A Lakehead University economics professor says northwestern Ontario’s rural areas are losing the war against population changes.
Bakhtiar Moazzami, who recently penned a related report for the Northern Policy Institute, says as the region’s remote communities decline in population, so does their ability to develop a skilled workforce.
Moazzami says this means they’re lacking in human capital.
He adds this is driving economic inequality across the region, but providing better access to education in rural areas is one way to bridge the income gap. Education, he says, can help keep people from leaving rural areas and help develop their labour forces for the future.
