Atlantic Canada’s policy class has long treated rural communities as a liability: too costly to service, too thin on population to justify the expense. Concentrate people in cities, the thinking goes, and healthcare, transportation, education and culture all improve in quality, at a cheaper price per capita. The math isn’t wrong. The conclusion is.

At 405,720 sq. km., Newfoundland and Labrador is the largest of the four Atlantic provinces but has the second-smallest population—more than twice that of Prince Edward Island, but only 63 per cent of New Brunswick’s. Nova Scotia, by comparison, has roughly a seventh of the land mass and double the population. Those aren’t just numbers on a map. They’re the difference between a 20-minute drive to a doctor and a two-hour one, between a school bus route and a family that moves.

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