Young people are leaving rural Canada in droves and once they leave, most do not return to live, a government study concludes.
Saskatchewan is particularly hard hit.
Between 1991 and 1996, 12 percent of the rural young people aged 15-19 migrated away. In Saskatchewan, the loss was as high as 25 percent.
Yet during the same period, the number of rural residents aged 25-64 increased four percent, according the Statistics Canada report Rural youth: Stayers, leavers and return migrants, published Sept. 5.
Only 20 percent of young people who left decided to come back within a decade.
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“Although the study did not investigate the reasons behind the migration patterns of teenagers, it is likely that factors such as the need to pursue post-secondary education, the desire to gain independence, the wish to fulfill one’s aspirations or to discover the world and the desire to get a well-paid job may explain the decision to migrate from a rural area to an urban one,” said the report’s author.
In Agriculture Canada’s rural secretariat, executive director Lynden Johnson said the study raises questions about the urban attraction for rural kids that department officials will want to analyze.
But he suggested the communications revolution may change those patterns in future studies.
“I think a lot of young people would stay in rural areas if there were better job opportunities,” he said. “I believe the internet will make it more possible for businesses to locate in rural Canada and that will create jobs and keep people home. I see no reason why that will not be the trend in the future.”
The study noted unemployment tends to be higher and wages lower in rural areas.
In 1996, the unemployment rate among 15-29 year olds was 17 percent in rural areas and 12 percent in urban areas. And young people who moved to the city in 1993 saw average earnings increase 22 percent over the following four years, compared to 16 percent for those who stayed behind.
Still, the trend for Canadians over 25 is to move to rural areas.
“While all provinces saw a net loss of teenagers in their rural communities from 1991 to 1996, most provinces saw net gains of young individuals aged 25 to 29 in rural areas,” said the study. “British Columbia saw the greatest growth in the number of those in their late twenties, 21 percent.”
In general, British Columbia’s rural population grew the fastest in Canada. Saskatchewan and Newfoundland recorded the greatest rural abandonment.
The researchers found that the higher a person’s education, the more likely he or she would move to the city.
Rural young people without full-time work also were more likely to head to the city in search of work.
Johnson said during a meeting of rural young people at the national government-sponsored rural conference in Magog, Que., last April, most said they would prefer to stay in rural areas if they could find good jobs.
