YOUTH RETENTION
Suffice it to say, early findings have been very interesting. “We found that youth are not driven solely by economics,” she says. “Of course, they want to make good money, but other factors play a role in their deciding to stay or leave, such as quality of life.” Which is to say youths — who think much differently than their work-focused parents did at the same age — are looking for a more well-rounded lifestyle. “They want outdoor living with recreational opportunities and things like a good transit system in addition to benefits and training that accompany good pay,” Lane says. “They will move if they can get career advancement opportunities.” While Manitoba’s abundance of rustic destinations and simple lifestyle appeals to youths, two factors are offsetting those competitive advantages. “Manitoba’s wages aren’t as high as other provinces and, while affordable, Manitoba isn’t as affordable as it seems. Those two factors make it difficult to attract and retain youths. However, people who have lived in Manitoba have a more favourable outlook on the province than those who haven’t,” Lane says. “So Manitoba needs to do a better job of promotion and telling those stories.” Saftiuk concurs. “We need to be promoting the Manitoba advantage and telling the Manitoba story,” she says. “There’s an exciting lifestyle available here with so many things at your fingertips — nature, restaurants and
entertainment. With the depth and breadth of opportunity in Manitoba, we should be leveraging these advantages to tell our story. It could play a big part in attracting and retaining talent in Manitoba.” Which is something Manitoba isn’t doing at the present time. “For example, we do a good job of attracting newcomers but a poor job of retaining them,” she says. “For the 2015 admission year, we retained 67.7 per cent of immigrants after five years. In comparison, Ontario had retained 92 per cent of the newcomers who settled there after five years. We need to improve on our retention rate. We simply cannot afford to be losing anyone.” Lane says the data from the youth retention study should be helpful. “Moving forward, decisions will be based on data, not ‘this might work,’” she says. “So far, we’ve found that the 25 to 29 age group is the biggest group leaving, followed by people aged 30 to 35. We’ve been tasked with getting the study done by Dec. 15. Most of the analysis should be done by then, with the public report available in the new year.” What will be the key takeaway? “It should give the government and employers some understanding of what will make Manitoba more attractive as a place to live and work,” Lane says. That’s the hope, Saftiuk adds. “Everyone must then collaborate to come up with tangible solutions,” she says. ■
Janet Lane, Canada West Foundation’s director of the Human Capital Centre
Elisabeth Saftiuk, vice-president of policy and government relations for the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce
“Everyone must then collaborate to come up with tangible solutions." – Elisabeth Saftiuk, vice-president of policy and government relations for the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce
43 WINTER 2023
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