Move to Brooks
The Brooks Newell Region (BNR) is an economic development collaboration of the City of Brooks and the County of Newell. With just over 25,000 residents, the Region located in Southeast Alberta is facing the same challenges as many rural communities across Canada. Near the top of those challenges is attracting and retaining the skilled workers needed to grow our community.
PURPOSE
To help enhance our position as a leader in workforce attraction and immigration we have created MovetoBrooks.ca. Reflecting the highly successful “Alberta Is Calling” campaign that was created by the Province of Alberta, our website provides external promotion that focuses in greater detail on the specific advantages that life in the BNR offers. Built on four pillars of opportunity; Affordability, Lifestyle, Belonging, and Careers, Move to Brooks features quantitative data combined with spotlight videos that provide a connection to our community through personal first-hand stories.
EFFECTIVENESS / MEETING OBJECTIVES
The effectiveness of the website can be directly tracked by our analytics. The website was launched in early August 2023 but from August-March 31 saw very little traffic (45 users) as no marketing efforts were employed. Our team began marketing the site in April 2024 and over the next four months, the website saw 7,533 views from 5,541 new visitors. Engagement statistics has shown that users view the site 1.36 times and the most commonly visited page is Affordability. Direct contact through the website has provided a number of site submissions and additional lead generation outlets are planned for installation in the Fall of 2024.
The objectives of the project are to increase awareness of the BNR and attract workers/residents to move to our community. One metric we use is the attraction rate to the BNR through the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program. The BNR has endorsed 145 candidates for nomination for permanent residency in Canada in the past year.
CHALLENGES & CHANGES
The main challenge of the project is differentiating our Region from other areas across Canada. We have attempted to achieve this by highlighting some of our very unique characteristics. One of the most prominent characteristics is that the City of Brooks is one the most culturally diverse small communities in all of Canada. With a population that has 48% of its residents that are visible minorities, and with 35% of the population being immigrants from outside Canada, Brooks has a long history of welcoming people from across Canada and around the World. Selling the benefits of small town life to urban residents has also been a challenge, but staff has purposely highlighted lifestyle and quality of life benefits based on known struggles in urban communities.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Move to Brooks is an outward facing brand targeted at audiences from across Canada and around the world who are looking at Alberta as a location where opportunity and a high quality of living are readily available. The target demographic is skilled workers, with higher levels of education, between the ages of 20 to 50. Effective exposure to this audience is achieved through a strategic campaign of direct and social media marketing that is managed through a contracted agreement with a digital marketing agency.
PROJECT SUSTAINABILTY
Move to Brooks is designed to promote that living in a smaller community can provide all the benefits and more that life in much larger urban centres can offer. Quality of life, personal well being, and a strong sense of community are the goals that when achieved will bring about positive change around equity, diversity, and inclusion. We strive to be a hallmark for progressive and sustainable community development, and set a positive example for all Canadians.
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