Thank you for the questions!
As a nature kind of person, Fermont had everything I was seeking; Plenty of forest, the ability to hunt, trap, fish almost anywhere, a lot of snow during the winter, the Northern lights, the fauna and much more. It IS the place for outdoor activities. If you ever drive on the 389, I recommend you check out the Mont Groulx. [1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monts_Groulx
The infamous Manic 5 hydroelectric water dam is on that road. Bring a camera, don't be scared to enter the trails near rivers and lakes, you won't regret it. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel-Johnson_dam
You are close to Labrador City in case you need to take a flight, the salaries were insanely good in my field, the inhabitants were really friendly and always ready to help no matter what.
On the downside, I would say that other than going in Newfoundland for errands, you are really far away from any other town and the more importantly, the sea (I'm from a fisherman village). Other than that, it does get really cold during winter. I've personally witnessed -63C on an iron mine, but fortunately, the humidity level is really low (it's dry).
I do not believe Fermont is dying out, but it's flame has reduced considerably.
The economy over there is mostly driven by the price of iron which has ups and downs. The future is never certain.
Also, a lot of workers are doing fly-in fly-out contracts (mostly 7, 14 or 21 days in a row) hence the decline in population. It does have a toll on the local business and I'll add my grain of salt by saying that Fermont mostly had essential stores with the exception of a few non-essential ones which has mostly died since.
Furthermore, most people drive ~20-30 minutes to reach Labrador City and buy what they need from the multiple stores you can find (Walmart, Canadian Tire, etc). As for Amazon, I'm confident it's been used by many people and has an impact, but I personally doubt they could've have found these items locally if all these closed stores were still open.
You are close to Labrador City in case you need to take a flight, the salaries were insanely good in my field, the inhabitants were really friendly and always ready to help no matter what.
On the downside, I would say that other than going in Newfoundland for errands, you are really far away from any other town and the more importantly, the sea (I'm from a fisherman village). Other than that, it does get really cold during winter. I've personally witnessed -63C on an iron mine, but fortunately, the humidity level is really low (it's dry).
Cheers from the Great White North!