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Copyright of Journal of Rural & Community Development is the property of Brandon University, Rural Development Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Rural & Community Development is the property of Brandon University, Rural Development Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Rural & Community Development is the property of Brandon University, Rural Development Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the role of in-migrants in the functional transformation of amenity-rich places. Its overarching goal is to determine if and how internal migrants arriving from larger settlement areas (i.e., counterurbanites) are contributing to the creation of functionally diverse (hybrid), or functionally limited (pure) commercial landscapes in places endowed with heritage assets. We focus on Paris, an historic town situated at the confluence of the Grand and Nith Rivers in southern Ontario. Three objectives guide the research: (1) to determine which commercial landscape form (hybrid or pure) and landscape generating process (creative enhancement or destruction) best characterizes the downtown; (2) to establish counterurbanite presence in this commercial core; and (3) to assess their role in the downtown's recent evolution. Evidence gleaned from secondary sources, and local fieldwork reveals that creative enhancement (functional addition), rather than creative destruction (functional displacement) is the dominant process. This has given rise to a hybrid landscape, where quotidian businesses (i.e., those selling ordinary goods and services) accompany five non-quotidian (i.e., distinctive) product types (i.e., authentic heritage, infused heritage, heritage-enhanced, faux-authentic heritage, and non-heritage boutique), each relying in different ways on the town's heritage assets. Information gathered from 35 proprietors finds that counterurbanites, and other inmigrants, dominate the downtown core, with only six non-migrant proprietors represented. In-comers, including counterurbanites, sell both quotidian and nonquotidian products, with non-migrant vendors offering only ordinary goods and services. These findings reveal that by selling both product types, counterurbanites are contributing to the creation of a hybrid landscape in the city's countryside. Their attraction is thus an important ingredient for facilitating diversity and economic viability in small settlement areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working without fixity, while historically prevalent, has been on the rise in Canada and throughout the world due to processes associated with advanced capitalism. Moreover, it implies mobility to, from, and within work, which in a time of COVID-19, is problematic for workers and communities alike. In this paper, we argue that our pre-COVID statistical knowledge of workers without a fixed place of work in Canada is inadequate. Using the best source of available data--the 2016 Census--we provide a thorough account of these workers as compared to those with a set place of work. We find that most individuals without a fixed workplace are male, have low income, are likely to be self-employed, have a higher proportion of employment insurance (EI) and self-employment income, and have college or on-the-job training skill levels. They are also likely to live in rural areas, and work in the construction or transportation industry. We argue that documenting which workers are most likely to be working without fixity is necessary to understand how a COVID-19 world will play out for these workers and their communities as the pandemic continues and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Rural & Community Development is the property of Brandon University, Rural Development Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Understanding the sustainability of age-friendly initiatives is timely, given the interest of governments worldwide in age-friendly policy and the implementation of age-friendly programs. Focussing on expert perspectives from 11 rural communities in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, this study examines how limitations to the sustainability of rural age-friendly initiatives (at both the committee and program level) may affect systemic community change. An iterative collaborative qualitative analysis demonstrates that the longevity of rural agefriendly initiatives was directly limited by financial and capacity challenges. These factors created limitations of scope, in which committees often were prevented from being able to address the multi-year, comprehensive requirements of bigger-picture issues facing older adults, especially among isolated, marginalized, or vulnerable residents. Over-dependence on volunteers and on the ability of small, rural municipalities to develop age-friendly initiatives that, in urban settings, are typically created with more capacity and resources, seriously limits the long-term scope, and by extension the impact, of rural age-friendly initiatives. 'Age-friendly' is often viewed as a positive way to improve the health and quality of life of older people. However, the present findings demonstrate that often-insurmountable challenges of longevity and scope, in terms of the breadth of issues that can be addressed, faced by rural age-friendly initiatives typically do not facilitate these anticipated outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1984, in Toronto, the Healthy Cities idea was coined, soon adopted by the World Health Organization to launch, in 1986, a major international initiative. Since then, over 10, 000 municipalities worldwide have jumped in, including small rural villages, which led the movement to be called Healthy Communities in Canada. Four action principles at the core of the movement can influence the fight against poverty in rural areas: intersectorality, participation, empowerment, and municipal commitment. This article describes a collective case study involving four rural municipalities that are members of the Québec Network of Healthy Communities. This qualitative study paid detailed attention to understand how these initiatives embraced fighting poverty. Five factors to be considered emerged if rural municipalities in the Healthy Communities networks and beyond them want to address poverty concretely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farming is a well-known stressful occupation, with farmers facing a multitude of stressors and higher rates of mental health problems than the general population. Farming continues to change, with greater use of technology, changing ownership and management of farms, globalization of agricultural inputs and products, and climate change. Although there has been research to document these changes, to the researchers' knowledge there has been no qualitative studies, particularly within Canada, to understand farmers' perceptions of these changes and link them to their stressors and mental health. In this qualitative study, based on 16 in-depth interviews with small-scale farmers in Grey County of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, we explored farmers' perceptions of changing farming practices and their implications for their health as well as ways of responding and adapting to these changes. Thematic analysis using a social ecology framework revealed a number of major themes. Farmers' relationships to change were complex with both benefits and challenges of changing farm practices for health and well-being--a "double-edged sword." Technology changes were important new tools, while weather had become more extreme, rapid and un-predictable. Growing weather uncertainty generated brutal stress for some. Farmers described turning to ecological farming and the resilience that they experience from diversified farming which connects them to the land "essentially being at one with place." Their passion for farming connected to beliefs about protecting the land, even if most markets do not reward a farmer for doing so. Farmers also highlighted the lack of support they experienced from governments--dealing with bureaucracy, community--and experiences of isolation. Implications for policies and systems include increased support for farmers financially and administratively and interventions which build on their work with farm organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-tech firms are associated with innovation and efficiency, and the attraction of such firms is a coveted goal for the economic development of most urban centres. This research examines the location decision factors of high-tech firms in the small Canadian city of Kamloops, British Columbia. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect information from 18 high-tech firms in Kamloops about their reasons for locating in a small city. The data was analysed with quantitative and qualitative techniques. The results indicate that a combination of soft and hard factors was influential in the decision to locate in Kamloops with soft factors associated with quality of life factors dominating the decision. The results also suggest that business supports have played a significant role in the success of some firms. The research results are expected to be valuable to policymakers concerned with economic development in small urban centres. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many municipalities across Canada have prepared sustainability plans, but there is limited knowledge about the extent to which actions in those plans have been implemented. Based on 40 semi-structured interviews with rural leaders across Canada, we examined sustainability priority areas, rates of implementing actions, and the factors supporting and hindering implementation. Within the 5-dimension model for sustainability, the target areas, based on priorities and actions identified, were economic, environmental, and social dimensions, but governance was perceived to be important to facilitate the others. More than 75% of the sustainability actions had been completed. The key reasons for completion were community priorities, political will, available capacity, and available funding. The key reasons for non-completion were lack of capacity, lack of funding, lack of political will, and the lack of community priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This preliminary study spatially locates 333,881 unionized workers in the Canadian province of Alberta, identifying that a disproportionate percentage of unionized workers are located in urban centres and in bargaining units of greater than 100 members. Most unionized rural workers are found in large, public-sector bargaining units. Interviews with trade unionists suggest possible explanations for this pattern, including the unequal distribution of capital, rural workers' spatial embeddedness, unions' preference for large bargaining units, and the differentially and negative impact of weak labour laws on rural workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, there was little acknowledgement that homelessness existed in rural areas in Canada. With a few exceptions, most research and intervention has concentrated on individuals and families living in urban areas; consequently homelessness has most often been framed as an urban phenomenon. Rural homelessness was unacknowledged, until reports from diverse rural areas began to emerge in the last decade which shed light on the unique context of the issue. The aim of this research was to examine and describe the dimensions of rural homelessness across Canada, the locations and contexts that have been studied, and assess the extent of common themes across provinces and regions. In this process, we were able to provide a preliminary assessment of: obstacles to identification and intervention; the challenges in determining prevalence of rural homelessness and its characteristics; determining access to shelter, food and support services, and what factors contribute to housing crises in rural areas. As there is still a scarcity of information about rural specific elements, planning and implementation responses would be enhanced through the development of a combination of a research network to facilitate knowledge mobilization and a research agenda on rural homelessness. Recommendations suggest the need for a fulsome research agenda on rural homelessness in Canada be developed to capture common emerging themes from a provincial rather than community-by-community perspective. This can, and should be coordinated with international and local efforts to examine rural homelessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Saskatchewan River Basin (SRB) is a vital and essential resource for the three Canadian prairie provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The cumulative impacts of past and future development combined with the realities of climate change raise new questions about the current regime of water governance in the region. At present, multiple agencies affect different aspects of water governance across the SRB. This study is a preliminary assessment, based on key informant interviews, of existing water governance efficacy in the SRB. Using a range of probing questions, key informant perceptions regarding the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities respecting water governance in the SRB are uncovered. The findings of this study suggest that the advantages of the current fragmented, multiagency regime of water governance in the SRB are outnumbered by the disadvantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]