The City of Kawartha Lakes is looking to keep kids in the area.
City officials drafted a 27-page document on how they plan on retaining and attracting children and young people to stay and live in the region.
The document says that people aged 15-39 are integral to the overall vision and success of Kawartha Lakes, and says that they represent a large portion of the population. As of 2016 youth made up 18,425 of the total population, and according to the census data they used, the number of youth is gradually going down, saying that people aged 20-24 were 20 per cent lower than they expected. The data also showed that the majority of young people are leaving as part of out-migration.
The Youth and Young Person Plan has five overall goals to try and keep young people in the area, starting with increasing the availability of activities, maintain a ‘prosperous economy’ with a diversity of jobs and job seekers, encourage the development of affordable housing, create a brand for Kawartha Lakes that appeals to younger people and enhance public transportation and transportation networks to suit the needs of youth.
The plan was put together through a methodology that gathered info from focus groups, surveys of young people and stakeholder meetings.