Population decline is a Northern Ontario thing, says mayor

The decline in population experienced by Timmins is reflected in similar declines in four of the five Northern Ontario population hubs and rural communities, including Thunder Bay, North Bay and Sault Ste. Marie, said Timmins Mayor Steve Black in response to the first StatsCan report on population in Canada, released yesterday.

“Only Sudbury experienced a positive growth,” said Black, “And that was under one per cent growth.”

Timmins saw its population fall to 41,788 in 2016, a drop of 3.2 per cent from the last Census in 2011, ranking Timmins among the 10 slowest growing communities in the country, according to Statistics Canada.

"This is an issue we are well together and discuss frequently when we meet as the Northern Ontatrio Large Urban Municipalities (NOLUM) group,” Black added. “Trying to ensure our communities are attractive communities and have a high quality of life is a key goal. “That is why I support projects like Stars and Thunder and the aquatic center.” Mayor Black explained.

Christy Marinig, Executive Director of the Timmins Economic Development Corporation (TEDC) also weighed in on the matter of Statscan’s census population data and what it means.

“Today’s census data release only gives us population and dwelling count,” Marinig said. “So we don’t really have enough information to draw any conclusions right now. In May though, StatsCan will be releasing information on age, sex and type of dwelling, and then we’ll have a little more data to help us see what’s really going on.”

“As a country, we are part of a continuing trend in which cities are growing,” explained Marinig, “While rural areas and smaller towns are seeing some population decline. “

Marinig identified several reasons why people are shifting from rural areas to larger cities, including perceptions of better job opportunities, more arts and culture, and access to diverse communities of interest.

“This is one of the reasons that TEDC focuses not just on helping businesses and the economy grow, but also on projects that improve our quality of life,” stated Marinig. “We’re trying to make sure that we have what we need to offer a great quality of life, so potential investors will choose to set up here instead of somewhere else.”

Black pointed out that historical resource based communities experience periods of great economic growth during peak activities, followed by times when drops in demand for products like gold and wood products lead to decline. These cycles known as boom and bust are also observable in Alberta where lower oil prices have led to layoffs and people leaving the oil patch.

“We understand the importance of economic diversification and jobs to community growth,” said Black. “This is why Timmins has spent so much time trying to attract investment and diversification as seen with the INEOS Calabrian plant, and the potential Chinese Insulation plant. We understand being a natural resource community that some major employers are getting near the end of mine life but that there is also many smaller operations looking at starting up and expanding. “

“We will continue to support our natural resource industry as we look to diversify through policy advocacy at the upper levels of government,” Black added.

“Right now, hydro prices and cap and trade programs are big factors in the economic viability of natural resource operations,” Black continued. “Residents feel this pain as well at home, but as a community we see it on the residential side, the municipal side, which impacts property taxes.”

Black pointed out that Hydro costs have increased by over $1.6 million dollars since 2014.

“So while the residents feel that impact at home, they also feel it in the impact on property taxes and our employers do as well,” Black explained. “We will continue to lobby for affordable hydro rates to make Northern Ontario a more attractive place to live, and attract business and industry. “

While there is much debate in the United States over restricting immigration, Christy Marinig of TEDC points to the importance of immigration for Timmins’ continued growth.

“Another factor impacting us is that Canada has a very low birth rate, so most of our growth is coming from immigration,” said Marinig. “Northern Ontario, as a region tends not to benefit as much from immigration because until recently, we haven’t had the same kinds of support services as in larger centres.”

But Timmins has seen some recent success in attractive immigrants to the city.

“While the percentage of immigrants in Ontario is 29 percent, it’s 4.1 percent in Timmins, although it does seem to be growing,” Marinig stated.

“Timmins now has a Multicultural and Settlement Centre to help newcomers when they arrive, we have a website specially designed to encourage immigrants to live here, and the TEDC is helping the region as a whole develop promotional tools to attract immigrants,” Marinig added.

Black added: “As I stated we are not alone in population decreases as I believe 23 percent of municipalities seen a decrease in population. Most of these I believe you will find are in Northern or Rural Ontario and all levels of government have a role to play to make these regions attractive places to live, work, and play.”