Red Deer’s city manager said more needs to be done to embrace diversity to ensure future sustainable growth.
Despite currently taking on different initiatives to reach out to immigrant and Aboriginal populations in the city, Craig Curtis questioned if it would be enough as overall growth is becoming increasingly dependent on how welcoming a society is to these cultures.
“I think the issue is we’re obviously going to be an aging community over the next 15 to 20 years and the situation is that communities across Canada that are not immigrant friendly will not grow,” he said Tuesday at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
Curtis attended a presentation from the Conference Board of Canada last week where the latest census was discussed as results show two-thirds of Canada’s population growth comes from immigration.
And it is projected, he said quoting the board’s findings, that all of the country’s growth will come from immigration by 2030.
“The Conference Board of Canada is saying the communities that are going to thrive are those that are that are immigrant friendly,” Curtis told the audience.
“Red Deer is pretty well positioned. We have significantly increased diversity over the last couple of decades.
“But of course, more needs to be done.”
He highlighted items such as accessibility, diversity, multilingualism and social cohesion as ways to further attract immigrants in an effort to promote future growth.
“I think he’s absolutely right,” said Richard Banville, executive director of the Central Alberta Diversity Association.
“I think we have to recognize that Red Deer is a diverse community and it’s becoming more and more diversified as time goes on.
“We have to not only recognize that fact and promote tolerance, but we have to go beyond tolerance and embrace that reality and actually believe that it’s a strength for Red Deer.”
The biggest benefit, he said, is that diversifying will help put Red Deer “more on the map.”
This is something that will attract future citizens and businesses, Banville said.
One challenge he foresees the city facing, however, will be transforming it’s rural stereotype into something more inclusive and welcoming.
But the effort, which may be years in the making, will be worth, Banville stressed.
“It’s a win-win for everybody to have that kind of open mindedness,” he said of diversifying.
“You’re enriching your life by opening up to people who are different to yourself.”
There are currently 57 non-official languages spoken in Red Deer and 10 per cent of the city’s population has a different first language than English or French, Curtis said.
He added that nearly five per cent of the population — or approximately 4,500 people — also has aboriginal roots.
ptrotter@www.reddeeradvocate.com