Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
15 June 2011
Rural Communities in Decline
Some of Canada’s small communities are doing just fine, but many have been losing population for decades. Job opportunities are few and young people leave for cities. Meanwhile, cities are spreading to meet what used to be separate rural communities, turning them into bedroom (commuter) communities
Places like Gabriola Island (left) in British Columbia are among the country’s most
appealing communities. The lush vegetation, easy-
The small town of Bamfield (population 500) on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island has survived for different reasons.
Bamfield has changed over the last century. It used to be a thriving fishing community (from the 1920s to the late 1970s), and a Pacific terminus of the Pacific Cable Station (from 1903 to 1960), a submarine telegraph that connected member nations of the British Empire. After the cable station closed, its buildings became the home of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC).
On the shores of a treacherous sea, Bamfield also became the site of a coast guard station and a lifesaving trail in 1906.
As the Caledon Institute of Social Policy explains in its 2004 report on Bamfield,
“The trail was the beginning of the West Coast Trail -
Creative Community Projects
These are only some of Bamfield’s projects, all aimed at building on the community’s strengths to support healthy economic and social growth.
Not all small towns have the assets of “a paradise setting of ocean, rock, and lush forest,” as Bamfield has been described.
But, what some lack in physical beauty and idyllic location, they make up for with creativity. Artists started moving into the Prairie village of Meacham, Saskatchewan in the 1980s, transforming the community from a deserted farming town into a centre for creative minds.
Artists and sculptors were joined by a musician and a composer, an actress and an
artistic director who established a local theatre (right).
Not all the locals are behind the creative group: some say they show no interest in the traditions of the town such as maintaining the skating and curling rinks, but others say they have stopped Meacham from becoming a ghost town.
Other towns across the country have reinvented themselves. Elliott Lake, for example, in Northern Ontario, has changed from a booming uranium mining town to a retirement community.
When most of the fish disappeared in Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, the town developed a tourist industry and became a bedroom community for St. John’s.
Small Town Decline
But, while some small towns have flourished and expanded, most are declining, either slowly losing their populations or struggling to hold on to those they have.
It’s a challenge to attract businesses and investors to small communities with their limited labour pool and market access: young people have little choice but to leave. And, with the exodus goes the future of towns with too few people to support schools, or libraries, or doctors, or even churches.
Rural Newfoundland, which is most of the province outside St. John’s, lost 58,000 people from 1991 to 2001 and could lose another 18,000 in the next decade.
In 1991, the province had a population of 579,000; by 2011 there were only 509,000 people there. Most people are either moving to St. John’s, which is growing, or to another part of Canada.
The situation is similar in other parts of Atlantic Canada where rural areas that survived on natural resources are declining and urban areas are growing. The same is true in parts of Saskatchewan, and many areas of the B.C. Interior. And, the story repeats itself in Northern Ontario, and parts of Quebec.
Other parts of the world have noticed: here’s how an article in The Economist in
2003 described Canada: “Today, the most visible cleavage in Canada is not between
French-
Urban Sprawl
Those who love the rural life, especially if they’re anywhere near a large urban centre, are finding the city creeping into their turf.
The Region of York, north of Toronto, is growing too quickly for some of its residents. The number of people employed in the region is expected to be 696,000 by 2026, up from about 400,000 in 2000.
But, the region is already suffering from traffic jams, poor public transit, and
inadequate social and health services.
Residents are also concerned about the degradation of the natural environment many moved to the region to enjoy.
Urbanization is spreading east and west of Toronto as well. For country folks it’s a nightmare that leads to announcements such as the one that hit Milton (west of Toronto) in 2001. That’s when the Canadian National Railway Company said it had bought land in the south end of town to build a rail yard across from homes in the old residential area.
The vision of trucks going in and out of the 40-
City planners had other ideas that focused on preserving the original character of
Milton, and avoiding low-
And, this is typical of what’s happening in many parts of rural Canada.
According to the Sierra Club of Canada, Ontario alone loses one square kilometre of prime agricultural land every day to the bulldozers.
Image credits
Rachel Fishman
Eric Eggertson
Michael Soron
Sources
“Community Stories.” Caledon Institute of Social Policy, January 2004.
“Canada’s New Spirit.” The Economist, Sept 25, 2003.
© Canada and the World, June 2011
All rights reserved
CROP SHARING
One way of reviving rural economies is by promoting locally grown food. Rather than
shopping at the neighbourhood grocery store for produce that’s probably been on a
long journey from distant farms, some regions have taken to the idea of “community-
Community-
Local households purchase subscription shares of the year’s harvest from a local farm. Each share entitles a member to 20 weekly deliveries throughout the summer and fall. The content of each delivery varies according to the growing season, but the variety increases as the season progresses.
It works for both sides: the farmers are assured of regular customers, and the consumers receive fresh produce and support their own communities.
It’s estimated there are about 13,000 CSA farms in North America.
ACADEMIA MEETS
SMALL TOWN CANADA
The Rural and Small Town Programme (RSTP) is based at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. It helps people and organizations adapt to change and act on opportunities for developing sustainable rural communities and small towns.
The Programme links research and action by generating and sharing new knowledge,
developing self-
The Programme combines traditional academic research with the experiences of rural communities, focusing on economic development, community development, and emerging rural issues.
It provides services in such areas as Aboriginal affairs, business retention and
expansion, community economic development, conference coordination, proposal writing,
facilitation and/or training, environmental issues, home-
NRE is a collaborative undertaking bringing together rural people, researchers, policy-
It is conducted at the national level with historical and statistical data analysis, and at the local level with case studies involving community and household surveys.
“Most of us living (in Regina, Saskatchewan) grew up on farms, in villages, or on reserves…You meet people here who garden by the moon and the fuzz on caterpillars. Office and government employees commonly give up vacation days each spring and fall to help with seeding the harvest on a relative’s farm.”
Naturalist author
Trevor Herriot,
Globe and Mail
May 2002