I grew up in southern Ontario, mostly around the Toronto area. As a result, I grew up in a very multicultural community, where most of my friends or friends' parents were from other countries. I was also used to living in a (relatively) big city.

After graduating from university, I moved up to northern Ontario. Most people's families here have been here for at least a few generations. Their idea of "diverse" is that there are different types of Caucasian - French, Italian, Ukrainian, Irish, etc. A surprising amount of people have never left the city, let alone the country, and if they have, it was to a resort destination in Cuba or Mexico. Due to these factors, I find a lot of people have a narrower view of the world or they just don't really bother to learn about it. I don't mean it like they're racist, but I find they're less likely to think of anything outside this area. Toronto might as well be a foreign land to them. Foods from other cultures are sometimes seen as weird or gross (my friend from the Congo once brought some homecooked food from her culture to work, and someone actually looked at it and made a sound of disgust). Little things like that (although, the food example was not a little thing; my friend was deeply offended).

But living up here, I can now see why people outside the major cities in the southern part of the province feel ignored. There is a bit more of a feeling of isolation. Back home, there is no clear line between cities (i.e. between Toronto and Mississauga, or between Burlington and Oakville) except for a sign. Each city connects to each other. Here? You need to drive at least an hour to reach another town. Between each town is wilderness. There are less resources, less funding from the governments (or, at least, it feels like it). Things are more expensive here, both in terms of actual price and in terms of extra stuff you need to live here (for example, having a set of winter tires is a necessity, but they are pricey; also, public transportation is either crappy or nonexistent, so a personal vehicle is usually necessary). There is also a higher concentration of Natives here, so I've also had to come to terms with the various issues that typically plague Natives (i.e. poverty, abuse, substance abuse, mental health, diabetes, teenage pregnancy).

I can freely admit that, before I moved up here, I really didn't consider all these things and did not even know the names of all the cities and towns up here or what their cultures were like. It's really opened my eyes to how vast just this province is and how the problems don't simply stop north of Toronto.

I don't want to live here forever, but I have no regrets at all about moving. I've learned far too much to feel regret.