Many new immigrants decide to stay in cities, about 97 percent of them to be exact. According to Statistics Canada the main reason for this decision is the support newcomers receive from networks of family and friends who live in those cities.
If newcomers continue to ignore settling in rural areas and small cities, there will be a gap between the population growth in larger cities compared to villages and smaller cities. Canada’s food industry depends on rural areas. Farmers grow grains, vegetables, and fruits to feed us. They also raise "domestic" animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs, and chickens that are the source of meat we use in our food. If cities continue to grow much faster than rural areas, we may not be able to produce the food we need.
Rural communities and small cities are now even more important because they will also be our main source of green energy, which is very important for the future of Canada. Wind farms and solar farms create clean electricity without burning fossil fuel or using nuclear technology. It is known to everyone that large cities affect our environment negatively. They tend to pollute the air and contaminate water. A reasonable distribution of Canadian residents in large and small cities would positively affect our environment and economy at the same time. Development and use of those technologies should provide employment opportunities for many people outside of the cities.
Ontario has made an important decision to encourage more new immigrants to stay in rural areas. Community Immigrant Retention in Rural Ontario, also known as CIRRO, is a project led by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). Three more Ontario ministries help OMAFRA with this project: these are the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities, and Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, and Forestry. The main goal is to help rural communities attract more immigrants. The project is considering three communities: Chatham-Kent in the southwest, North Bay in the north, and Brockville in eastern Ontario, to find the best ways to attract immigrants and train local people on welcoming newcomers. It will be the responsibility of the communities to put together the best methods of attracting newcomers with the help they receive from the ministries’ representatives.
Every ministry involved in this project serves Ontario in different areas. The "collaboration" between the ministries should positively affect the outcome of CIRRO and cover all aspects of the project. In the future, we need similar collaboration between different provincial and federal ministries to better serve immigrants and Canada.
Many new immigrants decide to stay in cities, about 97 percent of them to be exact. According to Statistics Canada the main reason for this decision is the support newcomers receive from networks of family and friends who live in those cities.
