It's time to get serious about rural population attraction
You've got the Adriana thumbs up. Now you need to close the deal.
My wife and I have been exploring New Brunswick (and the Maritimes) in a more deliberate way over the past few years. We have always vacationed here as much as possible but in the past 3-4 years we have been trying to do day or weekend trips around the province 8-10 times per summer. I count close to 50 small communities we have visited in recent years.
My wife has taken to using the term “I could live here” as a sign she enjoyed the place. We were in Sussex over the weekend for probably the tenth time in the past couple of years. It has excellent walking trails, a dog park, a skateboard park, multiple cute coffee shops and small retailers, a themed ice create purveyor, several good restaurants and, in general, it’s just a really lovely town. Everyone we ran into was friendly.
The challenge is that according to Statistics Canada the population in the town is not growing. It was an estimated 4,367 in 2020 compared to 4,345 in 2011. We will get more accurate numbers from the Census (when it comes out) but it looks like stagnant population.
Which means an aging population.
Which means a looming workforce and entrepreneur shortage.
At the time of the 2016 Census nearly 30% of the area’s working population was over 55. It is likely more than a third now. There are 60% more in the workforce over 55 than under 25.
Sussex - and a host of smaller towns and villages all across New Brunswick have spruced up their amenities and livability but now it is time to get out there and get marketing. All that great infrastructure will wane if you can’t sustain your workforce in the years ahead.
For any smaller town or village that hasn’t focused on quality of life - it’s time to get going. What amenities and services could work in your community that are not there now? Make a list. Develop the business case and then go out and try to attract young entrepreneurs (or newly retired ones, why not?) to address the local demand.
What about your parks, trails, playgrounds, dog parks, waterways, micro-museums, etc? Are you deliberately trying to bolster the case for living in your town/village?
Not every community will be as lucky as Shediac (23% population growth in the past 10 years) but I argue that’s not all luck. The proximity to Moncton helps. The water helps. But the town has deliberately worked on making itself attractive and encouraging housing development. There are lessons for other communities across the province.
Many of your communities have already received Adriana’s “I could live here” seal of approval. Now you need to get out there and compel folks to move in.