BC Community Forests Make a Difference

  A report entitled Community Forests — Community Benefits: The Economic Contributions of Community Forests to Rural BC Communities, recently released by the Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition (SIBAC), in cooperation with the BC Community Forests Association (BCCFA), underscores the fact BC community forests are playing a very significant — often critical — role in the…

Read More

CEDIFs an Investment Model for Rural BC?

The BC Rural Centre believes that a vehicle like Nova Scotia’s  Community Economic Development Investment Fund (CEDIF) would be an ideal way to repatriate a portion of the investment funds currently leaving British Columbia, stimulate small business development and expansion, and provide a very effective rural development tool. FarmWorks Investment Co-operative Limited is a CEDIF cooperative…

Read More

“Overtourism” Protests Spreading Throughout Europe

Rural BC communities seeking to reinvent their formerly resource-based economies, communities that happen to be located in beautiful areas — so-called “high amenity” places — face a unique challenge. In many cases these communities have turned to tourism as a means of revitalizing the local economic scene. The idea is straightforward enough: more tourists means…

Read More

Millennials Make the Move to Rural Ontario?

Tony Scott is a Millennial, and the founder and president of Akira Studio, an established tech company based in London, Ontario that designs, develops, and hosts websites for over 450 companies across the globe. Akira employs web developers, software engineers, network analysts and content creators that work together to optimize the online presence and competitiveness…

Read More

Western Juniper?! ‘Why Not?’ Says Small Mill Owner

Grand old juniper tree

Western Juniper is a native species in Central Oregon. Over the past century, it has begun to outcompete other native vegetation and interfere with the balance of the local ecology. Because harvesting Western Juniper in Central Oregon is critical for grassland restoration, there is a tremendous opportunity to create an income stream for the region…

Read More

Help for BC Rural Small Businesses Hurt by Wildfires

Straight.com reports that hundreds of wildfires in B.C. this summer have not only wreaked havoc on evacuees, they’re also putting some businesses in jeopardy. In response to this, the BC Government Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Doug Donaldson, has announced that a $1,500 emergency grant will be made available to…

Read More

Wildfires Linked to Climate Change?

  Wildfires are sweeping B.C. Close to 900 have burned through 600,000 hectares so far this year, blanketing western North America with smoke. Fighting them has cost more than $230 million—and the season is far from over. It’s not just B.C. Thousands of people from B.C. to California have fled homes as fires rage. Greenland…

Read More

Kaslo Jazz Fest 2017 Rocks!

Kaslo Jazz Fest 2017, just ended, the biggest and best ever by all accounts. The Festival was completely sold out. For three days, Kaslo Bay looked more like the south of France than the Kootenays, as thousands enjoyed the hot weather, sandy beach, the cool waters of Kootenay Lake, and some astonishing musical performances. Hotels,…

Read More

Latest on the BC Wildfire Situation

According to Vancouver’s News 1130, British Columbia’s wildfire situation is expected to get worse before it gets better. There are currently 125 fires burning across the province, including a “monster fire” at Elephant Hill. Sixteen of the fires burning now started on Friday, bringing the total number since April 1st to 884. The cost of…

Read More

Newcomer Engagement in Ontario Report

When newcomers and other community residents enjoy mutually beneficial relationships, rural communities are more likely to be healthy. The Rural Ontario Institute recently released a report, Newcomer Engagement and Social Capital in Rural Communities, that explores how rural communities are engaging newcomers in their civic life. Newcomer Engagement and Social Capital in Rural Communities examines…

Read More