Addressing Rural Depopulation: Thinking Outside of the Box

Farming in Saskatchewan, Canada is not without its merits. First off, the environment is pristine. The air is pure, the water clean and the soil unpolluted. The landscape is uncluttered yet diverse, noise pollution is unheard of, crime is below measurement and you can see the stars at night. It is the best place for parenting. There are few other lifestyles where the children are allowed to spend as much time with their parents as with farming. And since community size is small, our children have claim to more parents than they care to acknowledge. This utopia however, is not without its challenges.

Economically, many farm households struggle to support their families solely on farming income. As a result farm size is increasing to bring in greater return and many rely on off farm incomes to support their farming lifestyle. Socially, this increase in farm size means that there are fewer and fewer farmers in the area. Since local towns and villages do not have the industrial base to offer employment, people not only leave the farm but they abandon the community and move away.

As communities dwindle, services can no longer be provided. It is not uncommon in Saskatchewan for farmers and farm families to be 50-100km from the nearest hospital; 20-50km from postal service; and 100-300km from major supply areas of clothing, machinery and repairs. In many cases children’s education suffers, as it is difficult to attract quality teachers or justify teachers for only a few students. This is in contrast to 30 years ago when vibrant towns existed every 10-12 km. The loss of these services and the jeopardization of our youth seem like a high price to pay for the merits of producing food.

In an effort to research a possible solution to this dilemma, a Nuffield Study Tour was undertaken. Study was carried out in England, France, Belgium, Scotland, the United States of America, China, Japan and Australia. Following is a brief summary of rural depopulation observations from certain countries and recommendations to address the issue in Saskatchewan.