RURAL CONSTITUENCIES WANT A VOICE: “Zoom towns made possible by high-speed internet in rural communities have allowed vast numbers of people to vacate their city condo for a family home in a rural setting,” stated Barry Janyk, Executive Director of the BC Rural Centre
“For the past decade rural communities had been devising clever population attraction strategies and finding occasional success in achieving incremental growth. Coincidental with the expansion of broadband communications, the global COVID pandemic and the predicted demographic upheaval, living in urban areas became less attractive. Many folks who had been considering leaving urban centres quickly did. We characterize the three main groups moving to the really small communities as digital nomads, amenity migrants, and retirees,” stated Barry Janyk.