Age is just a number: the stories of four northeastern Ontario communities that go deeper than the census data

The latest numbers from the census show that northeastern Ontario continues to get older and continues to be older than the rest of Canada, but a closer look at the data tells a more complicated story.

Sheshegwaning

Chief Alana Endanawas is 38 years old. That is also the average age of her community of Sheshegwaning on the western end of Manitoulin Island.

The First Nation got a bit older in the last five years, with the average age rising from 34, but it is still crawling with children, like most Indigenous communities in the northeast that recently came through a baby boom.

Endanawas is a mother of two herself and says she would have more children if her community had a daycare centre.

That is now the focus of her lobbying with the federal government, after funding for a new school was secured last fall.

Unlike when she was growing up, Endanawas says the small school, which Sheshegwaning shares with the neighbouring Zhiibaahaasing First Nation, is crowded now,  with the older kids attending class in portables.

She is happy to see her community of 127 people "growing the next generation," but wonders what else they will need, especially in a time of rising youth anxiety and mental health troubles. 

"We just got to figure out how to accommodate them too, right? What kind of programs do they need to help them succeed in life?" said Endanawas. 

Sault Ste. Marie

Meghan Brazil doesn't see a lot of customers under 40 at the car dealership where she works in Sault Ste. Marie.

The city's average age rose to 45.4 in the last five years, while the population shrank by about 1,300 people to around 72,000.

The 34-year-old says while she decided to stay in the Sault, most of the kids she knew growing up moved away.

"I think a lot of people want to explore something bigger and different and something new," said Brazil.

"I discovered who I wanted to be by staying here, but I think a lot of people discover who they are and what they want to be by leaving."

But she says in recent years she knows an increasing number of childhood friends who, after establishing their careers and starting families elsewhere, moved back to the Sault and are closer to that average age of 45.

"That number totally makes sense to me," said Brazil.

Elliot Lake

As usual, Elliot Lake is the oldest place in northern Ontario and all of Canada.

The mining town turned retirement destination has an average age of 53.4, up from 52.7 in 2016. 

During the last five years, Elliot Lake's population also went up by about 600, the first increase in decades.

Steve Calverley and his wife are among them, moving up from Hamilton four years ago, despite initially worrying about living "in the middle of nowhere."

The 66-year-old says he also feared that Elliot Lake would feel like a seniors-only community.

"When I came up, I wondered about that. And yes, there are more people in my demographic, but all the other demographics are represented too," he said.

"Everybody's here, but my particular group probably has about twice as many as your average place."

About 20 per cent of Elliot Lake's population is under 30, which has remained steady in recent years.

The local housing market has been far less stable. Calverley says when he was first looking, there were as many as 300 homes for sale. Now it's around 30.

Melissa Pike, who grew up in Elliot Lake and is now raising her son there, says she's heard that a two bedroom apartment is going for as much as $1,400 per month.

The 41-year-old wonders if younger working families could soon be priced out of a town that become just a place for wealthy seniors.

"We have lots of people who come to town on lower income because it was cheaper to live," said Pike. 

"But even here it's too expensive."

Black River-Matheson

One of the only communities in northeastern Ontario that is getting younger is Black River-Matheson.

The average age dropped from 44.2 to 43.4 between 2016 and 2021, while the population jumped up by about 100 to 2,572.

"We see younger families, we see more kids walking the streets, playing the hockey games that we used to see way back," said Mayor Gilles Laderoute. 

"And that's a breath of fresh air."

He says the problem now is finding homes for everyone and trying to convince developers to build subdivisions in a small northern Ontario town. 

Laderoute says a recent influx of old order Mennonites to the area is also a big help, estimating their numbers to be around 700. 

They've been moving up to the northeast for a decade now, buying up inexpensive, underused farm land and usually having lots of children.

After decades of young people leaving the north for Toronto and other southern cities, Laderoute figures that we've finally hit a "breaking point" where small towns like Matheson are now the preferred destination.