With youth population across northeastern Ontario expected to decline by nine per cent over the next decade, better relations must be cultivated between area schools and industry to keep youth in the North. The Timmins youth needs assessment committee and the Far North East Training Board made the recommendations after staging a series of youth forums last year in Timmins, Kapuskasing, Hearst, Chapleau, Kirkland Lake and Haileybury. The committee members say the northeast needs to retain 300 young people annually to help compensate for the 600 expected to leave each year. The recommendations include: establishing financial incentives for work and study, partnering industry with high schools and post-secondary programs and increasing opportunities for secondary industries. After a youth forum is held in Moosonee this year, an action plan will be drafted and sent on to Timmins Mayor Jamie Lim's youth advisory commission to work with the findings.
