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By Connor Gunn

Presentation given about why youth are leaving Alberta

Nov 18, 2021 | 3:00 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Dr. David J. Finch of Mount Royal University’s CityXLab reviewed the factors into why young Albertans aren’t “purchasing a city.”

Finch gave a presentation to the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) addressing the concerns and problems of when youth leave a city or province.

He spoke about many factors in his presentation, including “stepping off points” where a young person may leave the province after high school or college. There are many other factors that contribute to these points like when someone is looking for work in their field and cannot find work.

Finch brought up other points for when someone is raised in a small town in rural Alberta and that person leaves the province to “learn what more is out there” for either experiences or jobs.

“The risk of young people leaving our province is real and extraordinarily complex. What drives young adults to ‘purchase’ a city?”

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He says many young Albertans don’t see themselves as “Albertans” when wanting to leave the province. An exercise was done recently where people aged 20-30 were asked to draw what resembles an Albertan.

Many people in the study drew a pickup truck with a large cowboy hat on it and an oil drum was shown in a different drawing. Finch called it “stereotyping.” The image is shown below.

Image from Presentation

Finch says these people that took part in the exercise didn’t view themselves in this drawing, he believes they were projecting how they see someone older like their parents.

Climate and others are core values to many of these people in this age group compared to fossil fuels. Finch notes that a large portion of the young population is flocking to Vancouver and Toronto for a different type of life.

There are other key points that Finch makes is many young people leave cities for specific work opportunities, many people go work on an oil rig and either love it or don’t so they substantially change their life afterward like leaving the province.

In the presentation, the following image was shown giving the various factors driving people to leave Alberta.

Image from Presentation

The perception of how young people are viewed in the province is also a driving factor to change cities and leave, Finch says.

He claims, if young people aren’t feeling respected by their older peers like their parents, they will leave and escape to somewhere to feel respected.

To view the entire presentation, view the video here.

More information from SACPA can be about Finch and his study below.

Dr. David J. Finch holds a PhD in management and is an active educator, scholar and practitioner. He currently holds several academic appointments including as a professor at Mount Royal University’s Bissett School of Business, a visiting fellow at the Henley Business School at the University of Reading (UK), and the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. As a senior fellow at the Institute for Community Prosperity, Dr. Finch leads the Institute’s CityXLab. This Lab explores the intersection between a city’s learning, creative and active experiences and its ability to attract, develop and retain human capital. Dr. Finch has authored over 50 scholarly papers and is published in journals such as the Academy of Management Learning & Education, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Sport Management and the Corporate Reputation Review. His most recent book, Understanding the Active Economy and Emerging Research on the Value of Sports, Recreation, and Wellness (Finch & Legg), explores the value of the active economy to community. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Finch held progressively senior roles in areas of corporate strategy in Canada, the U.S and the U.K..