Wolfgang Schoor for Mayor of Thunder Bay
The “Plan Man” Real Experience. Real Solutions.
Wolfgang Schoor has spent his life building things homes, tools, and even a place for people to live and heal. Now he wants to help build a better Thunder Bay.
Background: Who Is Wolfgang Schoor?
Wolfgang grew up on a farm near Bonn, Germany, where he learned to work hard from a young age. He trained as a carpenter and joiner in Germany and later became certified in Canada too. He has now lived in Thunder Bay for 30 years and is the father of one son.
Work Experience Wolfgang has worked in construction for more than 45 years. He started as an apprentice and worked his way up to become a certified Construction Superintendent and a certified Safety Officer. Along the way he has been a foreman, site supervisor, quality control expert, and project manager on big and small job sites all across Canada from Thunder Bay to Fort McMurray, from Ottawa to Vancouver.
Education Wolfgang did not just learn on the job. He also studied at several universities and colleges:
- A degree-level program in Building Construction and Domestic Ergonomics at the University of Waterloo
- A qualifying year toward a master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Regional Planning
- A qualifying year toward a master’s degree in Canadian History and Material Culture, including Indigenous Studies, at Lakehead University
- A Business Management Diploma and years of studies in Construction Technology and Architectural Design at Confederation College
Other Qualifications Wolfgang is a certified Carpenter and Joiner in both Canada and Germany. He also holds several patents for things he invented, including safer hand tools, fire-free cooking systems, and new building systems made from engineered lumber.
For over 30 years, Wolfgang has also run Villa House, a residential property in Thunder Bay. It began as a transition home for people who needed extra support, then became an official halfway house for the Correctional Service of Canada, helping federal parolees safely rebuild their lives. Today it is a licensed lodging house that provides housing for local residents and international students from around the world.
Why Wolfgang for Mayor?
Wolfgang is not a career politician. He is a builder, a tradesperson, and a problem-solver. For 45 years, when something needed to be fixed, built, or figured out, people called Wolfgang not the other way around.
He also brings something rare: real classroom learning and real hands-on skill. He has studied planning, history, business, and ergonomics (the science of how people and their environment work together) at the university level. But he has also swung a hammer, run job sites, and managed real budgets and real people for decades.
Most importantly, Wolfgang has already done the kind of work he wants to bring to city hall. For over 30 years he personally ran Villa House, a home where people facing hard times including people leaving the justice system could live safely and rebuild their lives step by step. He saw first-hand what helps people get back on their feet, and what does not. He believes this same hands-on, practical approach is exactly what Thunder Bay needs to solve its biggest problems.
Wolfgang says he wants to lead Thunder Bay back to being a safe, well-run, and hopeful city one where young people want to stay and build their futures instead of moving away.
Wolfgang’s Platform: The Issues and His Solutions
1. Affordable Housing and Homelessness
The Problem Homelessness in Thunder Bay has grown a lot in recent years. In 2021, official counts estimated around 693 people were homeless, but Wolfgang believes the real number is much higher today. Tent encampments, sometimes called “tent cities,” have become common in parks and green spaces across the city, which is hard both for the people living there and for other residents who want to use those public spaces.
At the same time, many housing units and lodging rooms in Thunder Bay sit empty. Years ago there were 29 licensed lodging houses in the city; now only about 10 are still open, meaning roughly 100 rooms have been lost. Wolfgang says two things caused this: rules and costs that keep piling up on landlords, and landlords losing money when tenants damage their units so many owners simply choose not to rent anymore.
Wolfgang’s Solutions
- Tiny Home Clusters: Build small pilot neighbourhoods of tiny homes, grouped in clusters of three to five units, similar to projects already tried in cities like Winnipeg. These give people an affordable, dignified place to live, and Wolfgang’s research suggests that when people live in stable, well-kept homes, it shows in how they treat their community.
- Bringing Empty Units Back Into Use: Create a learning centre where landlords and tenants can learn their rights and responsibilities, so more property owners feel confident renting out empty units again.
- Glamping as a Short-Term Step Up: For emergency, short-term needs, replace unsafe tent camps with “glamping” style shelters safer, sturdier tent structures that are quicker and cheaper to set up than permanent housing, while people wait for a longer-term home.
2. Infrastructure (Roads, Potholes, and City Services)
The Problem Wolfgang says the city’s infrastructure and organization have slipped over the years, leaving residents frustrated with things like road conditions and rising property taxes and water rates.
Wolfgang’s Solution Wolfgang wants to bring the same organized, hands-on project management he has used on real construction sites for 45 years to how the city plans and maintains its infrastructure restoring a well-planned structure to how city projects and budgets are run, instead of letting problems pile up.
3. Public Health, Public Safety, and Drug and Alcohol Issues
The Problem Wolfgang points to rising concerns about public safety in Thunder Bay, including drug and alcohol related problems and behaviour in public spaces that many residents find upsetting. He says many citizens now feel unsafe or hesitant to move freely around their own community.
Wolfgang’s Solution Wolfgang’s approach is grounded in what he learned running Villa House for over 30 years, where he worked directly with people facing addiction, poverty, and reintegration after time in the justice system. Rather than offering a purely political promise, he wants to apply real, tested, supportive-housing methods the same kind that helped people at Villa House rebuild independent lives to help restore public health, safety, and trust across the whole city.
Vote for the “Plan Man”
Wolfgang Schoor is not asking for money just your vote, and your help spreading the word.
Contact Wolfgang Schoor 238 Villa Street, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7A 3Y2 Phone: (807) 344-3746 Website: www.wolfgangschoor.com Email: wolfgang@tbaytel.net