Latest census data shows which communities are thriving, which are struggling

Statistics Canada says communities within commuting distance ofOttawa andGatineau places like NorthGrenville,Val-des-MontsandClarence-Rockland are growing faster than even the cities themselves.

• Ottawa-Gatineau population rises to 1.3M, but loses 4th place to Calgary

That's because atrend continues nationwide that sees metropolitan areas growing much faster than rural ones, said Laurent Martel, director of the demography division at Statistics Canada.

So, how are communities faring outside of the big city?

Check out the map below for alook at who's winning in the census head count, and who's losing,in eastern Ontario and west Quebec.

The bedroom community

It may come as a surprise that the population ofThurso, Que., a pulp mill town east of Gatineau, grew 14.8per cent since the 2011 census.

Part of the success can be tied to Fortress Paper, which shifted the mill's output from producing traditional pulp to something called specialty cellulose, whichcan be used in rayon and cellophane.

That ensured the mill's future, saidmayor Benoit Lauzon.

But much of Thurso's population growth came about through careful planning and effort on the town's part, he said.

Several years ago, the town anticipated the opening of Autoroute50, which would turn the mill town into a bedroom community for Gatineau and Ottawa. Lauzon said it set out to entice developers to build homes in the town.

And it worked.The number of private dwellings in Thursogrew from 1,075 to 1,308 in just five years

The town has now retired that tax benefit and is focused on adding town services for residents, and growing the region's new industrial park, said Lauzon.

The booming base town

Petawawa, Ont. may fall outside of commuting distance to the big city, but it's one rural town that's booming, thanks to the Canadian Armed Forces garrison.

Mayor Bob Sweet says hundreds of soldiers and their families have moved to the area since the Forces created the Canadian Special OperationsRegiment, or CSOR, and a newhelicopter squadron to fly Chinook helicopters.

But Sweet also credits hard work on the part of his town staff. He does a good sales pitch, boasting about the young andenergetic population and low property taxes only $311 for every $100,000 of a home's assessed value.

"It's just a pretty nice place to live, to be honest with you. If you like the outdoors, you like camping and fishing and hunting, Petawawa is the place for you."

The town is handing out many building permits, said Sweet, and foreseesgrowth for several years to come.

Calling youth home

Midway between Ottawa and Montreal, Hawkesbury is experiencing a more typical experience of a smaller Canadian centre.

The one-time paper town lost its mill in the 1980s, and saw a windshield plant close up shop in the late 2000s.

Other small companies have set up, said mayor Jeanne Charlebois, but one big concern remains: the town is losing its young people.

More than 600 peoplehave left Hawkesbury in the last decade. Young people leave to attend college or university but the town needs more professional jobs to draw them back, said Charlebois.

She has high hopes for a major multi-million dollar expansion to the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital, and the hundred or so jobs it could bring that would lure youth home.

"Some of them would love to come back here. After they get over the big city life and all that and theycome to visit their parents, they like the small town living," said Charlebois.

Eye on immigration

On the St. Lawrence River, Brockville, Ont. also struggles with young people leaving to get a post-secondaryeducation, something mayor David Henderson sees as a necessity in today's labour market.

But, unlike Hawkesbury or nearby Smiths Falls, Henderson says Brockville has managed to retain its major employers, even if automation means they have fewer people on staff.

Henderson sees a "flow" that happens, where young people leave for school but return as adults for particular jobs that open up, if the timing is right and they haven't become too entrenched in another community.

Still, the city's populationis shrinking and its retail sector suffers, so Brockville has embarked on a different strategy:attracting immigrants who typically gravitate to big cities like Toronto.

"That is the direction of growth in this country. And we have to capture a bit of it if we want this region to grow," said Henderson.

Brockville is trying to get itself on the radar of federal and provincial government programs aimed at attracting immigrants, and sell newcomers on the fresh air of living in a small city on the St. Lawrence.

Brockvillehas an addedchallenge in that its land area is only 20 square kilometres, and while its population has shrunk by 600 people since 2006,it has actually added homes.

"So there's fewer and fewer people in each house," saidHenderson. "We need more people in higher density, so we are focusing on building higher density condominiums. That's our only hope for growth."

Click on each town or city to see how its population has changed from the 2006 census to the census taken in 2016: