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Do you have a question about rural development that you can not find an answer? Perhaps it is a question related to best practices or about funding programs? Maybe your question is about finding a connection to another organization that has started a similar initiative to yours. Regardless of the topic, send your questions to the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation! We can pose your question to over 2,000 members and supporters from across Canada. Our stakeholders represent local development practitioners, government policy and program officials, researchers, and private businesses. We are sure someone in our network will have an answer or be able to point you in the direction where you can find more information.

Recent Questions and Answers

What are suggestions for information and resources related to mental health supports during COVID19 for a northern community?
Responses from CRRF Members:

What are potential community development models that would be useful in our planning as well as potential funding sources to assist us in securing the expertise necessary?
Response #1 from a CRRF Member: I am impressed by your long-term thinking and the initiatives that are emerging from this. They are consistent with many of the strategies emerging from our research. You can find some of these elements summarized in a powerpoint presentation I gave last year (Reimer, Bill (2018) “Rural Community Sustainability: context, challenges, and opportunities” Presentation to the Sustainability Study Group, McGill Association for Lifelong Learning, November 1.) It includes 7 community strategies with several examples starting in slide 27. Although they do not provide specific “models” of community development, they identify a number of principles that are worth considering as you explore approaches which are relevant to the unique conditions of Bolton Est.

My caution arises from research conducted in Alberta which compares the long term implications and value of community development strategies built upon commercial, industrial, residential, and agricultural development approaches to community development (see hyperlinked report). Of the four approaches, the researchers found that the residential approach was the only one which did not “pay for itself” in the long run (see pdf page 7 of the report). This does not mean it should not be initiated or developed in a plan, but it must be done with a view to the long term implications for your community – especially where servicing costs are involved. Too often only the short term benefits are considered with this residential approaches.

Response #2 from a CRRF Member: Please check out resources created by Leon De Vreede, Gregory Hemmings, and Bob Cervelli as they have all done work related to this question. They could probably point you in the direction of additional resources. You can find illustrations of their work at https://thrive.novascotia.ca/success-stories/healthy-communities/sustainable-bridgewater, https://treehousevillage.ca/, and http://centreforlocalprosperity.ca/.

Response #3 from a CRRF Member: CEDEC creating a revitalization model, which is a very successful community development model. The process is cyclical, starting with community mobilization and then moving towards planning, action and evaluation. You can check out their website, at https://cedec.ca/revitalization/. And for inquiries, you can reach them at info@cedec.ca.

There may be funding available to you for community planning and development through Economic Development Canada for Quebec Regions, using funds for Linguistic Minorities.

The specific project you mention about creating a residential area incorporating eco-responsible construction, design, and technology could be something that could be developed through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. They have a Green Fund that supports innovative projects – https://fcm.ca/en/programs/green-municipal-fund.

Are there any organizations that work at revitalizing food practices from the past in order to address the economic decline of land based incomes? That is, restoring some of the economic conditions that were present in the past when food self-sufficiency (or food security) was at a much higher rate?

Response from CRRF member: I expect you are familiar with the Canadian Association of / for Food Studies.

In Nova Scotia, there is one CEDIF (Community Economic Development
Investment Fund) with the objective that you have outline – FarmWorks. FarmWorks partners with investors, loan recipients, other lenders and other food-related organizations. These partnerships contribute to the growth and success of food-related enterprises across the province.
farmworks.ca

Certainly the economic history of many countries in the world shows that the GDP from farming continues to go up but the share of national GDP from agriculture continues to go down. It is not clear that one would want the agriculture GDP share to go up (unless for high-value niche agri-products and services).

I live in a very remote/rural community called Chevery on the Quebec Cote-Nord (Municipality de la Cote-Nord du Golfe du Saint Laurent). I know that there were some archaeological sites identified in my community in the 1970s but I don't know which government department to contact to request maps and/or more information. I am living in a fly in - flight out community, so access to government offices and archives is impossible. Any suggestions are appreciated
Response #1 from CRRF member: I do not know which specific government departments are the best ones to contact with respect to this issue, but I have some suggestions for exploring this question.

Check out the Association des Archéologues de Québec. Not only are they likely to provide you with suggestions for government departments, but they will also provide a network of people who are likely to support any initiatives you and Chevery take with respect to related community development. Their counterpart at the federal level (The Canadian Archaeological Association) is also a promising connection in this regard.

Insofar as you are considering this archaeological material as a basis for community development, I suggest you contact the Tumbler Ridge Museum Foundation. This is a small community in northern BC that has been very successful integrating archaeology and community development. They should be able to inform you about the process by which they transformed the discovery of dinosaur tracks into programs and infrastructure which has been a significant boon to their community (http://www.tumblerridgemuseum.com). They are also in a relatively isolated location but have been able to turn the discovery into popular and scientific attractions through the use of strategic alliances (e.g. with the University of Alberta and the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Alberta – see http://www.tumblerridgemuseum.com/McCrea%202003%20aps.pdf). If you check the museum and Tumbler Ridge sites (http://tumblerridge.ca/Tumbler-Ridge) you will see that they have expanded this focus into human and natural history of the region, summer camps, and several other interesting initiatives. Charles Helm is a key contact for much of this story.

Response #2 from a CRRF member: In response to your question below about archaeological sites identified Quebec Cote-Nord I reached out to Memorial University archaeologist Dr. Scott Neilsen, who is based at The Labrador Institute. It was suggested you try contacting Archéo-Mamu Côte-Nord. 

I represent a new task force to strategically and aggressively ramp up physician recruitment and retention in rural eastern Ontario. What are successful recruitment models, strategies or key players I should get in contact with to learn from?
Responses from CRRF members:

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