Canadian Rural Partnership
Rural Dialogue



Dialogue with Rural Youth
"Youth Inclusion on the Nova Scotia Rural Team"

Truro, Nova Scotia
March 5-6, 2004

Publication # 2264E
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2004
Cat. No. # A114-1/2004E-HTML
ISBN # 0-662-37110-0

This report is a summary of discussions that took place at the Dialogue with Rural Youth, "Youth Inclusion on the Nova Scotia Rural Team" held in Truro, Nova Scotia, March 5-6, 2004. No limits were placed on the participants during discussions that took place in brainstorming sessions. In order to present a true report of the free-ranging discussions, recommendations made by participants that fall outside federal jurisdiction are also included. Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the Government of Canada.

The Dialogue with Rural Youth was part of the Rural Dialogue, an ongoing, two-way discussion between the Government of Canada and Canadians from rural, remote and northern regions. Launched in 1998, the Rural Dialogue is a key citizen-engagement component of the Canadian Rural Partnership (CRP) Initiative. The CRP is designed to support rural community development by adopting new approaches and practices that respond to rural, remote and northern priorities. The Dialogue process helps the Government of Canada to understand local and regional priorities, and provides rural, remote and northern citizens with an opportunity to influence Government of Canada policies, programs and services that affect them.

The Dialogue addressed a commitment made at the 2002 National Rural Conference, held in Charlottetown, PEI, to hold ongoing dialogue with rural youth in Canada.

The Dialogue with Rural Youth brought together sixteen youth participants from across rural Nova Scotia. The Dialogue was sponsored by the Rural Secretariat and the Nova Scotia Rural Team, which includes representatives from numerous federal and provincial agencies, as well as community members.

The objectives of the Dialogue were to:

• Initiate development of a Youth Lens for the Nova Scotia Rural Team.
• Develop guidelines for youth inclusion on the Nova Scotia Rural Team.
• Elect a rural Nova Scotian representative for the National Rural Youth Network Council.

The Dialogue included discussions on the following: the rural youth experience; the National Rural Youth Network's activities; the development of guidelines for youth inclusion on the Nova Scotia Rural Team; the development of a Youth Lens; and the next steps for membership on the Nova Scotia Rural Team's Youth Task Team.

During the activities, participants were also asked to share their experiences about living in a rural community. The two most prominent issues that arose were: 1) the need for meaningful employment, which would provide youth with opportunities to remain in their rural communities; and 2) the need for recreational and leisure facilities, which would provide youth with the opportunity to remain physically active and engaged in their communities.

(A) Access to Government of Canada programs and services

• Governments should do more to ensure that there are suitable employment opportunities for rural youth. This could include youth entrepreneurship or meaningful internships applicable to a field of study.
• Youth, in general, should gain greater awareness about government programs and services that are available to them. Currently, the level of interest is high among rural youth to be engaged in their communities; however, they lack the knowledge and necessary skills required to take the initial steps toward gaining access to available programs and services.

(B) Opportunities, programs and services for rural youth

• Rural youth feel that they represent untapped resources in rural communities. Unfortunately, they often believe that they must relocate to urban centres in order to acquire meaningful employment and education opportunities.
• Youth can often feel excluded in their local communities because of the attitudes of adults. Opportunities to develop adult-youth partnerships and acceptance of youths' opinions can reverse these trends and lead to greater youth engagement.
• A greater number of youth could participate on government councils and horizontal partnerships to provide a voice for their communities and the needs of rural youth. This may require compromises from adult members involved in these committees who tend to meet primarily during weekdays.
• Governments could sponsor local graduates by offering them employment and engagement opportunities to improve community capacity.
• Governments could encourage mentoring services for young entrepreneurs who want to start a business with other successful entrepreneurs.

(C) Community capacity-building, leadership and skills development

• Youth should be encouraged to become more involved with volunteerism in their local communities. This, in turn, would lead to greater youth engagement, opportunities to develop positive partnerships with adults and mentors, and would enable them to be positioned to help improve the capacity of local communities.
• Organizing youth award ceremonies could be a way for communities to show their appreciation of the efforts and opinions of youth involved in innovative and meaningful community development activities.

(D) Infrastructure for community development

• Access to recreational facilities in rural communities is very limited. It was noted that in some communities, gym and sports facilities have hours of operation of less than ten hours a week. Additional funding could enable these facilities to extend their hours of operation and create more youth engagement programs. Furthermore, when rural youth excel in sports, they are often compelled to migrate to urban centres in order to access more modern facilities.
• Tourism is one of the major economic sectors in Nova Scotia, but growth in this industry is limited in some areas as a result of poor road infrastructure. Bumpy roads and pot holes often discourage tourists. As a result, rural areas can miss these opportunities.
• Youth also feel that additional financial programs are needed in order to increase public transportation and access to rural areas.
• High speed internet access in rural communities is limited. Technology and broadband internet access is needed in smaller communities in order to compete in the emerging global markets.

(E) Access to education

• Community college campuses in rural areas are not economically viable due to a lack of interest and enrollment. Through the Nova Scotia Community College, governments could promote educational opportunities in rural communities and offer more incentives that would benefit rural youth.
• Participants indicated that the average Nova Scotia university student has a $30,000 debt upon graduating from an undergraduate degree program. Generally, a student's first job after graduation pays a salary of approximately $25-30,000 a year, which is often not adequate considering the cost of living and a monthly student loan payment of $500. This burden could be eased if special financial incentives were offered to rural youth who attend university and return to rural communities for employment.
• People who live in rural communities should be given the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to work for local employers. This would support "local solutions to local challenges". It was noted that recruiting skilled workers from outside of the community reduces the opportunities for local citizens.

(A) Youth inclusion on the Nova Scotia Rural Team

• Participants indicated that guidelines should be developed to facilitate the inclusion of youth members on the Nova Scotia Rural Team. Furthermore, such guidelines should meet the following requirements:
  1. have more than one youth participant on the Rural Team;
  2. ensure a regionally diverse representation;
  3. provide explanations of government terms, agenda items and programs;
  4. ensure results are visible to keep youth engaged as they are action-oriented;
  5. clearly define roles and responsibilities; and
  6. reach a compromise - adjust plans (such as meeting times) to be more inclusive of youth.
• As members on the Nova Scotia Rural Team, youth would: 1) actively participate on the Team; 2) have opportunities to take a leadership role and influence the agenda; and 3) receive guidance and mentoring from experienced Team members.

(B) Development of a Youth Lens

• In order to take youth contribution and opinion into account during the development of Nova Scotia Rural Team activities, an effective Youth Lens format is required.
• After some initial learning and understanding, the participants examined the aspects that they felt were needed in order to proceed with the development of a Youth Lens.
• Participants concluded that a Youth Lens needs to be simple, and that it should be used to examine the Team's activities to ensure they: allow adequate time for youth discussions; offer clear explanations of issues; and encourage confidence that youth contribution would be recognized as being meaningful and would be accepted by the Rural Team.
• Furthermore, the youth participants expressed that they would need evidence of actions taken, that there should be a clear diversity of participants involved in the process, and that support from a mentor would also be needed in order for a Youth Lens to be effective.

The Nova Scotia Rural Team members have frequently discussed rural youth. While they are aware of the opportunities offered to youth and recognize the many barriers that youth face, the members also realize that they do not have a complete understanding of youth realities. As a result, the Nova Scotia Rural Team has sought ways of being more inclusive of youth, and encourages youth involvement in Team activities. With this goal in mind, the participants developed guidelines for youth inclusion on the Nova Scotia Rural Team. The youth participants also initiated a discussion on how a Youth Lens could be applied to the Team's activities.

Dialogue participants were invited to join the Nova Scotia Rural Team's Youth Task Team. The next steps for this group will be:

1. to formalize the guidelines for youth inclusion;
2. to further develop the Youth Lens; and
3. to participate on the National Rural Youth Network.

Future meetings will also encourage partnerships with similar youth networks and collaborative efforts. These efforts will be captured by the Nova Scotia Rural Team through frequent updates and records of meetings. The Nova Scotia Rural Team will also consider an annual dialogue with the Youth Task Team members to further capture the rural youth experience and promote youth inclusion.

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