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
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 ...
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...
A recent article in the Wellington Advertiser, written by Jordan Snobelen, takes a closer look at a growing concern for many communities: the difficulty of finding volunteers. The piece, titled “Are volunteers becoming harder to find? Local organizations struggling to find help,” explores how groups that rely on volunteer support are feeling the strain as fewer people are able or willing to commit their time. You can read the full article here: https://www
The recent Rural Symposium brought together 160 participants, both in person and online, for a dynamic exchange of ideas focused on rural research and policy. The event featured 17 presentations and 11 posters, highlighting the depth and diversity of work being done by graduate students at the University of Guelph. These projects explored a wide range of rural issues and offered practical insights for policymakers and practitioners.
The Rural Symposium is
At this year’s Good Roads Conference in Toronto, a presentation on rural and northern transit offered a clear reminder that transportation planning in Canada is not one-size-fits-all. Ryan Gibson, on behalf of Sarah-Patricia Breen and Ela Mastej, highlighted how distance, low population density, and limited infrastructure shape transit systems outside urban centres. In many rural and northern communities, transit is not about convenience—it is about access
The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation recently hosted a webinar as part of the New Researcher Forum series titled "Mobilizing Knowledge for Stronger Rural Futures". Prof. Ryan Gibson explored what he called the “knowledge paradox" - while more research exists than ever before, it often fails to reach the people who can use it most. Too often valuable rural research is locked behind technical language, paywalls, limited internet access, or simply doe
