There’s something going on in southern Manitoba.
Farming communities across Western Canada have been struggling, shrinking and dying for decades, with many attempts at economic development failing to halt the collapse.
A few well-placed towns and cities have become regional service centres, geographical luck saving them from their neighbours’ fate.
But south of Winnipeg, in rural areas that seem to have few natural advantages, some communities are booming.
Places like Steinbach, Altona and Winkler, Man., are stretching at the seams as they try to handle the dramatic economic growth of their many small businesses, some of which are becoming medium-sized and large businesses.
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Hundreds of immigrants have been pouring into these communities to take up the new jobs, and that has led to a boom in housing construction.
It flies in the face of the general prairie pattern. And that’s why this phenomenon is worth studying and perhaps learning from, say some observers.
One reality about these places is that they are overwhelmingly Mennonite communities. Some say spiritual belief systems can have real economic impacts, and that may explain what is happening there.
“I think the evidence is mounting … that the real success for businesses occur when they pursue something beyond profit,” said Dan Overall, a policy analyst with the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s the notion of profit with a purpose. When a company actually has a core value beyond profit, it creates the type of passion that an organization seems to be able to tap into. It gives them almost a competitive advantage to other entities that might just be focused on profit.”
There are other Mennonite communities in Western Canada, but nowhere in the world is there such a concentration of Mennonite people, towns and institutions as in southern Manitoba.
The area provides a unique opportunity to observe the modern descendents of a 16th century European religious movement that appears able to handle the modern world.
Mennonite-specific statistics are hard to find. But a few numbers hint at the phenomenon occurring around Manitoba’s Mennonite heartland.
In 2002, 136 immigrants moved to Winkler and 91 moved to Steinbach. That’s a good total by prairie standards. In 2004, Winkler drew 465 new immigrants while Steinbach pulled in 310.
Other statistics also hint at another aspect of the Mennonite impact: social commitment and generosity.
Lists of highest donating regions are often populated by Mennonite communities, and Manitoba’s nation-leading generosity ranking may be partly due to the large Mennonite population.
“Quite a few studies have made a very strong correlation between religious participation and charitable giving,” said Sylvia LeRoy of the Fraser Institute think-tank.
“That could explain why Manitoba does so well.”
