SMALL CITIES’ IMMIGRATION CHALLENGE Most newcomers to Ontario go to Toronto over Owen Sound 31,820 smaller centres and rural areas whose populations Brockville 38,553 Sault Ste. Marie 78,159 and economies are struggling and need more Chatham-Kent 102,042 people. Here’s a snapshot of five Ontario small Greater Sudbury 164,689 centres compared to Toronto between 2011 and 2016: Population 2016 Toronto 5,928,040 Others 7,105,191 Ontario: 13,448,494 Statistics Canada, 2016 Census Change in total population Total immigrant Total unemployment 2011–2016 population 2016 rate 2016 Ontario +4.6% 29.1% 7.4% Owen Sound -0.8% 7.1% 6.6% Brockville -1.2% 7.8% 8.5% Sault Ste. Marie -2.1% 8.5% 10.3% Chatham-Kent -2.0% 8.6% 7.6% Greater Sudbury +1.0% 5.8% 8.4% Toronto +6.2% 7.7% 46.1% Source: Esses, V. & Carter, C. (2019). Beyond the Big City: How Small Communities Across Canada Can Attract and Retain Newcomers. Public Policy Forum. Owen Sound Brockville Sault Ste Marie Chatham-Kent Greater Sudbury Toronto Immigrant Retention Rate NaN Owen Sound 60.0% 47.8% Brockville 50.0% 69.0% Sault Ste. Marie 73.2% 60.0% Chatham-Kent 67.7% 60.3% Greater Sudbury 59.8% 91.2% Toronto 91.6% 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 *Five-year retention rate of immigrants adjusted for non-mobility factors 2002–2006 landing cohort 2007–2011 landing cohort Migration Effectiveness Rate 25.0% Owen Sound 0% 42.9% Brockville 7.7% 38.5% Sault Ste. Marie 0% 12.2% Chatham-Kent 5.9% 33.3% Greater Sudbury 34.9% -15.1% Toronto -10.1 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 2002–2006 landing cohort 2007–2011 landing cohort *Migration Effectiveness Rate (MER) is the resulting gain or loss experienced by a location by outflows to and inflows from other locations at landing. MER is expressed as a percentage varying between -100 and 100, depending on whether there is a loss or gain in number of immigrants relative to the overall volume of immigrant exchange for the location. Source: Bozheva, A., & Esses, V. (2019). IMDB Analysis of Immigrant Settlement Geography and Retention Rates for CMAs and CAs in Ontario, 2002-2016. Public Policy Forum..