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Over the past seven (7) years, Scouts Canada has been decreasing in membership by an alarming rate. The following numbers were taken from the Ontario Council Annual Reports. They clearly show that Scouting membership (in Ontario), has decreased by approximately 26%. What can we do to stop this tailspin?
(See the full membership statistics from 1990-2007)
| Year | Partners | (%)* | Groups | (%)* | Members | (%)* |
| 1995 | 1764 | | 1764 | | 103223 | |
| 1996 | 1716 | 97.3 | 1716 | 97.3 | 104531 | 101.3 |
| 1997 | 1693 | 96.0 | 1693 | 96.0 | 102627 | 99.4 |
| 1998 | 1657 | 93.9 | 1396 | 79.1 | 94325 | 91.4 |
| 1999 | 1586 | 89.9 | 1586 | 89.9 | 90507 | 87.7 |
| 2000 | 1495 | 84.8 | 1516 | 85.9 | 85387 | 82.7 |
| 2001 | 1462 | 82.9 | 1449 | 82.1 | 81141 | 78.6 |
| 2002 | 1440 | 81.6 | N/A | N/A | 76240 | 73.9 |
| 2003 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 61702 | 59.8 |
| 2004 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 57963 | 56.1 |
| 2005 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| * equals percent of 1995 numbers |
So, how do the National numbers add up, first by Province.
| Province | 2002 | 2003 | % of 2002 | 2004 | % of 2002 |
| NWT & Nunavut | 205 | 185 | 90.2 | w Alb | |
| BC/Yukon | 24872 | 18997 | 76.4 | 18836 | |
| Alberta | 21966 | 20394 | 92.8 | 19768 | |
| Saskatchewan | 5713 | 4930 | 86.3 | 3688 | |
| Manitoba | 4879 | 4082 | 83.7 | 3515 | |
| Ontario | 75193 | 61702 | 82.1 | 57963 | |
| Quebec | 8242 | 6338 | 76.9 | 5496 | |
| New Brunswick | 4287 | 3128 | 73.0 | 2578 | |
| Nova Scotia | 10175 | 7471 | 73.4 | 6713 | |
| PEI | 823 | 543 | 66.0 | 524 | |
| Nfld & Labr | 4782 | 3878 | 81.1 | 2877 | |
| Total | 161137 | 131648 | 81.7 | 121958 | 75.6 |
Now, how does each section stack up?
| Section | 2002 | 2003 | %2002 | 2004 | %2003 |
| Beavers | 42531 | 36260 | 85.3 | 31089 | 85.7 |
| Cubs | 45202 | 38444 | 85.0 | 34359 | 89.4 |
| Scouts | 23495 | 20478 | 87.2 | 17755 | 86.7 |
| Venturers | 6594 | 5314 | 80.6 | 5157 | 97.0 |
| Rovers | 1368 | 1116 | 81.6 | 1010 | 90.5 |
| SCOUTSabout | 1628 | 1666 | 102.3 | 4138 | 248.4 |
| Extreme Adv | 367 | 232 | 63.2 | 910 | 392.2 |
| Total Youth | 121186 | 103510 | 85.4 | 94230 | 91.0 |
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| Adults | 40300 | 29664 | 73.6 | 28440 | 95.9 |
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| Grand Total | 161486 | 133174 | 82.5 | 122158 | 91.7 |
It is quite obvious from these numbers that the membership decline is not stopping, but in fact is increasing in magnitude. This may be attributed to the very large drop in the numbers of adult members. Many older, experienced leaders have left, due to any number of issues.
Grumpy
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