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Chatham-Kent’s population in decline
Chatham-Kent’s population has shrunk 4.2 per cent since 2006. This was learned after Statistics Canada released its latest Census data yesterday.
C-K’s population in 2011 was 103,671 compared with 108,177 in 2006.
This puts Chatham-Kent in the top 10 in population decline… coming in at number two, behind only Thompson, Manitoba, who had a -4.5 per cent population growth.
Overall Canada’s population rose to 33.4 million from 31.6 million in 2006, an increase of 5.9 per cent. Stats Can officials say “the increase in the growth rate was attribted to slightly higher fertility and to an increase in the number of non-permanent residents and immigrants.”
The rate of Canada’s population growth was the highest among the G8 countries, as was the case between 2001 and 2006. Only two other G8 countries registered an increase in their population growth in recent years, the United Kingdom and Russia.
Some more facts from Stats Can:
- The rate of Ontario’s population growth declined slightly in the past five years to 5.7%, its lowest level since the period between the 1981 and 1986 censuses.
- On May 10, 2011, 33,476,688 people were enumerated in the census. This is almost twice as many as in 1961 and approximately 10 times as many as in the 1861 Census.
- Between 2006 and 2011, Canada’s population grew by 5.9%, up slightly from the previous intercensal period (2001 to 2006), when it grew by 5.4%.
- Canada’s population growth between 2006 and 2011 was the highest among G8 countries, as was the case in the previous intercensal period (2001 to 2006).
- Every province and most territories saw its population increase between 2006 and 2011.
- The rate of population growth increased in all provinces and territories between 2006 and 2011, except in Ontario, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Chris Lozon
February 9, 2012 at 1:28 pm
Not exactly good company to be in.
This is where we’re told to be more positive and that economic development budget needs to be doubled.
Jim Welling
February 9, 2012 at 2:35 pm
I guess the municipality will have to raise taxes even more to keep giving themselves nice raises and a full pension.
Michael Cowtan
February 9, 2012 at 4:57 pm
I get so mad when I see these comments. I don’t see either of you asking questions or making comments on the budget forum.
If you are concerned about the long term future of the municipality, then at least let your views be known.
Do you honestly think that the Mayor and Council have been secretly plotting ways to make companies close up shop in C-K?
Do you not think that council would just love to be able to announce the arrival of a multi national company with two thousand jobs which require little if any education and pay $25 PH?
But there in lies the problem. We have an above average unemployed work force with a poor education and very little in the way of skills. We have a generation of people that are going to have to get used to the idea that life has changed, and they maybe have to go west to find unskilled work, or we have to wait until they retire, and cease to be a statistic.
Meanwhile some of us are grasping the nettle, and trying to find ways to keep our youth in the region, or find ways to attract them to return. Or trying to encourage the Province and the Feds to allow the immigration of skilled people with an entrepreneurial outlook.
Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Chris Lozon
February 9, 2012 at 5:52 pm
Michael C,
I get so mad when I continually see the Community I’ve always called home underachieve while making the top 10 list of the least educated, least healthy, least prosperous and least desirable places – inferred or otherwise – to live when I know the truth to be otherwise.
I also believe the premise that public statements in blogs and comment forums inferring/entailing a certain level of accountability by elected officials and administration are ‘part of the problem’ is flawed. As is the premise that contributing to the budget forum is the only indication of public engagement.
The fact is that in reviewing this list, our dramatic population decline is not a regional phenomenon. While Ontario on average is growing @ 5%, we’re going near 5% in the opposite direction. None of Sarnia, Windsor or London are even in the top(bottom) 15. So if these statistics are accurate and are to be believed, I do not think it is unfair for any of us to comment or infer that there is something specific to CK – something beyond just casual remarks/conversation among CKDP friends – that is contributing to our difficulties.
copper
February 11, 2012 at 12:19 pm
Mike, give your head a shake. If talk about poorly educated or nonskilled workforce then there is an underlying problem which has to be resolved.Many families cannot afford to pay for their childs education so the child doesn’t receive a higher education unless the child works and studies at college like I had to and still of no avail I had difficult time keeping work. So Mike take your nose out of the air and open your eyes and see what is really happening.
copper
February 11, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Mike, give your head a shake when talking about the poor education and lack of skills, there is an underlying problem which has to be addressed firstly education, affordable higher education and trades schools inwhich CK has not. Apprentice programs are not effective nor viable until trade schools give the initial technical knowledge. Most families cannot afford to send their child for further or higher education so they miss their opportunity unless they work and study, which Ihad to do and of no avail I had difficulties in keeping work.
Keep your nose out of the air and see what is really going on
Michael Cowtan
February 14, 2012 at 10:47 pm
The only person who paid for my education was me. It is not about the means, the means are available if you have the drive……..there is a portion of the population that doesn’t have the drive.
I don’t think the young people lack the drive, it is the middle aged.
Chris Lozon
February 9, 2012 at 11:44 pm
I thought the absence of Windsor from this list was suspicious so I did a bit more digging. I believe it has something to do with the ‘agglomerations’ qualification/classification.
http://geodepot.statcan.ca/diss/reference/cogg/ShortDescription_e.cfm?GEO_LEVEL=5&TUTORIAL=1&ABBRV=CMA
So in the name of fairness and for the sake of accuracy (per the London Free Press):
London +3.9%
Sarnia +1.3%
Windsor -1.3%
Chatham-Kent -4.2%
Andre Langdon, a communications manager with Statistics Canada, termed the decline in Chatham-Kent as “significant.”
http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2012/02/08/19356601.html
Also noteworthy:
St. Thomas +5%
Woodstock +5.4%
Chris76
February 10, 2012 at 5:31 pm
Did I not read an article not too long ago that said Chatham-Kent was actually detrimental to one’s health? I can’t remember where I saw that, but I do remember reading it. Heart Disease, Cancer, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Asthma, you name it–almost every chronic health condition mentioned put Chatham at the top of the list. Frankly I found that statistic baffling–but not entirely surprising. My neighbour relocated here from Northern Ontario two years ago and she can’t believe how thick and stagnant the air is down here. She’s had breathing problems ever since. Also, I can totally understand the mass exodus away from CK. I’m 36 yrs old, and out of all the people I knew and hung out with from high school, nobody stuck around after graduation. Most left for western Canada and some even went overseas. I’ve lost touch with many over the years, but I do know the majority couldn’t wait to get out of here. Having witnessed so many friends and families go through mass layoffs and plant closures, marriage breakdowns/divorces, etc, would certainly test anyone’s ambition to remain in their hometown. Whatever this bodes for our future I have no idea. I think Chatham-Kent will likely be a retirement community from here on in, and the only thing keeping the city going will be the wealthy seniors moving down here from Toronto and elsewhere. What I DO know is that this isn’t the city I remember growing up in. What happened to my town?
Chris Lozon
February 11, 2012 at 10:26 pm
Why would wealthy seniors from Toronto and elsewhere be willing to invest their retirement savings in a devaluing asset? You’ve already referenced health concerns which have prevailed in this region for as long as I can remember. Now we have the issue of declining property values to contend with on account of the reckless proliferation of wind turbines across what was once a beautiful, pristine countryside with unobstructed lakeview. Lawsuits have already begun in Ontario against wind power companies and leasing landowners for loss of property value. Meanwhile CK continues to wholeheartedly endorse wind turbines despite the damning revelations of the recent Auditor General report regarding the Green Energy Act and the recent policy statement issued by the OFA requesting the Province put the brakes on wind power until more evidence becomes available on its Community impacts. We’re all in on the notion of creating a manufacturing base around wind turbine components but we’ve already been passed over. Now the jig is up and the wind party may soon be over. A retirement community you say? If we could only be so lucky.
ckmom
February 11, 2012 at 1:37 pm
Chris76 – what you’ve said (a mass exodus of youth) is indicative of pretty much any small community. I did not grow up here – I grew up north of Toronto in a town with a population of just under 20,000 and could not wait to get out. I ended up here for various reasons. I can’t believe the number of people who I meet who grew up here and stayed here …. I thought everyone wanted to get out of the towns they were born in!! How boring!!!! Also, regarding our higher health issues, I agree with you too – but think it’s also due to the lack of recreational activities around here – if you want to run, take your kids for a walk, etc, there is no where to go except for on the roads. It would be nice to be inspired to get out and remain active in this community, but we dropped the ball and will never get it back.
Chris76
February 11, 2012 at 8:00 pm
ckmom, I agree to an extent. What’s happened to Chatham is the very same issue that’s been going on for decades now in the Maritimes and Atlantic Canada. It’s called the “brain drain”, and as another poster mentioned above(copper), this is another factor influencing why our “best and brightest” decide to leave for greener pastures. Basically in a nutshell, all the smart people have left. Anyone who had a clue or any ambition to do anything at all with their lives are long gone. Yes, many have stuck around, but my theory there is that these people have family commitments or other obligations that keep their feet firmly planted in CK. And yet others simply choose, for whatever reason, to remain close to their roots and hometown. I think everyone’s experience with this is matter different. Don’t forget, my generation graduated coming right out off the heels of the 90′s recession. Chatham-Kent lost a LOT of industry one right after another in a relatively short period of time. The hits to our economy kept right on coming all throughout the 90′s, and I think that was one of the major reasons that influenced many of my peers to leave.
Regarding the health issues here, there are no clear answers. Many of us are physically inactive, smoke to much, eat and drink too much and have turned into virtual “couch potatoes”. Hopefully many will take advantage of the new Y’s facilities(I found Goodlife’s rates rather steep). I also know that our air quality here leaves a lot to be desired. According to my allergist in London, we are living in what is considered to be one of the most polluted areas in all North America. That’s not really our fault, however. It just happens to be our geographical location that we pick up all this junk coming from the stacks in Sarnia and Stateside. Like I said previously, my neighbour has been sick off and on for awhile now with a respiratory ailment that has her doctor mystified. She’s never had ANY health issues at all–no problems whatsoever until she moved down here, so that alone tells you something. CK does have its benefits, but as far as job prospects go, those days are behind us and are not coming back anytime soon.
PaulC
February 11, 2012 at 6:26 pm
It is interesting that this data comes on the heels of the budget process at the municipal level. Seems to me that 4% fewer people should mean 4% less government, at least in “people services” such as building and by-law, public health, social work,recreation, police, fire etc. The reduction would not be uniform due to shifting demographics, but surely it does not require more, or even the same number of staff to service fewer citizens.
Council always takes the cowardly path, as it did this year, and robs the future by underfunding the infrastructure reserve to hold down the current tax increase.That merely assures that the trend will continue as people see less reason to live here as roads, buildings and bridges deteriorate.Then it becomes another Detroit.
If taxpayers could see what they are paying for, they would collectively decide what is important.
Few of actually want to rob our children and drive them away.
al
February 11, 2012 at 8:27 pm
I wonder if the amalgamated urban/rural nature of Ck applies here. The number of farms has decreased (they get bigger but have less bodies). Look at the closings of multiple rural schools over the last few years. The other cities listed are essentially urban.
Jim in Wallaceburg
February 12, 2012 at 5:33 am
@al – While the population of Chatham-Kent dropped from 109,350 in 1996 census to 108,177 in 2006 census, the population of the former city of Chatham actually increased from 43,409 to 45,384. So yes, this magnifies the unique rural/urban divide of the amalgamated municipality.
Chris Lozon
February 13, 2012 at 3:38 am
Jim, this was unfortunately not the case this time around. Chatham’s population decline was only slightly lower than the ‘agglomeration’ of CK, checking in at a loss of 3.7% (45,783 in 2006 to 44,074 in 2011).
Jim in Wallaceburg
February 13, 2012 at 6:06 pm
Thanks, Chris. I have not seen the “ward-by-ward” distribution for the 2011 census so appreciate the insight.
Karen
February 13, 2012 at 4:46 pm
Chris76…In response to your comment…
“Basically in a nutshell, all the smart people have left. Anyone who had a clue or any ambition to do anything at all with their lives are long gone.”
I am a smart person and had/have the ambition to do things with my life and I am also not clueless…and I am still here…so not ALL smart people have left.
And I know quite a few smart, ambitious people in this community.
Chris76
February 14, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Karen,
With all due respect, you’ve entirely missed my point. I stated that those people I KNEW from high school, who graduated in the mid 90′s coming off the last steep recession, THOSE were the ones who left. I realize not everyone’s experience with this is the same, but in my case it was. Why would anyone want to stay in their hometown after graduation when all the jobs were either call centres, fast food, or retail, making minimum wage with no benefits when you can leave for Alberta and make twice that? I knew guys who went out there and made over $100k for six months worth of work. It’s common sense why a majority of them chose to leave. So YOU and few others stuck around and did something–good for you, but you don’t have to be run me down for offering an alternative viewpoint. I’m merely pointing out what I know was true based on MY experience. There were over 300 students in my graduating class of ’95. I don’t hesitate to say that less than 50% of that group stuck around…
Michael Cowtan
February 14, 2012 at 10:43 pm
I find it striking that there are not many entrepreneurs here.
When this has happened in many other places, I get the sense that more people have started their own businesses. I would like to see how we compare on that, and maybe EcDev has some numbers. I will probably have to post on INCK to get any numbers, because the municipality seems to monitor what happens there.
We have a rich history of boat building starting with the First Nations community, going through the early settlers and on to pleasure boating related the IC engine. We have a great water way system for family canoeing and kayaking. We have a rich history with the Underground Railroad. We were, and probably still are, a centre of vehicle manufacturing. All of those areas would seem ripe for some development.
There would seem to be some opportunities in specialised agriculture. We are in the perfect spot to distribute all kinds of goods, home grown and imported, with major routes by road and water to 150 million people within a days drive. We have a huge potential source of labour, cheap industrial land and inexpensive housing.
I know if I was 37 instead of 67, I would not be waiting for employment, I would be exploring the opportunities to make my own.
Is it an education issue?
Andrew
February 15, 2012 at 4:41 am
The issue is funds.
It takes money to make money.
Those w/ great entrepreneurial ideas cannot implement them without cash flow.