Local Immigration: Assessing the Policy Capacity of Smaller Communities

Who should decide whether a smaller community is ready to welcome foreign-born residents? Who should participate in the design and implementation of a local immigration strategy? There has been an increasing policy interest in encouraging immigration settlement in smaller communities, as evidenced by the introduction of Rural and Northern Immigration pilots and soon-to-be Municipal Nominee…

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Nuxalk Housing Solutions — Utilizing Community Assets

Nuxalk housing solutions

The Nuxalk Nation in Bella Coola has done some amazing work in their housing and social development sectors. They have come up with innovative solutions to issues that face many First Nations. This 2-part video series is intended to inspire other First Nations to adopt and adapt some of the Nuxalk Nation’s successful strategies.  

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Kaslo InfoNet’s Tim Ryan

Kaslo

Kaslo, BC, a small, isolated West Kootenay village surrounded by rugged mountains and a 120 km-long lake, is home to one of the world’s smallest community-owned and operated, fibre-optic-enabled Internet Service Providers — Kaslo InfoNet Society, or KiN. KiN’s Tim Ryan speaks to the challenges faced by KiN and how they overcame them in this…

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Cowichan Lake Community Forest Co-op and Pacheedaht First Nation

Cowichan Lake

People in the Cowichan Lake communities and Pacheedaht First Nation will benefit from a unique community forest agreement for the Qala:yit [Kwah-LIE-it] Community Forest, reached in partnership with the provincial government in September 2018. “This is the latest stride that our nation has taken towards creating our own economic destiny, including a new sawmill and…

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Farmers Have a Future — Lindsey Shute

Farmers have a future

  Farmers have a future. At least according to Lindsey Lusher Shute, Executive Director and co-founder of the National Young Farmers’ Coalition, (NYFC) a membership-based organization dedicated to the success of the next generation of sustainable farmers in the United States. NYFC’s supporter network includes thousands of farmers and consumers from all fifty states, who…

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Affordable Rural Housing — the View from Yorkshire, UK

Affordable rural housing is often at a premium in small communities and rural regions. While rural housing prices may appear a bargain to newcomers and second home buyers from overheated urban real estate markets, they are often anything but for long-time residents, often saddled with relatively low-paying jobs. In this video produced by by the North…

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Rural American Fairs & Festivals

festivals and fairs play an important role in rural communities

It’s Fall, and across rural North America, festivals and fairs are in full swing, celebrating everything from the harvest to local history. These celebrations play a number of important roles in the communities that host them, including providing local farmers and ranchers with an opportunity to showcase their products, generating a significant economic impact on…

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