Canada's rural communities will continue long decline unless something's done, says researcher

A researcher at Western University says rural communities in Canada will continue their long population decline unless governments intervene with policy changes to address new immigrants' preference to settle in major urban centres rather than small towns, villages and hamlets. 

The story of rural Canada over the last 55 years has been been one of slow but relentless population decline.

For example, in Ontario in 1966, 2.6 million people lived in rural communities made up 37 per cent of the province's population of 7 million, or about two in five people.

By 2021, Ontario's total population doubled to 14.2 million, while the rural population remained relatively flat in absolute terms at 2.5 million people. However, as a proportion of the population, it shrank to 17 per cent or about one in five. 

Lindsay Finaly, a PhD candidate in sociology at Western University and the lead author of The Places We'll Go: Rural Migration in Canada, told CBC Radio's Afternoon Drive when it comes to choosing between urban and rural communities, new Canadians almost always pick the big city. 

"The odds of immigrants moving into rural Canada have actually decreased over time rather than increased," she said, noting that while she hasn't studied the reasons, many of them are easy to deduce. 

"It'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."

Rural communities are traditionally seen as "white spaces" because of a lack of amenities and services aimed at immigrant families who might have an easier time in big cities where they're more likely to find support, especially if they have language and cultural barriers, Finlay said.

"There's a larger number of, say, co-ethnic ties or settlement services that are available that will actually allow them to feel like they can successfully thrive and integrate into the communities that they're landing in," she said. 

Without new blood from immigration, rural communities are becoming older than their urban counterparts. Since 2016, rural Ontario has seen its youth population shrink by 1.6 per cent, the number of working-age adults decrease by 4.5 per cent and a 12.4 per cent increase in seniors. 

Unlike cities, rural communities are unable to rely on a steady stream of newcomers to shore up their numbers, Finlay said. "We are kind of relying on immigrants to bring our population levels back up, but they're not settling in smaller communities."

As the population of rural Canada starts to age out, Finlay said, it's going to cause big problems in smaller communities across the country. 

"You're going to see these communities start to struggle as the older populations leave, one way or another," she said, noting something must be done by governments to make people consider smaller communities as a place to settle to prevent them from withering away. 

Governments need to focus on improving transportation in smaller communities, supports for immigrant and refugee families and increasing the number of amenities that enhance cultural life, such as public art, events and activities, as well as recreation facilities, Finlay said.