A System Data Analyst for the Rural Ontario Institute says recent statistics show that the median age for people living in rural communities is 47 compared to 44 in urban centres.
But Danielle Letang adds, the median age for people living in Indigenous communities is only 31.
“What we’re finding though is that the population in Indigenous communities is actually decreasing, so even though the population is younger, we’re still seeing that there’s maybe a movement of people from some remote areas to other parts of Ontario,” Letang says.
Letang says that’s something they should be aware of when considering things like youth retention and labour force and providing services and housing. She suggests some of those young people could be moving to the nearest urban centre to their community or somewhere further away where they might have friends.
The Rural Institute of Ontario does have a program that looking into the problem to determine what can be done to address the problem.
“So if people want to live in their local community, but there’s no services or there’s a lack of options for housing or for education or jobs, they may feel like they have no choice but to leave. So I think we really need to think about that,” Letang notes.
Additionally, Letang says if young people in a rural or remote community can’t get the education, the housing or the jobs they want in their community, it’s not surprising that they would start looking around for a community that can provide those things.
