right into the agreement, said Leah Prentice, director of recreation and culture, that the end of the term the city can renegotiate the price.
Johnsen motioned to refer the report back to administration to return to the committee with information on the costing for five years alongside the 10-year term.
City manager John Collin suggested that instead of a referral, the staff report to city council would add an explanation on why the 10-year industry standard contract is the most attractive package and gets the most value of the naming rights sponsorship over the term.
Adding an option for a five-year contract in the council report means the city would have to go back to Itec and reopen discussions.
Johnsen’s referral was shut down as no other committee member wanted to second.
Boshcoff said he was embarrassed the committee was trying to “grind these people down” after city staff did a good job in negotiating this deal.
“I am certainly in favour of the resolution as it’s presented. I think anybody who’s watching any kind of broadcast media in terms of sports or playoffs or regular season would know that this actually provides taxpayer relief by involving the corporate and other sectors. It’s not just the corporate, it’s not just companies,” Boshcoff said. “So, I don’t see a downside to this. I think it seems like this was good faith bargaining. Everybody seems to have come to a fair conclusion. I can’t see why we would try to provide a shorter term. 10 years is really what you want to make a commitment and an investment for. In fact, if you make it shorter, you may get less businesses or service clubs or community clubs interested because they don’t want to go through the process within their organization to deal with the city again.”
By Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Jun 17, 2026 at 07:22
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