Canadian Rural Partnership
Research and Analysis

Acrobat Portable Document Format (.pdf)
Download the Acrobat Reader

Acknowledgements

Bruno Jean (UQAR), Tom Beckley (UNB), Ray Bollman (Statistics Canada), Shirley Dawe (ACOA) and David Bruce (Mount Allision) provided helpful comments on an earlier version of this report. NRE/CRRF recognizes the editorial efforts of Jennifer Perzow and the creative efforts of Roger des Ormeaux and Deatra Walsh in preparing the maps with the help of Ray Bollman from Statistics Canada. Anna Woodrow competently managed the project. This project is supported by the Rural Secretariat of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

The Canadian Rural Partnership (CRP) is part of the Government of Canada's commitment to rural Canada. The CRP supports rural community development by adopting new approaches and practices that respond to rural development issues and concerns. This includes raising awareness of rural issues, reviewing issues from the perspective of rural Canada, assessing the effect on rural Canada of new policies, programs and services, and improving the policy decision-making process by making rural considerations an integral part of the decision-making process.

Executive Summary

Employment growth in rural areas is affected by complex relationships among four factors: natural resources and amenities, the distance to major urban centres, government policies and programs, and the capacity of the local population. These conclusions are suggested by a case study analysis of two rural regions in Canada: the Notre Dame Bay Regions in Newfoundland (lagging) and the Parry Sound Region in Ontario (leading).

The Notre Dame Bay Region is a resource-dependent region in a peripheral rural coastal area located far from major metropolitan centres. Its declining population is widely dispersed in a number of small communities. The decline is due to the migration of a cross section of the population, not just the out-migration of youth.

The main factor in employment decline in the Notre Dame Bay Region census division is a continuing economic crisis, the result of significant restructuring of its economic base. The combination of a high proportion of seasonal workers in traditional primary and secondary sectors, the gradual depletion of fish resources, and a 1992 moratorium on cod fishing caused a profound crisis in the area. It was seen in plant closures and a dramatic reduction in the number of jobs in these sectors. Eventually this included the whole local economy, crippling the development of employment in more consumption-related sectors. It is exacerbated by relatively low levels of education and income.

In spite of the economic problems, there is remarkable community involvement in local economic and social projects. Government agencies and programs have played an important role in maintaining these activities - through national-based programs, the support of development associations, and provision of project-oriented financial aid. These have focused primarily on tourism, infrastructure improvement, and resource industry support. These local development activities face the problem of reversing a declining trend rather than maximizing the positive effects of a favorable situation, however.

The Parry Sound District is a rural forested region that is an important recreational tourist and resort area. Demographic growth is steady and its population is characterized by a high proportion of persons who are 65 years of age and over. Employment growth is tied to the economic activity generated by new residents, including a number of people who are converting their cottages into principal residences for their retirement.

Another significant growth factor is the recreational tourist industry. The area has an exceptional natural setting and is close to the major urban centres of the Ontario peninsula. The primary and secondary sectors are relatively unimportant today, despite the fact that the area was opened up by logging in the 19th century.

The identification of the Parry Sound District as a leading area is surprising since the socio-economic performance indicators are lower than provincial averages overall and even lower than rural averages. The census division is nevertheless in a leading position because the growth rates for these indicators have been high. In short, the census division is one where the population is disadvantaged, has lower incomes, is less educated, and is less active in the labour force than the average for Ontario and Canada. However, it has made proportionally major strides forward and has embarked on a positive development trajectory, despite significantly high levels of unemployment.

As in the Notre Dame Bay Region, Parry Sound has a high level of social capacity. Local people, often in concert with regional or national partners, generate a considerable number of development strategies and projects. This has merged well with the decentralized philosophy currently reflected in national and regional economic development initiatives. The outcomes of these efforts are quite different, however: in the Notre Dame Region they basically maintain the status quo and in Parry Sound they provide moderate economic growth.

Several policy implications are suggested by this analysis.

• First, policies and programs must be flexible to allow for variations in local conditions. There are no single program solutions.

• Second, programs and policies should take advantage of local social conditions and institutions as well as the traditional economic ones.

• Third, communication and transportation infrastructure are important targets for support.

• Fourth, we need to develop more appropriate economic and legal mechanisms for managing the amenity, environmental, and cultural values of our rural places and environment.

• Fifth, we need additional research regarding the relationship between social organization and economic growth. This includes exploration of both formal and informal associations and networks, business and community relations, and the conditions supporting local economic, social, and political capacity.

[ Français | Contact Us | Help | Search | Canada Site ] [ Home | News Releases | Key Rural Initiatives | Site Map | Publications ]