Outcomes of Migration to Small Regional Retirement Communities on the Canadian Prairies

Abstract

The broad aim of this paper is to further our understanding of the mobility of older people by investigating the outcomes of migrations to small regional retirement communities on the Canadian Prairies (i.e., Manitoba's Interlake). A three-stage survey design includes (i) a interview survey of 34 recent older movers to the retirement communities; (ii) an interview survey of 10 community leaders; and (iii) two focus group interviews. Community leaders and elderly migrants were in general agreement about key issues facing newcomers to the study area. However, the migrants were generally satisfied with their moves to communities in the study area and had no migration intentions for the future. These results may be viewed as evidence of the successful place integration of elderly migrants within semi-rural retirement communities located in a cold Canadian climate. Policy interventions should be directed toward maintaining sustainable retirement communities to facilitate the integration of older migrants. Keywords: rural communities, qualitative analysis, migration intentions, migration outcomes, place integration.