Canada\u2019s rural communities will continue to face a population decline unless various levels of government make policy changes to direct immigrants to settle in small towns, villages, and hamlets instead of major urban centres, said a researcher at Western University.<\/p>\n
Rural Canada has been witnessing a declining population trend for more than 55 years now, at a slow but steady rate.<\/p>\n
For example, in Ontario in 1966, 2.6 million people inhabited rural communities, making up 37 per cent of the province\u2019s total 7 million people.<\/p>\n
In 2021, the rural population remained at 2.5 million people, while the total provincial population increased to 14.2 million people.<\/p>\n
Proportionally, rural Ontarians now accounted for only 17 percent of the provincial population.<\/p>\n
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Manitoba PNP Draw: Province Issues 282 Canada Immigration Invitations<\/a><\/span> Furthermore, rural Canada is becoming older than urban Canada. Since 2016, Ontario\u2019s youth population has shrunk by 1.6 per cent, with the number of working-age adults falling by 4.5 percent and seniors falling by 12.4 per cent.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0The odds of immigrants moving into rural Canada have actually decreased over time rather than increased,\u00a0\u00bb said Lindsay Finlay, PhD candidate in sociology at Western University and the lead author of The Places We\u2019ll Go: Rural Migration in Canada<\/i>.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0It’s the kind of things like a lack of transportation, a lack of employment, academic opportunities. There’s also the risk of potential discrimination in these areas.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n One of the main reasons for this is the vast number of settlement services and co-ethnic ties available to immigrants in the city, which allows them to feel like they can thrive and integrate into the communities they are landing in.<\/p>\n The problems caused by this trend are immense.<\/p>\n \u00ab\u00a0You’re going to see these communities start to struggle as the older populations leave, one way or another,\u00a0\u00bb\u202fsaid Finlay.<\/p>\n Watch Video<\/b><\/p>\n
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