Opportunity

A fifth of Canadians today were born somewhere else. According to the 2016 Census, nearly 22 per cent of us have settled here having immigrated from another country. Not since a wave of immigration, aimed at settling the prairie provinces, at the turn of the last century, has the proportion of foreign-born residents been so great.

This is an opportunity for rural communities in Ontario, including Prince Edward County. Particularly Prince Edward County. Thankfully our local government is taking steps to seize this potential.

Immigration can be a polarizing topic, complicated by prejudice, fear and a poor understanding of our nation’s history. (Witness Don Cherry’s disappointing views that led to the termination of his televised pulpit this week.)

The truth is immigration, as much as the railway, helped to forge a nation from a disparate collection of settlements scattered from Halifax to Vancouver. It can do so again.

Between 1867 and 1914, this new country advertised around the world seeking settlers to develop the vast agricultural opportunity of the prairie provinces. As Canada West (now Ontario) politician and founder of Confederation George Brown noted in 1865, “There is hardly a political or financial or social problem that does not find its best solution in a large influx of immigration.”

Between 1895 and 1914, more than two million settlers descended upon Manitoba and what would soon become the new provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Winnipeg grew from a city of 20,000 in 1886 to 150,000 by 1911. Saskatchewan’s population increased 11-fold between 1891 and 1911. A world war shifted Canadians’ priorities, but immigrants continued to settle in this country— joining family and pursuing the promise of a new land.

Brown’s prescience was largely borne out. From a wave of folks from Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Ireland, Britain, Scotland, Belgium and China, we built a nation. These settlers brought with them diverse traditions, cultures, and religions that seemed strange and vaguely threatening at first. Doukhobors, Jews, Mennonites, and Hutterites. But rather than challenge the new nation’s identity, they enriched it. And continue to do so.

The tidiest study of immigration in this country was conducted to measure the impact on Canadian society of 60,000 Vietnamese ‘boat people’ who landed here as refugees beginning in 1979. It was the single largest group of refugees to arrive on Canadian soil. Few spoke English or French. Fewer still had skills that could be put to work immediately in this country. But within 10 years this cohort of Canadians was mostly employed. One in five had started a business and few were receiving social assistance of any kind.

he most compelling argument for welcoming settlement in rural areas remains as true today as it was for George Brown in 1865, Canada needs more people to drive this nation’s economy. To grow.

Demographics are working against us. Boomers are older. Most are at or near retirement. The generations behind them aren’t producing enough children to prevent a looming decline in population. A fact that is already here in Prince Edward County.

Set aside the challenge of managing a business that relies on employees who can’t afford to live here. Forget also the steady erosion of federal and provincial investment that supports our infrastructure needs. Consider only this: who will fund your pension, when the vast number of boomers on the receiving end, swamps those on the contributing side?

It was against this backdrop that officials from the County’s economic development team arranged for a series of meetings last week between local business owners and Ivan Todorovski of the Peel Newcomer’s Centre. Ivan is a business matchmaker seeking opportunities to marry immigrant investors to existing businesses and potential new exploits. It was an important occasion to begin to engage Canada’s massive immigrant community with communities beyond the GTA.

To be clearheaded about our prospects, it remains true that only a small percentage of newcomers are likely to venture beyond the safety and comfort of their cultural enclave—but some will. And do. Seeking a better opportunity for their family and children. A fifth of our nation is too big a cohort to ignore.

Communities like ours must become more competitive in attracting new Canadians to rural Ontario— not for some moral imperative, but because it is in our direct self-interest to do so. Our economic development folks are on the right track. We need to do more. They deserve our support and encouragement.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca