A report tabled by the Far Northeast Training Board finds the population in their service area has dropped 6.2 per cent from 1981 to 1996, while the rest of Ontario's population jumped by 25 per cent. The study projects the area's youth population should drop nine per cent between 2001 and 2011. Further research on rural youth indicates only one in five youth returns to their home community. A steering community has been formed to travel the Highway 11 corridor and up the James Bay coast to further identify trends in forming an action plan to devise solutions to retain youth.
