The News
The latest articles and news relating to rural living...
Community Investment Sessions Coming to Southern Interior Communities
Community investment is the process of connecting local investors to local investment opportunities. While the demand for investing locally is increasing, traditional options available to investors limit where they can invest. The result is that…
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BC Rural Centre’s Recommendations for Rural Development
What kind of provincial policies and tools would help us with rural development in BC? This is an issue the BC Rural Centre/SIBAC has spent a lot of time and effort researching. We have developed…
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Community Impact Investing – Putting Your Money Where Your Life Is!
Community impact investing? In today’s interconnected world, it’s easy to see how your hard-earned money can end up going toward projects and businesses all around the world. In 2013, British Columbians contributed $4.5 billion of new…
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Enderby Hails a Ride
As B.C. mulls the future of ride-hailing services like Uber, one small town — Enderby — is making the case to welcome the service with open arms. Much of the ride-hailing discussion in our procince has been…
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Local Manufacturing Big in Rural America
Local manufacturing matters in rural America, employing more than 3.5 million workers. As rural America’s second largest sector, manufacturing employs 14% of rural civilian employees and produces 15% of total rural US earnings – that…
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Province Partners with CBT for New Affordable Housing
People struggling to find an affordable place to live in the Columbia Basin region will have access to new rental housing, thanks to a partnership announced between the BC government and Columbia Basin Trust (CBT),…
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Cooperation At the Heart of One Small Community’s Success
Community — pulling together collectively to affect real change — is often the key in small town turn-arounds. In this informative article written by Spotify’s Dayna Winter, we’re introduced to Almonte, Ontario, a town…
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B.C. small farms are booming, despite fickle buyers and extreme weather
B.C.’s small farms are booming, despite market and climate challenges, according to this article from CBC News. High winds slammed a tree into Paul Dumais’ chicken coop Tuesday while he was collecting eggs inside,…
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Olds, Alberta Goes High Tech
Olds, Alberta agrees with the following statement: “It’s difficult to argue against the observation that the 21st economy is increasingly dominated by new and emerging technologies. Cities and towns that fail to acknowledge and act…
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Digital Nomads Are Redefining Work in the Kootenays
A year ago, the Revelstoke Mountaineer noted that the workplace is changing beyond recognition, thanks to new technologies like web collaboration tools, smartphones, and next generation internet connectivity, freeing folks to work from wherever they…
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Off-Grid in Northern BC
In this video, we meet Jeff, Rose, and their five girls who are living completely off-grid on a 40-acre piece of land in northern BC. They built their own off-grid house for less than $25,000…
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Rural Transportation Proposal from Greyhound Canada
Providing rural transportation is a challenge across BC. Four months after making a request to the B.C. Transportation Board to drop several routes, Greyhound Canada has proposed a solution to save inter-city bus service in rural areas. The transportation…
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Aging BC Doctors an Issue
The phenomenon of aging BC doctors and its implications for patients, especially in rural BC, is looming as a real challenge, . Almost 15 per cent of British Columbians don’t have access to a regular…
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Rural Schools Matter — a Brief Summary
Rural schools matter — a small town without a school is often a community without hope. This brief BC Rural Centre summary will be of interest to anyone who cares about the future of rural…
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Kaslo First Impressions Summary
A brief summary of the impressions and suggestions registered by a “secret” team of visitors to Kaslo from New Denver and the Slocan Valley is now available.
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The Arts & Rural Revitalization
On November 28, 2017, the BC Rural Centre hosted its first-ever webinar, on the topic of the arts and rural renewal. Sarah Calhoun of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, and John Davis of Lanesboro, Minnesota discussed…
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Arts and Rural Renewal
Sarah Calhoun of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, and John Davis of Lanesboro, Minnesota discussed their respective experiences in helping bring positive change to small, remote communities. Sarah Calhoun Sarah has been called a…
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New Denver/Silverton Report Summary Released
New Denver/Silverton were recently the unsuspecting hosts for a contingent of “secret visitors” from Kaslo, who spent an October day checking out everything from the highway entrances to the two villages, to their take on…
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BC Rural Dividend Program Announces Fourth Intake
Applications for funding in the fourth intake of the BC Rural Dividend program will be accepted Nov. 15 to Dec. 15, 2017, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Doug Donaldson announced…
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Ontario’s Rural Broadband Challenge
Ontario’s rural broadband challenge is highlighted in this article by Dave Reevely, originally published in the Ottawa Citizen. Running subsidized Internet lines to rural Ontario has an important thing in common with the provincial…
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Do-It-Yourself Rural Internet?
Do-it-yourself rural Internet? Ramona Pringle penned this interesting opinion piece on rural communities who have stepped up to provide their residents with high-speed Internet for CBC News. If you live in rural areas of…
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BC Forestry Trade Mission to Asia Launches
The BC Forestry trade mission to Asia is British Columbia’s largest-ever forest sector delegation to China and Japan, according to Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development Minister Doug Donaldson. The mission, from Nov. 12…
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Urban-Rural Divide Widens in Sweden
The urban-rural divide is as real in Sweden today as it is in British Columbia, and North America generally. The Nordic country’s cities continue to grow and develop, while rural communities shrink and unravel. “Young…
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