Young people look to leave Winnipeg, report finds

Winnipeg youthsay there are a lot of good things about Winnipeg, but more needs to be done to make it a placethey want to stay.

Those were the findings in theYouth Vital Signs (YVS) report, released Tuesday by The Winnipeg Foundation and based on feedback from more than 1,800 people aged 14-29.

"Survey participants graded 15 key areas of life in Winnipeg and grades ranged from Bs to Cs, indicating that while young people are basically satisfied, theyre also critical of the status quo," stated a news release from the Winnipeg Foundation.

There were no As or Ds, so there were no areas that were acomplete failure, and none where the city excelled, the report states.

Theareas young people saw as important for improvement included the high cost of living, personal safety, affordable housing and transportation, such as bike lanes.

You gotta remember a lot of these people surveyed were in their 20s, so they're starting to look at moving away from home and what's available, said Winnipeg Foundation CEO Rick Frost.

I personally found it somewhat shocking that so many people were thinking about leaving. Forty-one per cent said that they were definitely planning on leaving and another 46 per cent said they didn't know if they'd stay or not."

That's 87 per cent of the young people of thiscity saying they're not sure if they will set roots in Winnipeg, Frost said, underscoring the magnitude of that number.

He said the goal of the report card isto provide insight intowhat is important to the citys young people becausesurvey results have the potential to influence decision-making at many levels.

Students want vibrant, affordable city

Rorie Mcleod Arnould, president of the University of Winnipeg Students Association, said it's up to the next mayor and council to prioritize ways to make Winnipeg more appealing to youth.

"People want a vibrant city," he said. "People want to go out and feel inspired by the people around them and the streets around them. There is that in Winnipeg. That's absolutely there. How do we make it more prevalent and how do we make it more ubiquitous in this town?"

The lack of affordable housing was also a concern for young people.

Arnould said finding a decent place to live can be a big challenge.

"You see people getting into increasingly precarious housing situations or just going into debt in order to afford it," he said.

Notes on methodology

Online and hard copy versions of the survey were made available between March 17 and May 30, 2014.

It was also made available to post-secondary institutions, high schools and junior high schools, as well as agencies focused on serving youth. In total, 1,864 surveys were returned: 1,359 online and 505 on paper.

Youth were able to skip any questions they chose, therefore survey completion was not 100 per cent. The demographic section was also optional. As well, the survey was only available in English.

On mobile? See the survey here