Chatham-Kent cracked the top 10 in terms of growth cities in the country, according to a U-Haul study.
The company analyzed migration trends in 2019, including the number of one-way trips made to various destinations compared to how many left.
North Vancouver topped the list, but Ontario cities dominated, with 19 in the top 25.
Chatham-Kent placed third to St. Thomas and Stratford on the list in terms of destinations in southwestern Ontario.
In 2017, Chatham-Kent placed 11th on the list.
Darrin Canniff, mayor of Chatham-Kent, said the new shows we are indeed growing.
“I am proud and delighted that Chatham-Kent continues to attract and welcome new residents to our community,” he said in a media release. “As more people choose Chatham-Kent as a place to visit, live and invest, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent and community partners are working hard to help secure Chatham-Kent’s future for upcoming generations.”
U-Haul officials said migration trends data is compiled from more than two-million one-way U-Haul truck sharing transactions that occur annually in the U.S. and Canada, supplied by more than 22,000 U-Haul locations. While U-Haul migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, the company said its growth data is an effective gauge of how well cities and states are attracting and maintaining residents.
Audrey Ansell, manager of community attraction and promotion, said C-K continued to catch the eyes of people looking to escape the urban jungles.
“It’s clear that Chatham-Kent is an attractive place to live for new and existing residents. It’s nice when we make it onto lists like this, but we know that work to promote Chatham-Kent and to welcome people to our community is ongoing and that is a community-wide effort,” she said.
Victoria Bodnar, also with community attraction and promotion, said people are indeed flowing into C-K.
“Based on this U-Haul data and the amount of people we have shared community information with this year and welcomed to the community, it’s clear that we are attracting and retaining residents,” she said.
