The province is changing the vote percentage needed for a community to relocate or resettle.

The government’s Community Relocation Policy now requires 75 per cent of full-time, permanent residents to vote for relocation as opposed to the previous 90 per cent.

Also, the definition of a permanent resident is changed to someone who began living in the community one year before the relocation request was submitted.

The government also clarified that people living in personal care homes or retirement homes do not qualify as permanent residents.

The cost-benefit analysis for a request to relocate will be calculated over a 20-year time-frame only, and will require about $10 million in savings to government for a community to qualify.

Municipal and Provincial Affairs Minister Krista Lynn Howell says it’s not an effort to deplete rural Newfoundland.

Rather, she says it’s about assisting communities that are struggling to survive and amid increasing costs across the board.