Small towns hope to replace exodus to cities with new immigrants

A further reflection of the spread of diversity from the larger cities to further afield in Ontario. But still within the context of the “greater” GTA economic space:

“Recent settlement trends reveal that economic regions other than the GTA are receiving a larger share of Ontario immigrants and that the proportion of secondary migration to non-Census Metropolitan Areas is increasing,” according to a 2012 report from the Rural Ontario Institute.

Peel Region is a good example: Mississauga was always a hub for new Canadian but Brampton to its north has expanded rapidly over the last two decades because of new Canadians, reaching ever further into what was once agrarian land in the city’s north. Now that population is starting to head further out.

“This may reflect a combination of factors including that employment/income prospects, or housing affordability may in fact be relatively better in these regions and/or that increasing diversity in smaller communities is contributing to confidence that religious or cultural differences are less of a barrier to a sense of belonging than they once might have been perceived to be,” the report states.

Small towns hope to replace exodus to cities with new immigrants.