'Low property taxes, friendly neighbours': How some Manitoba communities are selling small-town living

A little house on the Manitoba prairies CTV’s Danton Unger has Part 2 of CTV News Winnipeg’s three-part series exploring the boom or bust of small towns throughout Manitoba.

Amid a struggle to attract new growth to rural Manitoba, some communities are finding creative ways to sell Manitobans on small-town living.

When Hal Lavery got a job in Vita, Manitoba about a decade ago, he had never heard of the southern community of just 500 people before.

His first experience was a real rural welcome – driving into town and being welcomed by a cow and two sheep running down the road.

"Which was a unique experience for me, because growing up in the city I wasn't used to drag racing livestock," he said.

However, Vita's small-town charm quickly won Lavery over. Now working as the vice-principal at the community's school, Lavery is selling his house in Winnipeg and moving to Vita full-time.

"The house that's 20 metres away from work, surrounded by a huge yard, low property taxes, friendly neighbours, versus quite the opposite in Winnipeg – yeah, I think I'll take this one," he said.

Those small-town benefits are what some communities are trying to leverage to boost their growth.

Growth stagnant among some municipalities: data

According to data and estimates from Statistics Canada, among Manitoba's 137 municipalities, more than half (86) have seen their population increase by less than 10 per cent or less over the past 10 years.

Of those, 39 have seen their population decrease or remain stagnant.

However, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities says population data isn't always a tell-tale sign of growth. Some of these small communities can have large economic potential.

"Municipalities understand that if they build housing, people will come and live in those communities. At the same time, they have to create positive business environments for the businesses to create those jobs," Denys Volkov told CTV News.

"We're seeing that it's easier often to build in more rural communities, that there is less opposition to economic development."

The 'snowball effect' in southwest Manitoba

It's a mentality that is leading to growth in Reston, Manitoba – a community of about 660 people in the southwest Rural Municipality of Pipestone.

"It's kind of a snowball effect if you can get a community moving in a progressive manner," said Archie McPherson, reeve for the area.

The municipality has launched several initiatives in the past decade or so to make a move to Reston more attractive.

It is selling housing lots for just $10 as long as you build a home within a year, leading to the addition of 20 to 30 homes in the area.

"It doesn't sound like a lot, but for a small community, that's significant," McPherson said.

For those who would rather buy than build, the municipality offers grants of up to $6,000 for people moving into the community. On the economic front, it offers grants of up to $32,000 for new businesses coming to town.

"Once the community starts to grow and more businesses come into town. Then all of a sudden you get another convenience store, Tim Hortons, an A&W, et cetera and that creates more employment," he said. "It's worked out fairly successfully."

Over in Vita, Lavery is settling into small-town living and doesn't plan on going back to the big city any time soon.

"You're more of a community out here, you're more connected. And I think that is kind of ringing true for a lot of people."