Rural and small-town places across Canada have been undergoing rapid sociodemographic and
economic changes since the early 1980s. These changes are the product of the 1980s recession
which fostered neoliberal public policies that reduced the role of the state and effectively shifted
government initiatives away from community-building. Many communities in northern BC were
originally developed to house the working families of the post-war natural resource economy.
Since then, service infrastructure has aged, the original workforce is retiring, and many youth
and young families have migrated out of these communities. In the context of a changing rural,
out-migration of local youth and little in-migration of young people has long been identified as a
pressing issue. My research explored the migration plans of senior high school students through
a mixed methods exploratory case study of Tumbler Ridge, BC. The focus was exploring senior
high school students’ feelings about staying, leaving, or returning to their community, and what
factors contribute to those decisions. Economic opportunities are often assumed to be the most
significant factor in youth migration planning, but my findings speak to differences in youth’s
priorities. While education and employment were the drivers of youth out-migration, quality of
life and sense of place were the most significant factors in determining where youth planned to
migrate, and why. My research broadens the dialogue on what rural youth are seeking in their
communities.
