Candidates in this election are looking to grow the population in Fort Frances and the district. Half a century ago, the Fort’s population hovered around 10,000. Canada’s population continues to age, and growing numbers are retiring. Today, we see the shortage of workers to fill jobs in the district and Canada.
For almost a decade, the town of Fort Frances, through its Economic Development Committee, looked for ways to attract immigrants and refugees to the district. When the Rural and Northern Immigration pilot for immigration was announced for Thunder Bay and Winnipeg, the town attempted to attach itself to the coat tails of those two cities in hopes of attracting immigrants.
The recent announcement by the federal government to expand the original immigration project to smaller communities should be welcomed by the new council. When the hiring of The Sustainable Economic Development Manager for the town takes place, this should be one of the first tasks on their agenda.
A great example for creating good immigration policies are the communities of Altona, Winkler and Steinbach in Manitoba who have successfully developed programs within their communities to attract and retain new immigrants.
This year, Canada is expected to attract 432,000 immigrants according to Statistics Canada and that should grow to 450,000 new immigrants in 2024. How could we in the district attract .01 per cent of those new immigrants to our district annually? The opportunities to attract those immigrants to the district should grow.
Canada already has the highest growth in population of all the G-7 Countries and this is expected to continue through the next decade. Even with these numbers, Canada will be unable to fill the job vacancies of retiring Canadians.
And already towns, provinces and Canada do not have the means of accommodating this smaller numbers of immigrants. Community zoning and official plans will have to change to increase the density in housing.
Canada’s own population is continuing to grow and StatCan estimates that the population surpassed 39-million this year. Both immigration and the expanding population will create major housing issues in cities across Canada. Encouraging immigrants to locate in more rural communities will help solve that issue. Immigrants will fill the gaps left by retiring workers. Immigrants will be the child-bearing Canadians that will continue to fill classrooms across Canada.
To attract those immigrants to the district, plans must be put in place to develop affordable housing, improve infrastructure, support social and cultural programs, and create jobs. It is not a single person’s responsibility, but a whole community task.
Former Publisher
Fort Frances Times
