Rural and Small Town Canada


Book Description

Rural and Small Town Canada examines the economic and social reality of rural and small town Canada today. Emphasis is placed on labour markets, the well-being of people, economic diversity, and the environment. This book provides a wealth of information not available elsewhere. Much of the analysis is based on unpublished tabulations derived from Statistics Canada's vast databases. This work is an invaluable resource for all those interested in the future of rural Canada.




Social Transformation in Rural Canada


Book Description

The rapidly changing nature of life in Canadian rural communities is more than a simple response to economic conditions. People living in rural places are part of a new social agenda characterized by transformation of livelihoods, landscapes, and social relations – these profound changes invite us to reconsider the meanings of community, culture, and citizenship. Social Transformation in Rural Canada presents the work of researchers from a variety of fields who explore the dynamics of social transformation in rural settlements across several regions and sectors of the Canadian landscape. This volume provides a nuanced portrait of how local forms of action, adaptation, identity, and imagination are reshaping aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities in rural Canada. Unlike many previous studies, this work looks at rural communities not simply as places affected by external forces, but as incubators of change and social units with agency and purpose, many of which provide exemplary models for other communities facing challenges of transition.




Attracting and Retaining Newcomers in Rural Communities and Small Towns


Book Description

This captivating examination of immigration in rural Canadian towns analyzes the essential components that smaller municipalities and counties must consider to attract and sustain meaningful settlement of newcomers. With the research compiled and presented in three parts - setting the context, promising principles and practices, and case studies - the book offers important information that will be helpful to all participants in the rural immigration process.The analysis presented by the authors systematically makes one point clear - populations are continuously declining across many rural communities due to a variety of reasons, including urban migration and declining birth rates. Promoting immigration for these rural centres offers "optimism that strategies can be embraced that will help to avoid population decline through a thoughtful approach to attracting and retaining newcomers."




Our Rural Selves


Book Description

Life in the countryside, often perceived as either idyllic or depleted, has long been misrepresented. Challenging the stereotypes and myths that surround the idea of rurality, Our Rural Selves interrogates and represents individual and collective memories of childhood in rural landscapes and small towns. Drawing on visual artifacts whose origins range from the early twentieth century to today, such as photographs, films, objects, picture books, and digital games, contributors offer readings of childhood that are geographically, ethnically, and culturally diverse. They examine the memories of Indigenous children, the experiences of back-to-the-land youth, and boom-or-bust childhoods within the petroleum, farming, and fishing industries. Illustrating often neglected and overlooked aspects of adolescence, this collection suggests new ways of studying social connectedness and collective futures. Innovative and revealing in its use of visual studies, autoethnography, and memory-work, Our Rural Selves explores representation, imagination, and what it means to grow up rural in Canada.




The Community in Canada


Book Description

This unique book gives readers fresh insight into the study of communities. It provides balance by supplying empirical evidence to the discussion of theoretical and methodological issues. The author argues that such evidence allows readers to investigate the relation between Canadian communities and theoretical and methodological generalizations found in community studies. Readers can then decipher whether or not these generalizations actually apply to Canadian communities. The work includes a variety of articles, all based on empirical studies. The articles cover all community types--from rural, to small town, to suburban, to urban--and all regions of Canada--from Atlantic Canada, to western Canada, to Ontario, to Quebec. The writings were carefully chosen according to theoretical relevance, their effectiveness in a learning environment, and their overall readability. Diverse articles and empirical evidence make this book a well-rounded examination of a long overlooked area in community studies.




Investing in Place


Book Description

The future of northern British Columbia, a vast, resource-rich region of vibrant cultures and diverse communities, could be either driven by a narrow economic agenda or guided by innovative, place-based solutions that seek to build viable communities and resilient local and regional economies. Investing in Place is about creating the foundations for renewing northern British Columbia’s rural and small-town economies. Markey, Halseth, and Manson argue that renewal is not about nostalgic reliance on the policies and economic strategies of the past – rather, it is about building a pragmatic and innovative vision for development, one that acknowledges both the opportunities and the challenges posed by resource development and global and technological change. For policy-makers and residents alike the path to renewal lies in place-based development, which consists of people working together at all levels of the community and region to take advantage of local opportunities in a sustainable, responsible way.




The Right to Be Rural


Book Description

In this collection, researchers analyze rural societies, economies, and governance in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia through the lens of rights and citizenship, across such varied domains as education, employment, and health. The provocative concept of a “right to be rural” illuminates not only the challenges faced by rural communities worldwide, but also underappreciated facets of community resilience in the face of these challenges. The book’s central question—“is there a right to be rural?”—offers insights into how these communities are created, maintained, and challenged. The authors illustrate that citizenship rights have a spatial character, and that this observation is critical to studying and understanding rural life in the twenty-first century. Scholars and policymakers concerned with the health and well-being of rural communities will be interested in this book. Contributors: Ray Bollman, Clement Chipenda, Innocent Chirisa, Logan Cochrane, Pallavi Das, Laura Domingo-Peñafiel, Laura Farré-Riera, Jens Kaae Fisker, Karen R. Foster, Lesley Frank, Greg Hadley, Stacey Haugen, Jennifer Jarman, Kathleen Kevany, Eshetayehu Kinfu, Al Lauzon, Katie MacLeod, Jeofrey Matai, Ilona Matysiak, Kayla McCarney, Rachel McLay, Egon Noe, Howard Ramos, Katja Rinne-Koski, Sulevi Riukulehto, Sarah Rudrum, Ario Seto, Nuria Simo-Gil, Peggy Smith, Sara Teitelbaum, Annette Aagaard Thuesen, Tom Tom, Ashleigh Weeden, Satenia Zimmermann




Canadian Geography


Book Description

Canadian Geography: A Scholarly Bibliography is a compendium of published works on geographical studies of Canada and its various provinces. It includes works on geographical studies of Canada as a whole, on multiple provinces, and on individual provinces. Works covered include books, monographs, atlases, book chapters, scholarly articles, dissertations, and theses. The contents are organized first by region into main chapters, and then each chapter is divided into sections: General Studies, Cultural and Social Geography, Economic Geography, Historical Geography, Physical Geography, Political Geography, and Urban Geography. Each section is further sub-divided into specific topics within each main subject. All known publications on the geographical studies of Canada—in English, French, and other languages—covering all types of geography are included in this bibliography. It is an essential resource for all researchers, students, teachers, and government officials needing information and references on the varied aspects of the environments and human geographies of Canada.




The Great Canadian Prairies Bucket List


Book Description

Renowned travel writer and TV host Robin Esrock has explored every inch of Canada’s Prairies to craft the definitive Bucket List. From food and culture to nature and adrenaline rushes, Robin has the inspiration and information you’ll need to follow in his footsteps and discover everything Manitoba and Saskatchewan have to offer.




Welcome Home:travels in Smalltown Canada


Book Description

Across thousands of miles, the Canadian population clusters like loosely strung beads on the thread of the 49th parallel. This is truly Canada--a vast stretch of land and a bounty of small towns. In "Welcome Home," Stuart McLean takes us on a heartwarming journey from one coast to the other to visit these small yet vibrant places and meet their remarkable citizens. We visit Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, an old-fashioned "cow town"; Dresden, Ontario, once a destination for escaped slaves using the Underground Railroad; St-Jean-de-Matha, Quebec, where the worldOs strongest man is buried; and Foxwarren, Manitoba, a quintessential hockey town. We wander along Main Street in Sackville, New Brunswick; explore Nakusp, B.C., which may have been the home of an illegitimate child of royalty; and watch the icebergs float by in Ferryland, Newfoundland. Each town Stuart visits tells us a little about Canada's rich and often forgotten history and a lot about who Canadians are today. With a storyteller's eye for detail and an effervescent sense of humour, Stuart McLean introduces us to seven truly wonderful places and dozens of extraordinary people.