CORNWALL – A couple currently in Montreal, but with roots in SDG, have won the “Date My County” contest run by the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry.
The contest, launched August 5, saw over 175 entries from people around the country apply to move to SDG. The winner will receive up to $1,500 per month in accommodations subsidy for up to 12 months. In exchange, the winner had to move to SDG and agree to post regularly about the great things the SDG region has to offer.
“The goal of the Date My County campaign was to showcase the region to young families and working professionals who might want to relocate to the region. I think we can safely say that we hit that benchmark,” said SDG Warden-elect Tony Fraser.
According to SDG Counties Manager of Economic Development Tara Kirkpatrick, response to the campaign was overwhelming with applications submitted from around the globe. Only Canadian citizens were eligible to enter.
“It felt like, suddenly, every part of the world knew where SDG Counties was. We began receiving applications from Mexico, Iraq, Switzerland and Hong Kong. We had numerous applications from the Middle East and as far away as Egypt and India,” said Kirkpatrick.
Contest applicants had to submit a one-minute video and a brief 50-word essay on why they should be selected.
Emily Tohana and her partner Michael Bricteau of Montreal were the winners. The couple filmed their video submission mostly in SDG during a recent vacation. Tohana works remotely for an international consulting company, while Bricteau is the operations manager for a moving company.
Tohana and Bricteau will begin their roles as the “brand ambassadors” for SDG in the new year, following completing some prior work commitments.
The Counties launched the marketing contest to showcase the affordability of the region, where home prices were on average 33 per cent lower than the national figure.