At the World Community Development Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, Dr. Ryan Gibson presented new research examining how rural communities in Ontario are adapting to major changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, economic shifts, technological change, and demographic trends. The conference, co-hosted by the International Association for Community Development and the University of Glasgow, brought together community development professionals and rese...
Students, alumni, and faculty from the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) at the University of Guelph made important contributions to the 2026 Relational Wellness Conference, co-hosted by the Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation, the North Atlantic Forum, and Grenfell Campus of Memorial University of Newfoundland. Their presentations demonstrated the breadth of rural research and practice taking place within SEDRD and highligh...
Rural communities are often described as places facing population decline and economic challenges. But a new article in Plan Canada by Natasha D'Souza, Ryan Gibson, and Wayne Caldwell highlights a different story. Their research explores how Bruce County, Ontario, has experienced growth and change because of its close relationship with the nuclear sector. The research demonstrates how planners, municipalities, and industry partners work together to address...
Canada's housing crisis continues to challenge communities across the country, but the experiences of rural municipalities are often overlooked in broader policy discussions. In her Master of Science (Planning) Major Research Paper, The Housing Crisis in Rural Ontario, Aubree Erickson explores how rural communities face unique housing and homelessness challenges while operating within governance and funding structures largely shaped by upper levels of gove
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
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 ...
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.
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...
