North Bay is more economically diverse than many other Northern Ontario communities, although a large percentage of the city's jobs are public sector in nature with health, education and government dominating the list of the city's top employers.
North Bay is the home of Nipissing University, founded in 1992 (previous name North Bay Normal School 1909-1953, North Bay Teachers College 1953-1973, Nipissing University affiliated to Laurentian University 1973-1992, independent public university separated from Laurentian University in 1992., and of Canadore College, founded in 1967) Approximately 10,000 full-time students (and thousands more part-time students) are enrolled at the two post-secondary institutions, which share a campus in the west end of the city.
North Bay is the site of CFB North Bay (22 Wing), which maintains a North American Aerospace Defence Command control centre, with operations formerly taking place inside a facility located deep underground, similar to, but on a much smaller scale than, the famous Cheyenne Mountain base in Colorado. As of October 2006, operations were moved out of the "Hole" to the David L Pitcher Building near the north entrance to the underground facility. Although historically the base hosted a large number of air units and air force personnel, today it employs approximately 500 personnel. North Bay is also home to The Algonquin Regiment, A Coy, a Canadian Force Army Reserve unit. B Coy of The Algonquin Regiment is located in Timmins.
The service industry, tourism, and transportation also play a significant role in the city's economy, as well as primary industry companies.
In recent years the city has gained prominence as a hub of arts and culture in Ontario, due to its vibrant community of artists, musicians, actors and writers. In 2004, the TVOntarioprogram Studio 2 selected North Bay as being one of the top three most artistically talented communities in the province.
In August 2009, the
