The Rural Ontario Institute's Leadership Programs Director says a group called the Rural Change-Makers is making a difference in rural communities in Ontario.
Gabrielle Ferguson says the group of 16 young leaders from 14 rural communities ranged in age from 18 to 29. She explains, the goal of the program is to give the young leaders the skills they need around community development so they can engage their communities in the issues that matter to them. And Ferguson notes, that may differ from one community to another.
Ferguson says the program was launched as a pilot program last year and she says before the program started, they asked how many of the participants thought they were likely to stay rural, to stay in their community.
"Before the program, we asked how many of the participants, how likely do you think you are to stay rural, to stay in the community. And 45 per cent of them said, yeah, we're probably going to do that. At the end of the program, which is less than a year long, 72 per cent said."
Ferguson says, given the challenges of retaining young people in rural communities, that was a significant improvement and one of the indicators of the change was that 93 per cent of them said they felt they could be a part of and make a difference in their community.
Ferguson also points out the group is helping their communities make decisions on significant and complex issues.
"Things like food security, things like affordable, remote housing and homelessness and working remotely. So they're about the infrastructure that rural communities need to be a place to live and work and play."
She says that's their ultimate goal, to create a community they want to be part of.