For some smaller Ontario towns, the future is immigration

The latest census shows more than 200 Canadian towns saw their populations fall in the last five years. One Ontario community is trying to sustain its population and economic growth through immigration.

Thestar.com
March 5, 2017
By Nicholas Keung

Richard Joseph had never heard of Belleville, but the immigrant from India is now calling it home - and loving it.

“A smaller community makes the transition easier. There is no hustle and bustle, and people here do have time for me. It would have taken me much longer to settle down in a big city like Toronto,” said the 35-year-old from Bangalore, a metropolitan city in India with a population of nine million.

“There are more opportunities and less competition here. The salaries are not as high as in the big cities, but the cost of living is lower. It is enough for me to live comfortably,” said Joseph, who works as an operation and planning co-ordinator at an area trucking company.

Joseph, who settled in Ontario in 2015 for a postgraduate program at Loyalist College, represents what smaller communities across Canada are going after as they struggle to sustain their populations and economic growth through immigration.

Urban municipalities surrounding Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have seen a surge of immigration in the past decade and now smaller communities are ready to receive their share.

The challenge is that many prospective immigrants don’t know they even exist and are unaware of the opportunities available outside cities.

“Immigration is very strong in the larger urban centres. It is now our first priority,” said Taso Christopher, mayor of Belleville, who has joined forces with other smaller communities in the picturesque Bay of Quinte to encourage immigration to the region through a public-private consortium.

“Immigration can be a tough sell in the political world, but we would like to have our own share, through a managed approach.”

According to the latest census, populations fell between 2011 and 2016 in one in four of Canada’s 723 municipalities with 5,000 people or above, with those further from urban centres more likely to show a decline in population than those close to a larger city.

In contrast, the Bay of Quinte - made up of Brighton, Quinte West, Belleville, Prince Edward County, Greater Napanee and the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory - has experienced a 1.8-per-cent growth in population.

Belleville, the largest of the towns in the area and its hub, has seen its number of residents increase by 2.6 per cent, a rebound from a 1.1-per-cent drop in the previous census. The average growth rate in Ontario is 4.6 per cent.

“We have been underperforming. There’s a bit of a crisis. But here, east of Greater Toronto, we are the last open space that has not yet been developed. We have so much to offer,” said Bruce Sudds, the consultant tapped by the Bay of Quinte Marketing Board for its immigration strategy.

“We are not known for our diversity. It’s still an anglo region. Like a lot of rural Canada, things are changing. We are not only interested in attracting farmers from Germany and the Netherlands. We welcome all newcomers.”

His point is reflected on the Bay of Quinte immigration project’s Internet portal, which is translated into Arabic, Chinese, German, Korean, Punjabi and Spanish. The website features experiences and stories of newcomers to the region.

Employment, education and housing are what attract immigration, said Sudds, and the Bay of Quinte Marketing Board is made up of all these sectors to ensure newcomers have all they need for successful integration.

With its equal proximity to Toronto, Ottawa and the U.S. border, the region is home to large manufacturers and corporations such as Proctor and Gamble, Kellogg, Nestlé, Black Diamond Cheese Ltd., and Research Casting International, which is known worldwide for its moulding and casting for museum exhibits.

The region has attracted the Belleville Senators, a team in the American Hockey League, and a new casino, which created 300 jobs in the community.

Suzanne Andrews, of the Quinte West Chamber of Commerce, touted the region’s low unemployment rate and noted that “10 per cent of our manufacturers hire foreign workers to meet labour demands.”

Attracting potential immigrants through the pool of international students is among the Bay of Quinte’s immigration strategies.

Over the past few years, Loyalist College has dedicated resources to attract foreign students, whose international enrolment has almost quadrupled since 2013 to 305 today. Eighty per cent of the foreign graduates have stayed in the area after completing their studies at the school.

“We hope that students who come to Loyalist stay in the area once they have completed their education. All of our grads have much needed skill sets which will help us reach all of our social economic goals,” said Jim Whiteway, Loyalist’s dean of the School of Business and International.

Although there are only nine settlement workers with the Quinte Immigration Services serving the entire region, the 30-year-old agency offers programs to help about 1,000 newcomer clients a year.

Orlando Ferro, its executive director, said the faces of the community have changed with each wave of immigrants settling in the area, first with the Germans, Dutch, Brits, Hungarians and Ukrainians after the war, followed by Greeks and Italians, and now a mix from Asia, Mexico, Jamaica and Syria.

Although resources are still tight to serve a region that’s twice the size of Toronto, Ferro said settlement services are highly accessible, delivered through Skype and the Internet.

“When I moved from Toronto to Belleville, I was in shock. It was so white, Anglo-Saxon. It wasn’t easy for a lot of newcomers to deal with. But things are changing slowly,” said Ferro, a Brazilian raised in Belgium, who has lived in nearby Colborne since 1998.

“We now have immigrants running convenience stores, gas stations, pharmacies and dollar stores. We have a Muslim mosque, Buddhist temple and a synagogue. We have a Global Foods store. Even the local No Frills carries ethnic groceries.”

While immigrant settlement is driven by employment opportunities and family ties, Ferro said, affordable housing gives smaller municipalities an edge in attracting newcomers.

Local homebuilder Jon Van Huizen said the region’s resale home values average at $258,000, and new townhouses cost about $210,000.

“We have a 1,200-kilometre waterfront and you can have a waterfront house at $600,000,” said Van Huizen, 39, whose firm expects to custom-build 20 new houses this year, double that in 2016.

“Housing is very affordable here. Traffic is non-existent. It is a great place to raise a family and engage with the community.”

Luisa Sorrentino, 39, who moved to Belleville from Italy in 2007 after she was sponsored by her then-husband, a Canadian, said starting a new life from scratch is always a challenge.

“It was hard to fight isolation at first. It was on me to get out there and make friends. A lot of people in town have the same friends since kindergarten, but a lot has changed,” said the mother of an 8-year-old, Sophia.

“I would not have decided to stay in Canada if my Canadian home was in a big city. I sought a place where I could hear my inner voice and have time, quality time with my Sophia.”