Many rural communities desperately want to attract new residents and families to their communities. The BC Rural Centre has developed and implemented a highly successful Escape the City social media initiative, that includes an extensive social media campaign and a contest that highlights the strengths of a rural community, then targets a specific demographic cohort the community is interested in attracting.

The highly successful implementation of the Escape the City pilot in Kaslo, BC in 2018, demonstrated several concrete benefits for the community, including:

• A significant increase in publicity and online profile.

• Substantial media attention.

• An increase in tourism activity.

• The successful attraction of new residents.

For example, this young family didn't win Kaslo's Escape the City pilot — regardless, thanks to their exposure to the community, they are actively looking to move there.

If you're interested in working with the BC Rural Centre on a population attraction initiative like Escape the City, please contact us at info@bcruralcentre.org or call us at 1-833-RURL-911 (1-833-787-5911)