Housing policy often focuses on building more homes, but access to land is just as important. In his new article, Government Land Leasing and Intersections with Housing in the Northwest Territories, Chris Van Dyke explores a unique feature of housing in the Northwest Territories (NWT): many homeowners lease the land beneath their homes from the territorial government rather than owning it outright. The study shows that this practice remains common in small
Congratulations to the following graduates students who participated in a convocation ceremony this week to celebrate the completion of your program of study:
Aubree Erickson, Master of Science (Planning)
Brianna Miller, Master of Science (Planning)
Camilo Jimenez, Master of Planning
David Lara, Master of Science (Planning)
Jayden Cote, Master of Science (Planning)
Jeremy Parsons, Master of Planning
Louis Helps, PhD in Rural Studies
Natasha D’Souza, PhD ...
The June 2026 newsletter contains updates to graduate students working with Prof. Gibson and recent alumni. This newsletter shares information about academic programs updates, celebrates receive achievements, profiles an RPD alumni, and share insights on upcoming events. If you have information to share in the monthly update do not hesitate to let Ryan know via email.
...
The University of Guelph is home to a wide diversity of research on rural people, places, and environments. As a leader in rural research, this video series facilitates knowledge sharing across rural Ontario and beyond.
This summary – Housing Needs and Actions for the Agricultural Sector in Rural Greenbelt Communities – examines the relationship between agricultural productivity and rural housing in Ontario, drawing on case studies from Niagara, Durham ...
New research published in the Journal of Rural and Community Development explores how rural communities can strengthen connection, innovation, and local development in challenging geographic regions. In “The Peaks and Valleys of Connection: Lessons from the Scottish Highlands and Islands,” authors Blake Glassford and Ryan Gibson examine how the Smart Village approach has been used in the Scottish Highlands and Islands to improve connectivity and supp...
What happens to local governance when a dominant industry actor becomes the primary driver of talent attraction and economic development in a rural region?
PhD research by Natasha D'Souza from the University of Guelph examines exactly this question through the lens of Bruce County, Ontario, a community transitioning from an agricultural economy to a specialised nuclear energy hub. The research explores how Bruce Power's influence shapes not only employmen
Jayden Cote's recently successfully defended MSc (Planning) thesis titled "Rural Economic Development in the Iron Cage? Measuring Constraints on Municipal Development Strategies in Rural Ontario" is now available online -https://hdl.handle.net/10214/29650.
The University of Guelph is home to a wide diversity of research on rural people, places, and environments. As a leader in rural research, this video series facilitates knowledge sharing across rural Ontario and beyond.
This video highlights recent research by Uduak Edet published in 2023 titled The Influence of Information Disorder on Climate Change Adaptation Practices of Farmers in Lagos State, Nigeria. This research explores how misinformation sprea...
Congratulations to Jayden Cote for successfully defending his MSc (Planning) thesis titled "Rural Economic Development in the Iron Cage: Exploring Pressures on Economic Identity and Political Autonomy in Ontario's Municipalities".
An electronic copy of the MSc thesis will be available shortly.
The University of Guelph is home to a wide diversity of research on rural people, places, and environments. As a leader in rural research, this video series facilitates knowledge sharing across rural Ontario and beyond.
This recent video summary highlights recent research by Alex Petric and Ryan Gibson titled Hidden Treasures: Estimating Intergenerational Wealth Transfers in Rural Canada. This research estimates the scale of housing-based wealth transfe...
