Barbara Bloodworth probably didn't know a key part of her job as a small-town Manitoba mayor would be to sell large amounts of residential real estate.

But that's exactly what she's trying to do after Leaf Rapids, a small town 975 kilometres north of Winnipeg, shrank to half its size in a matter of months.

"In Leaf Rapids right now, we have about half of our population left," she said.

Residents began leaving in droves after the town's main employer, a copper and zinc mine, shut down last spring, throwing 360 people out of work.

Quickly after that, a town of 1,400 became a town of 600. Many who left simply abandoned the houses they were unable to sell.

Knowing the employment opportunities offered by the mine will never be replaced, Bloodworth is promoting the town as an attractive destination for retirement. It's attractive because of the small-town northern life it offers and because the economics are right.

"You can move to Leaf Rapids and buy a home for you know, $20,000 and take the rest of your money and put it in the bank," she said.

Leaf Rapids has a model to follow in Elliot Lake, Ont. When the uranium mine there shut down, the town successfully marketed itself as a retirement community.

Bloodworth hopes her own town can make a similar transition for survival.

"The town is being marketed to people who are looking for that type of lifestyle, and to people who are looking to live in that area," said Jonathan Strauss, of Strauss Communications, the marketing firm hired by Leaf Rapids to run its campaign.